THE FRANCHISE: SEASON ONE
Starring: Himesh Patel, Aya Cash, Daniel Brühl, Billy Magnussen, Richard E. Grant, Lolly Adefope, Jessica Hynes, Darren Goldstein, and Isaac Powell
Creator: Jon Brown
QUENTIN
Much like Veep, which also boasted Armando Iannucci as a writer and executive producer, The Franchise has a premise — the on-set shenanigans that occur during the production of a shared-universe superhero movie — that is ripe for parody. Also (again, much like Veep), there are tremendously quirky characters, sharp satire galore, and hilariously caustic one-liners. So, I’m puzzled as to why I don’t exactly love this series in the way I loved Veep. It can be emptily entertaining, sure, but for some reason, there is a disconnect that prevents me from fully giving myself over to it. Richard E. Grant is fantastic, though.
AMARÚ
The Franchise takes everything you have ever seen about the rise and supposed death of the superhero genre, makes a bit out of it, then cranks the sarcasm to 11. Initially, it’s a bit off-putting to make every reddit bro, ignorant executive, diva actor, exasperated fandom, and on-set disaster so dramatically ridiculous, but with the short episode runtime and cast’s impeccable timing, it keeps getting funnier with each ensuing episode. Binge-watching the series works better than waiting a week for the next 20 minutes, so catching the series now could be a nice and easy two-hour laugh fest on a weekend afternoon.
