In recent years, it has become increasingly common to mock superhero films and their associated elements. While for the most part some people are still invested in a certain cinematic universe, and some others have been hit by the so-called superhero fatigue. No matter which side you’re on, it can’t be denied that year in and year out, there’s a ton of news that comes out of that industry, true or false, that ultimately makes it sound like a living hell. From films constantly losing to cast/crew to announcing dozens of projects at Comic Con that can’t be committed to. Warner Bros. and HBO’s new comedy, The Franchise, created by Sam Mendes and the producers of Veep, do exactly all that in this show that parodies the production of a superhero film.
The Franchise is set on a production lot, where we follow the production of a film titled ‘Tecto.’ Throughout the show, we get to meet the cast and crew behind the film and see all the chaos that ensues while trying to create a movie that’s set in a cinematic universe.
The Franchise is luckily being written and produced by the creators of The Thick of It and Veep. Two shows that knew how to make fun of their established work environments while keeping it entertaining and engaging enough to keep its viewers returning each week. It already has people attached that understand the craft, but not only that, a lot of the cast that star in The Franchise have also themselves featured in the cinematic universe they’re actively making fun of or have already starred in similar shows that also tend to make a mockery of superhero media.
It’s odd as The Franchise is structured as a serialised show, but it feels like it has a mix of an episodic structure. This is something that I feel hurts the show in the long run, as it feels like it wants to focus on its characters and their relationships but also just wants to focus on the insanity that takes place during the production. There didn’t seem to be a sense of direction in terms of how the show was structured and what I was supposed to gain out of it.
Due to this, I only ever enjoyed witnessing the mayhem on set and the work drama between the characters. It was impossible to care for the personal relationships as the characters weren’t fleshed out enough to warrant a need for me to have any investment with them. We know mixing work with love never fares well in comedies such as these, but there are several examples that do a better job at it than this.
A creative decision was also made to have interview segments during the credits. They played at the end of every episode and sometimes had the funniest jokes out of the entire episode. The only downside to this is that leaving them for the credits means that they may likely be missed or skipped by people who have a habit of exiting once the credits begin.
This also asked the question, “Why wasn’t The Franchise a mockumentary?” It felt like if they had chosen to have gone that route, the interview segments could’ve been part of the actual show, and they’ve might’ve been able to get away with how ridiculous their antics are while also providing some development for the personal character relationships.
Just like with a regular film production, there’s a lot of people involved with making it come to life. The Franchise involves all these roles as caricature archetypes, and each and every single one of them is a delight to be around. We’ve got the director Eric (Daniel Brühl), his first assistant director Daniel (Himesh Patel), his third assistant director Dag (Lolly Adefope), who is new to the job, producers Anita (Aya Cash) and Pat (Darren Goldstein), lead actor Adam (Billy Magnussen), and supporting actor Peter (Richard E. Grant).
There’s a lot of characters to keep track of, but the show does a good job of letting them have their time to shine, with performances that just feel like they’re perfectly embodying their role. A personal favourite is Darren Goldstein as Pat, this show’s hat-wearing studio executive. His jokes provide the hardest punch, ranging from too many films being announced at Comic Con to making a crucial decision that affects the film being made.
Warner Bros. producing this show is rather ironic, as although the laughing stock currently seems to be the more successful studio, they themselves have yet to produce a successful cinematic universe revolving around superheroes. This could also be their way of poking fun at themselves, or maybe it’s the inspiration they need to finally produce some quality films or shows, but with the way things are looking for WB, it’s possible that they’ll be able to look at this in ten years time and all laugh at how they avoided the chaos that they once made fun of.
The Franchise is ultimately a show that would better fit the format of a mockumentary so it could take full advantage of the mayhem that takes place on set while also integrating the interview segments with the actual show and having more of a focus on the personal relationships between the characters. The meta jokes about the incidents that have taken place in real life surrounding working on a cinematic universe can be funny but eventually overstay their course. With a balance between the comedy and drama plus relationships that felt genuinely fleshed out, this could’ve really make for solid comedy that I could confidently say is up there with the likes of The Thick of It and Veep.
The Franchise is now streaming on Max.
