Back in February 2025, when The Studio released its trailer for the Super Bowl, the audience was bewildered and amused at the scene that features Josh Hutcherson and Johnny Knoxville dealing with explosive diarrhea and zombies!
The hilarious clip was used as a teaser for the movie ‘Duhpocalypse’, a fictional movie within the show, and it immediately caught the eye of the audience, for being bold and satirical in its approach. In Episode 6, the movie is revisited but in a way of more subtle commentary on the amalgamation of art, trade, and deep-rooted societal issues.
Cashing on the shock value of a diarrhea explosion
In the latest episode of The Studio, Matt Remick, the infamous head of Continental Studios, along with his new girlfriend Sarah, who is a pediatric oncologist, visits a fundraiser. Sarah and her colleagues, all of whom are renowned doctors, take digs at Matt for how trivial his job is as compared to theirs.
Matt, in return, retorts that the “Duhpocalypse” is a “very important satire we are making, which you will find interesting, about medical misinformation in the social media age.”
The episode of Seth Rogen’s co-creation sheds light on how challenging it is to market such a controversial movie. Kathryn, the marketing personnel at Remick’s studio, shares with the team that the theatres do not want to put the diarrhea explosion scene in their trailer due to its graphic nature. When Knoxville says they might be losing the point of the film by trivializing it with comedy, Matt Remick counters.
He says, “No. It’s true. It’s a very deep and complex film, but I want that diarrhea explosion in the trailer”. Yes, it is Matt at his simplest self, wanting to make money out of poop jokes, but it also shows his struggle as a producer who wants to market a film well enough so that it entices varied audiences, but also keeps the baseline of the message strong.
The Studio continues to be a brilliant meta-commentary on the absurd things that happen in Hollywood
The Studio equips Duhpocalypse not simply as a plot twist but as a subtle instrument of commentary on Hollywood’s need to add sensation and spice to everything. As part of the trailer of the show, this fake movie grabbed eyeballs.
It featured equal laughs and satires, with Hutcherson exclaiming, “I got dooked”. “Does this mean I’m going to die?”. Knoxville’s character replies to this, “We all gotta die sooner or later, buddy, and you’re dying sooner”!
These exaggerations serve as the perfect parody to use shock value over substance. The Studio invites its audience to reflect on the absurdities of Hollywood marketing and how good stories get compromised by gimmicks in their race towards box office success.
Episode 6 of The Studio transforms the outrageous premise of explosive diarrhea, zombie diarrhea at that, to create a sharp satire about the inner workings of the industry.
On the face of it, it may seem like a light-hearted caricature-like representation, but on deeper reflection, you will realize how beautifully it describes reality masked in its brand of satirical humor. This further emphasizes the show’s ability to make a point in the weirdest of settings.
The Studio is currently available for streaming on Apple TV+ (USA).
