How ‘The Studio’ Scored Scorsese and Other A

Of The Studio ’s embarrassment of riches in this year’s Comedy Emmy nominations, its near-sweep of the Outstanding Guest Actor category feels the most in-character. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s showbiz farce sits squarely in the lineage of Extras and Robert Altman’s The Player in that it wrings considerable pleasure from packing the frame with famous faces. And these aren’t just winking cameos meant to elicit knowing nods; Rogen and Goldberg turn many of them into genuinely funny performances. Which is why, absurd as it may seem, it makes sense that all but one Guest Actor slot went to a Studio player: Bryan Cranston, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Dave Franco, and Anthony Mackie, with all but Cranston playing themselves. (The category’s lone interloper is Jon Bernthal in The