It’s been said that the thing Hollywood likes talking about most is itself. On television, the results of this (perhaps inaccurate) claim have proven mixed. Go too deep and the audience ends up left behind. Don’t go deep enough and it is just another workplace comedy. Do whatever Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip did and end up a legend in writers’ rooms everywhere. Just not for positive reasons. So The Studio—AppleTV+’s new Hollywood comedy series from Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez—is something of a magic trick. It’s inside enough to feel authentic but inclusive enough for enjoyment by non-industry heads. And, most importantly, funny. Very, very funny.

Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) becomes the head of Continental Studios following his boss and mentor Patti Leigh’s (Catherine O’Hara) dismissal. A true believer in the power of cinema, he’s thrilled to finally have the wheel. Nonetheless, he has to balance his desire to create art with the studio’s need to make money. Especially when the studio’s owner Griffin Mill’s (Bryan Cranston)–an homage to Tim Robbins’ character from The Player in name if not, perhaps, personality—dream project is a movie revolving around Kool-Aid, in some way.

A collection of similarly compromised industry types make up the supporting cast underneath the new studio head. Sal Seperstein (Ike Barinholtz), Remick’s closest friend and Continental and exec passed over for studio head, tends more toward that commercial vision and seems to get along with talent significantly better. Maya (Kathryn Hahn) just wants a product she can market and to occasionally make out with Remick, even if they agreed they’re no longer doing that. Quinn Hackett (Chase Sui Wonders), the newest exec on the block elevated to the role as an act of gratitude for toiling years as Remick’s assistant, rounds out the team.

Joining them is a cavalcade of actors and directors, including Anthony Mackie, Zoë Kravitz, Olivia Wilde, Ron Howard, and Nicholas Stoller. Their presence adds both a stamp of approval and strong moments of self-effacing humor. Much of it isn’t breaking new ground. Nice guy Howard isn’t nice is a note he played in Arrested Development more than a decade ago, for example. Still, the writing is strong enough that even when you anticipate where the show is going, it still scores laughs.

It helps that it doesn’t just jump up and down on the usual button of “celebrity you know is an over-the-top monster,” too. No one comes across as paragons of virtue, but the show tends towards smaller flaws. They’re well-studied and gain laughs even if they aren’t creating characters quite as big as James Van Der Beek as himself in Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.

To be clear, the actors portraying characters are no slouches either. Rogen mixes his talents for likability and awkwardness well, making Remick a recognizably decent character who is nonetheless prone to wanting to be the cool kid at the table. He’s the head of one of the largest studios in Hollywood. Nevertheless, he can’t stop obsessing about proving himself by delivering odes to shooting on film, being on set during the shooting of a oner—and nearly ruining it—or throwing a party centered on what he insists on labeling an old-fashioned Hollywood buffet. Remick could be despicable or unbearably annoying in others’ hands, but Rogen finds the right frequency for him.

Barinholtz as Sal, the best use of his talents since 2022’s Afterparty, is a similarly strong balancing act. One keeps waiting for him to be the worst version of this character, but The Studio plays it smarter, giving him a little bit more humanity. His “rivalry” with Wonders seems to hinge on a tired generational battle but unfolds into something funnier and burrito-based. That Wonders shares the screen with him throughout that episode with ease is a credit to her work as well.

A surprising aspect of The Studio is how good it looks. Shot by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, the show has an energetic feel. It deploys an impressive palette that gives the kind of depth and texture streaming shows often eschew. How the sixth episode navigates a fundraising ballroom and frequent interrupting phone calls feels especially noteworthy. The cinematography and choreography (of a sort) respect the space’s geography and give a sense of motion to those one-sided conversations.

That episode also demonstrates The Studio’s impressive ability to run a joke through an entire episode without overstaying its welcome. In episode 6, it is a gag about the importance of art versus science. In episode 8, it is about thank you speeches at awards. One can pluck out an example from every episode. Over and over, the show has a great sense of when and how to heighten a joke and how often to touch on it before credits role.

That strong instinct is the show’s greatest and most consistent weapon. It’s present in the running jokes, the deployment of cameos, the fictional projects that sound just plausible enough, and the balance of insider baseball and broad appeal storylines. The Studio is show business satire done just right.

The Studio is now on-set on AppleTV+.

Watch The Studio Trailer here: