Seth Rogen’s Hollywood spoof The Studio is the funniest new show on streaming

Celeb cameos, Hollywood in-jokes and a star turn from Catherine O’Hara: Seth Rogen’s new show The Studio is comedy gold.

Actor, writer and director Seth Rogen’s new project is shaping up to be the best thing he’s ever put his name to – and might just be the funniest new TV show of 2025.

Created by Rogen and his behind-the-scenes partner Evan Goldberg, The Studio is off and racing from its opening minutes, in which Hollywood studio exec Matt Remick (Rogen) hears word the current head of the studio has been knifed and, moments later, learns that he’s her replacement – effective immediately.

Great news (for him at least), but Matt barely gets a moment to bask in the glory before the wheels start to fall off.

For starters, he’s hapless at best, immediately folding under the pressure of the new role and tying himself in knots with lies and promises he can’t keep.

But he’s also plainly the wrong man for the job, too much of an old-school cinema buff to thrive as the head of a studio where upcoming projects include big screen adaptations of the board game Jenga and the flavoured drink Kool-Aid. His increasingly desperate attempts to mould the Kool-Aid movie into an Oscar contender he can be proud of earn some of the biggest laughs in episode one.

Seth Rogen’s character Matt gets a promotion – then everything unravels.

But episode two is where the show really shines, benefiting greatly from a tight 25-minute runtime. The action unfolds in real time at just one location: Matt and his studio sidekick Sal (Ike Barinholtz) arrive at a house in the Hollywood Hills just before sunset, making a set visit to watch on as a key scene is filmed.

The cast and crew (including director Sarah Polley, playing herself) are stressed and losing light, so Matt promises he’ll stay out of their way and quietly observe. They won’t even know he’s there. By the time he’s essentially chased from the property 20 minutes later, dishevelled and bloodied, it’s safe to say he did not keep that promise.

A-list cameos abound, with Hollywood greats all playing themselves: Martin Scorsese, Steve Buscemi and Charlize Theron in episode one, and a hilarious showing from Greta Lee in the next ep, playing a version of herself desperate to escape lower budget indie movies and land herself a spot on the studio’s coveted private jet.

Kathryn Hahn (top left) is a highlight as Maya, head of marketing. Picture: Apple TV+ via AP

The supporting cast is also stellar: Kathryn Hahn is hilarious as the studio’s Stanley Cup-gulping marketing exec, the ease with which she constantly tells Rogen’s character to “go f**k himself” leaving you with little doubt as to which department is really running the studio.

And Catherine O’Hara is brilliant as the studio’s just-axed former boss Patty. In episode one she’s a hysterical wreck, clutching a roll of toilet paper to cry into as she whimpers like a wounded animal over losing her job. By the next episode she’s a totally different person: Poised and preened, having leveraged her way back onto set and back into the higher ranks of power.

While it’s all set in the upper echelons of Hollywood and filled with industry in-jokes, the themes are familiar to any workplace comedy: Imposter syndrome, bosses’ painful attempts to be friends with their employees, and the yearning to do something meaningful with your working life (against the forces constantly pushing against that desire). Best of all, the breakneck pace means the joke hit count never drops.

The Studio is a weekly drop on Apple TV+, with episode three of ten released today.

Originally published as Seth Rogen’s Hollywood spoof The Studio is the funniest new show on streaming