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The Studio begins with the promise of biting satire: Seth Rogen's Matt Remick, a lifelong film lover and studio executive, suddenly finds himself in charge after his boss is unceremoniously ousted. Early scenes suggest we might get a sharp, insider skewering of Hollywood's creative bankruptcy-its obsession with franchises, brand IP, and bottom-line mediocrity. The plot initially revolves around pressure to launch a film franchise based on the Kool-Aid IP which hints at the absurdity we hope the series will unpack.

But that promise dies quickly. Rather than pursuing this theme, the show devolves into a parade of lazy gags and slapstick nonsense. Matt Remick, once introduced as a man torn between art and commerce, spends most of the season bumbling around Hollywood, not crafting movies or fighting studio battles, but indulging in increasingly idiotic escapades. The pacing is atrocious-whole episodes drift by with Matt accomplishing nothing beyond protecting his own ineptitude.

I usually like Seth Rogen, but his talents are wasted here. The character of Matt Remick has no charm, no competence, no redeeming qualities. He's terrible at his job, he has no backbone, and he seems more interested in posturing and driving fancy cars than making movies. It's baffling that someone with twenty-plus years in the business-who's somehow risen to the role of studio head-would be portrayed with such staggering ineptitude.

Yes, it's meant to be a comedy. But great satire requires brains behind the humor. The Studio had an opportunity to deliver something sharp and timely, a clever dissection of Hollywood's creative rot. Instead, it chooses the cheapest laughs and gives us a limp, forgettable mess. A satire of Hollywood incompetence is only funny when the incompetence isn't shared by the writers.