The Studio Gives Us Seth Rogen and 10 Episodes of Major Movie Comedy
IN DIRECTOR ROBERT Altman’s 1992 film The Player, Tim Robbins plays an upcoming Hollywood movie studio executive who finds himself in a tricky situation just as his career starts to really take off. It’s a dark comedy, a thriller, and a very funny satire making light of what were some very real conversations happening in
IN DIRECTOR ROBERT Altman’s 1992 film The Player, Tim Robbins plays an upcoming Hollywood movie studio executive who finds himself in a tricky situation just as his career starts to really take off. It’s a dark comedy, a thriller, and a very funny satire making light of what were some very real conversations happening in the world of movies at the time; it also came together brilliantly, as almost every film in Altman’s legendary repertoire did. The Player was ultimately nominated for three Oscars, including Best Director for Altman, and remains one of the best movies (or shows) about movies ever made.
Now, more than 30 years after The Player hit theaters, it finally has a spiritual sequel in the form of Apple TV+’s brilliant new series The Studio. While The Studio, which comes from the power team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who are behind Superbad, This Is The End, and countless more modern comedy classics), doesn’t get quite as dark as The Player does, it’s never afraid to cut deep and make incredibly pointed and funny jokes about the state of the movies that we all still love watching each and every week. You’ll be cackling at one joke so much that you might miss a sly reference to that movie you saw a year ago or a quick cameo from this actor or that director.
Rogen plays the lead role of Matt Remick, a rising film executive who, in the first episode, is named the new head of Continental Studios. Leading a studio to make great movies is Matt’s dream job, and he’s excited to do it—but with one reservation. His boss, Griffin Mill (Bryan Cranston, playing a character with the same name as Robbins in The Player in a clear homage), has one key objective for him: make lots of money. And so the push and pull between art and commerce, as always, continues on.
The show evolves into a sort of cross between The Player and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where Matt and his team (which include his former boss and mentor, Cathy, as played by Catherine O’Hara, and other executives played by Ike Barinholtz and Kathryn Hahn) interact with very real celebrities playing hilarious versions of themselves; Martin Scorsese plays a particularly convincing (and particularly funny) version of himself in the very first episode.
On top of the smart writing, strong performances, and impressive filmmaking prowess (much like Netflix’s recent Adolescence, each episode features extensive use of single-take shots), the show is also filled with deep cut inside jokes for fans of movies at any level. References to the billion dollar success of Barbie? Check. A shoutout to Paul Dano’s little-seen directorial debut Wildlife? Also in there. And everything in between.
The Studio, to put it simply, is one of the best comedy shows you’ll see this year, and you won’t want to miss a single episode of it. And if you read on below, you won’t ever have a reason to.
When is the next episode of The Studio coming out?
Episodes of The Studio officially release on Wednesdays, but Apple TV+ usually releases its shows unofficially the night before at 9:00 EST—so keep an eye out for that. But officially, the next episode of The Studio will be released on Wednesday, April 2.
How many episodes of The Studio are left?
The Studio will be 10 episodes in total, the first two of which have now aired. That means there’s eight weeks—and eight episodes of hilarious Hollywood madness—remaining in the first season of The Studio.
Here’s the complete release schedule for Apple TV+’s The Studio:
Episode 1, “The Promotion” – Now streaming as of March 25
Episode 2, “The Oner” – Now streaming as of March 26
Episode 3, “The Note” – Streaming on April 2
Episode 4, “The Missing Reel” – Streaming on April 9
Episode 5, “The War” – Streaming on April 16
Episode 6, “The Pediatric Oncologist” – Streaming on April 23
Episode 7, “Casting” – Streaming on April 30
Episode 8, “The Golden Globes” – Streaming on May 7
Episode 9 ,”CinemaCon” – Streaming on May 14
Episode 10, “The Presentation” – Streaming on May 21
Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.
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