: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: This story incorrectly states that James Franco appears in The Studio. In fact, the actor's name is Dave Franco.]
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. In a new 10-part Apple TV+ comedy series, Seth Rogen stars as the newly appointed head of a long-running Hollywood movie studio. Last week, I spoke with Rogen about the new series, which is called "The Studio." And today, our TV critic David Bianculli offers his review. Bianculli says the more you love movies, the more you'll love this ambitious, entertaining new comedy.
DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: "The Studio" is a comedy about people who make movies, made by people who make and love movies, with a target audience of people who also love movies. You don't need to get all the inside jokes and references or even recognize all the cameos and guest stars to enjoy this new Apple TV+ series. But the more you know about films like "Chinatown" and "Goodfellas" and "Barbie" and "Birdman," the more you'll laugh.
Among the five creators of "The Studio" are Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who also serve as co-directors. Rogen is in front of the camera, too, as the lead character. He plays Matt Remick, a midlevel executive at a century-old Hollywood institution called Continental Studios. In the opening episode, Matt is pulled aside by the big boss played by Bryan Cranston, who offers him a promotion.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE STUDIO")
BRYAN CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Patty's time has come and gone, and I'm seriously considering you to replace her.
SETH ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Oh, my God. Yes, yes. I'm the guy. I'm the guy for the job.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Why are - tell me that. Why are you the guy?
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Well, I've worked at Continental for 22 years. I bought the original-spec script for "MK Ultra," which, as I'm sure you know, spawned a franchise that's made us over $3 billion for the...
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Hey. Renae, where the [expletive] is my green juice? You want a green juice?
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Yeah, I'd love one.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Two green juices now.
RENAE ANDERSON: (As self) Yes, sir.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Sorry. Continue.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Film is my life. Ever since I came to the studio as a kid and went on the tour, being the head of Continental is the only job I've ever wanted.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) That is adorable. All right, well, listen. I honestly just have one strong reservation about you.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Oh.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) I've heard you are really into artsy-fartsy filmmaking [expletive]. Now, you're obsessed with actors and directors liking you rather than being obsessed with making this studio as much money as possible.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Me?
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Yeah.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) That could not be further from the truth. I am as bottom-line-oriented as anyone in this town.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) I believe you.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Great.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Good.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Good.
CRANSTON: (As Griffin Mill) Because at Continental, we don't make films. We make movies - movies that people want to pay to see.
ROGEN: (As Matt Remick) Yes.
BIANCULLI: Once Matt takes the top job, the rest of the series has him negotiating the tricky terrain of Hollywood filmmaking. He has to try to woo or fire or control such passionate directors as Ron Howard, Olivia Wilde and Martin Scorsese and work with lots of temperamental or demanding talent, from Ice Cube and Greta Lee to Zac Efron and James Franco. Every episode features some delightful guest star turns and funny cameos but also boasts some invaluable co-stars. Specifically, Catherine O'Hara plays the studio head whom Matt replaces, and Matt's core team of subordinates includes Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz. They're all hilarious, and the entire season has an arc to it. Movies that are planned or being shot in the early episodes of the studio end up, at the end, being honored at awards shows or promoted at industry conventions. And the episodes, like the characters, move freely and fluidly through Hollywood itself - from streets to restaurants to hotels - and even make a stop in Las Vegas. And it's the way "The Studio" moves through these spaces and captures these performances that is the most audacious and most rewarding aspect of this outstanding new comedy series.
One episode is built around the quest to film an entire extended scene in one unedited take and shows how difficult that is while making fun of it at the same time. Yet all of "The Studio" - every single frame - is shot that way, in a series of lengthy extended takes captured by a single camera. If you've seen the recent Netflix drama series "Adolescence" - and if you haven't, you should - you know how gripping and hypnotic that style can be. Well, it works with comedy, too. And when pros like Cranston and Hahn and Rogen are going all out at the end of a very long, uninterrupted scene, it's exhilarating to watch. In the final episode, for example, Bryan Cranston commits to physical comedy in a way he hasn't even tried since "Malcolm In The Middle," and he's great. People like Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese delight in playing with their own images here, "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-style. Seth Rogen and James Franco get to play opposite each other again, a quarter-century after "Freaks And Geeks," and obviously enjoy themselves. And "The Studio" gets some killer comedy performances from some unexpected contributors - Zoe Kravitz, for example, and Anthony Mackie.
"The Studio" owes a large debt, of course, to Robert Altman's "The Player," the 1992 movie about Hollywood that Altman began with a famously long and involved unbroken tracking shot. If you're really into movies, you could also cite such films as "Birdman" and "Whiplash," and the music on the soundtrack of "The Studio" nods to them as well. And if you're really into TV, you might even note the surface similarities to "Action," a Fox series about a Hollywood exec that aired the same season as "Freaks And Geeks." But "The Studio," with all its influences and guest stars and creative gimmicks and approaches, also manages to pull off the hardest and most important trick of all - it's a comedy series that is reliably, relentlessly laugh-out-loud funny.
MOSLEY: David Bianculli is a professor of television studies at Rowan University. He reviewed "The Studio," starring Seth Rogen, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, Syria may be on the verge of a new era of unity, or it may descend into anarchy, and the outcome will affect the Middle East and the U.S. Syria's transitional president founded the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, but he's now preaching inclusivity. We'll talk with Robert Worth of The Atlantic about his reporting from Syria. I hope you can join us. To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram - @nprfreshair.
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MOSLEY: Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Joel Wolfram. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF IAN CAREY QUINTET'S "SHAKE & JOE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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