- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Oct 6, 2024
Critic Reviews
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With a teeming cast, it also frequently lacks any sense of a core (Selina’s inner circle in Veep; the Roy family in Succession). Yet though it’s a tad hackneyed on spoofing the superhero movie factory (this is, after all, a genre that reinvents and satirises itself), the series is strong on the insanity, insecurity, vanity, hierarchy, “location brain” and abject humiliation of film-making, with references to Christopher Nolan and superhero genre critic Martin Scorsese thrown in for good measure.
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After the pilot, during which I not only didn’t laugh but couldn’t see anywhere I was supposed to laugh (except when Dan tells the classic, perfect joke about the manure-shoveller at the circus), there are some good – if never great – lines and images scattered around.
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The half-hour series spews its bile with eloquence and conviction that provide their own momentum, at least to start. But ultimately, “The Franchise” is more of a (vociferous, amusing) reaction to the zeitgeist than an entity unto itself.
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“The Franchise” establishes a unique rhythm and serves up some truly funny stuff (much of it featuring Patel and Magnussen), but the comedy is uneven.
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“The Franchise” is a fairly diverting, if somewhat repetitious comedy with a cast that makes for good company.
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There’s enough we liked about the first two episodes of The Franchise to recommend it, but we wonder how far the show’s accomplished producers can push the “crazy production of a high-budget film” theme without making things either absurd or annoying.
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“The Franchise,” despite a wealth of talented performers, doesn’t have a superpowered performance that could take the show from funny to scathing. In contrast, it’s mild when it ought to be wild.
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Thanks to the sheer talent of the cast, and to the kind of creative profanity you get from any comedy produced by Veep creator Armando Iannucci, there are laughs to be had — just not nearly enough given the pedigree. And most of the satire seems content to skim the surface of superhero movie culture.
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Smartly scripted, amusingly acted, and believably realized, The Franchise is no failure. It’s never less than mildly entertaining—but rarely more, either.
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Unlike, say, Showtime’s “Episodes,” which depicts how the TV sausage gets made in all its absurdity while still showing characters with heart, “The Franchise” gives no reason to have sympathy for any of its selfish narcissists.
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There are too many extraordinarily talented people involved with The Franchise, on both sides of the camera, for it not to be occasionally scathing in funny and well-constructed ways, at least for a few episodes. By the second half of the season, though, it becomes less and less focused, less and less narratively interesting and more and more satirically banal.
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"The Franchise" still wants to be scathing, so the lack of bite where it matters most makes it just feel like a wash.