If I had to name a few of my favorite things in the world, movies and Seth Rogen would be right at the top. The Studio is like Entourage, but the frat boys, beer, Mark Wahlberg, and Kanye West of the 2000s are replaced by magic mushrooms, matcha, Dave Franco, and Scorsese.
Like most people my age, I was raised on Seth Rogan and can give him the credit for more than just late-night laughs, but also my humor as a whole. This past semester, I got to introduce one of my friends to some of his movies that, in my opinion, are not only some of the funniest but best movies of all time. These include Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Interview, and many others. There was something so satisfying about watching her realize that the weird sculpture on A quad is a bit from 21 Jump Street and that it was shot on Tulane’s very own campus. Or the laugh she let out watching Channing Tatum limp out of a trailer in a gimp costume in This Is The End. That’s pure cinema. Combine this humor with my other favorite thing in this world, film, and its industry as a whole, you’ve got an A-plus must-watch show.
Seth Rogen’s newest project takes everything I love and puts it into a show, combining his signature wit and humor with a behind-the-scenes look at the Hollywood industry. I’ve always wondered what goes on beyond the screen; how movies are made, who gets to choose them, and what happens to all the little bits that don’t make it into the theaters? The Studio answers all of this and more with Seth Rogen’s character Matt Remick, a longtime producer who’s just been appointed head of the struggling Continental Studios. What follows is a hilarious and painfully accurate descent into the world of rebrands, streaming wars, brand partnerships, and desperate attempts to make art while keeping the boardroom happy. Remick and his team try to keep their studio and movies relevant as the new age of social media and influencers tries to take over. It’s no secret that many self-proclaimed “cinephiles” think that real cinema is dying, but The Studio gives me hope that the industry is still alive and even thriving off of its own downfall.
What is so special about the studio is the self-reflexive nature in the fact that it is literally making fun of itself, satirizing not just the plot, but the real world as well. It is all the bad things of Hollywood today: wellness-obsessed sipping matcha, and corporations like Kool-Aid thinking they can make movies and put profits over artistry. But it’s not as pretentious and hopeless as that sounds, because it is grounded by both the humor and star-studdedness of the cast: Seth Rogen, Bryan Cranston, and Cathryn Hahn. I also am a sucker for when a famous star cameos as themselves and doesn’t take themselves so seriously. This show is not scared of this with Zoey Kravitz coming in and eating a “shit-ton of shrooms” before peeing herself. It is all things a good hit needs: relatable, relevant, and ridiculous. All of season 1 is out now, and they got renewed for another season, so watch it on Apple TV!
