The Oner

Amazing. Combines the best of comedy with the best of cinematography and story telling. You're not going to see a better episode of television this year. The one shot is well-crafted and perfectly timed. Rogen plays the Costanza role perfectly Barinholtz and O'Hara are marvelous. Watching this will spoil you for other television.

Amazing. Combines the best of comedy with the best of cinematography and story telling. You're not going to see a better episode of television this year. The one shot is well-crafted and perfectly timed. Rogen plays the Costanza role perfectly Barinholtz and O'Hara are marvelous.

This is a perfect episode of television. The pacing, the writing, the acting and most of all...the cinematography! Funny, suspensful and perfectly executed. I wasn't sold on this show after the first episode but I am now!

This almost felt like a Seinfeld episode in the sense of something that seems so innocent and meaningless ends up coming back to haunt the characters in this story. Brilliantly written!

How they shot the episode is absolutely incredible. The cinematographer did an an outstanding simply from a lighting perspective. I can't imagine how difficult this was to film.

I'm very excited to see where this show goes next!

The Studio (2025) is a new show that has been gaining popularity after its premiere episode, "The Oner." The episode revolves around Matt Remick and Sal Seperstein, who are on their way to film the final scene of an unnamed film starring Greta Lee and directed by Sarah Polley. The scene is set to be shot as a one-shot take, or "oner," and Matt desperately wants to be on set to watch the filming. Despite the crew's disapproval, Matt arrives in a suit and changes into something more appropriate from the wardrobe department. He joins Polley in the video village and is able to negotiate Matt getting the money to play the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" over the scene. However, Patty and Sarah try to get Matt to leave the set, believing his presence will be a detriment to the cast and crew. Greta Lee also reveals she wants something from Matt: his private plane for the press tour of the film. Attempts to film the scene are met with issues, such as Matt's requests for a change that costs them time, his loud and distracting talk, wandering from the "village" they set up for him, wearing one of the replacement costumes for an extra, accidentally appearing on camera, and getting injured when he falls on one of the props. After shooing one of the set's doctors away, the scene goes off without a hitch, but Great criticizes someone for parking in the driveway (this was Matt's car from when he arrived). In The Studio Episode 2, Sal Saperstein (Ike Barinholtz) criticizes oners as being stupid and making everyone else's lives miserable. Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) disagrees, arguing that the oner is the ultimate cinematic achievement and a great storytelling tool. The episode, titled "The Oner," features Matt shooting the episode about an oner in one mind-blowing take. Matt, excited to witness the magic of Sarah Polley's script, parks outside the set instead of trekking up from base camp. When Sal suggests his suit will make him stick out, Matt races to the wardrobe department to slip into something more casual. However, what starts as a well-intentioned field trip spirals into chaos when the team loses light, leaving zero margin for error on the closing scene. Polley, nervous, considers asking Matt to leave but ultimately allows him to have his fun in hopes of getting her $800,000 dream song for the scene: The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Once Matt changes into his background actor wardrobe, he interrupts Polley's process and disrupts the crucial flow of the production process. As filming resumes, Matt chases Amy down and suggests they start the scene smoking a joint like the script originally noted. With The Rolling Stones on the brain, Polley approves the suggestion and reluctantly sacrifices precious daylight minutes to make Matt's dream a reality. From the second the simple suggestion is implemented, mayhem ensues. In the second episode of the popular TV series, "Oner," Matt Remick's character Greta Lee is interrupted by Matt's frantic whispering, which distracts Greta. Matt's headphones die out, and he stops to pee, causing the show to halt. He then ruins another take, causing Greta to panic and rush to get the shot. Greta, however, finds Matt's illegally parked ride blocking her in, and they rush outside to save their reputations. On their way out, Matt promises Greta the Rolling Stones song, a private jet, and the iced coffee he requested. The sky darkens, and Matt and Sal recover in silence, only to receive a text confirming Polley didn't get the shot. Matt's final swear word. And The Studio roll the credits, set to the director's dream song. Episode 2 of "Oner" follows Matt's transformation from confident to broken in one take with no cuts. Remick references other single-shot episodes, such as "Birdman," "Children of Men," and "Goodfellas." The episode's flawless writing, steady stream of jokes, physical comedy, and captivating camerawork make it flow effortlessly. The adrenaline-pumping score raises tension and urgency, and the concept was compelling enough to convince Polley to join her former collaborator Rogen for her first acting project in 17 years.

If your criticism of this episode is that no studio executive could behave so stupidly, you're wrong.

I worked my entire life in film production and I've seen and heard things you wouldn't believe. A set can be a real pressure cooker of barely controlled chaos, full of stressed out exhausted people constantly fighting against the clock, priorities and egos ricocheting all over the place, and stuff can just go epically wrong at the drop of a hat. It's actually unfair to single out executives for blame, since almost anyone who's around long enough will eventually find themselves to be the fly in the ointment at some point.

I know assistant directors who scream commands in their sleep, still trying to control the set even while unconscious. I bumped into one of them at the grocery store the day after this episode dropped and he grabbed me and asked if I'd seen it. I nodded and we both started babbling about how traumatizing it was.

We both had watched the entire episode with our hands over our mouths moaning no no no! It stirred up a lot of memories. Not fears. Not anxieties. Memories.

Well done. It all felt exactly right.

After the best show in years, Severance, just wrapped up its season on an all time high note, Apple TV comes back right away with what could be yet another generational tv show. With a star-studded and hilarious pilot, this show had me immediately hooked, yet somehow completely outdid themselves in this one. Seth Rogen's ability to callback (or bookend) everything that was previously setup throughout the episode made for constant building and paying off, with each moment of payoff making you laugh harder than the previous one. I loved the fact they were doing one shot per scene in the last episode, but this one they took it to a whole different level shooting the entire episode as a one shot (while the episode being about shooting a one shot helps add to the irony of the entire show). This one shot worked wonders in helping the chaotic moments feel crazier and making you feel as if you're on set experiencing this moment beside these characters. Just a brilliantly acted, shot, and especially written episode.