The Studio Is the First Hollywood Show in Years That Deserves to Be This Vain

Entertainment this week is full of giant franchises, tiny emotional stakes, and actors explaining their “journey” while standing next to a $200 million explosion. Into that fog walks The Studio, a comedy about movie executives that may be the first Hollywood satire in years to remember that the funniest thing about show business is how seriously everyone takes their own nonsense.

Benny’s Picks

The Studio — Apple TV+
Watch it because Seth Rogen’s new series turns studio panic into an Olympic sport. The show’s best joke is that every executive claims to love cinema while secretly worshiping opening weekend, and the cameos are deployed like surprise fireworks. It occasionally confuses “everyone is famous” with “this is funny,” but when it lands, it lands like a producer dropping a martini onto a budget meeting.

Hacks — Max
If The Studio is Hollywood’s nervous breakdown, Hacks is its perfectly tailored revenge fantasy. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder remain an absurdly good double act: one weaponizes experience, the other weaponizes resentment, and both are usually wrong in fascinating ways. This is still one of television’s funniest shows, even when it wanders into a subplot that feels like it was written during a network lunch.

The Rehearsal — Max
For anyone who thinks normal comedy is too emotionally stable, Nathan Fielder is back with another experiment in turning human interaction into a haunted escape room. It is funny, uncomfortable, and occasionally makes you question whether you are watching television or evidence. Do not binge it too quickly. Your brain needs time to put the furniture back.

Barry — Max
Yes, it ended. No, you probably still haven’t watched it properly. This is the rare series that begins as a hitman comedy and evolves into a vicious argument about performance, guilt, and the lies people tell when they want applause. Bill Hader’s direction gets increasingly audacious, while Henry Winkler remains the patron saint of emotionally compromised men in tiny glasses.

Skip It

Any movie described as “an experience.” That phrase is now a warning label. A movie should be a story, a thrill, a laugh, or at minimum a handsome disaster. If the poster promises an “experience,” save your money and go stare at a screensaver.

Sleeper Pick

The Curse — Paramount+ with Showtime
Still underappreciated, still deeply deranged, and still one of the boldest pieces of television in recent memory. Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, and Benny Safdie create a comedy so allergic to likability that it circles back around to genius. It is not cozy viewing. It is the kind of show you finish and then text someone, “What was that?” before immediately pressing play on the next episode.