Inkoo Kang reviews HBO’s new comedy “The Franchise,” created by Jon Brown and executive produced by Armando Iannucci, and starring Himesh Patel, Aya Cash, Billy Magnussen, and Richard E. Grant.
If “The Franchise” ’s premise of small-time machinations on the fringe of the big time makes it sound like a Hollywood version of “Veep,” that may be by design. The show’s creator is Jon Brown, a former “Veep” producer, and it counts among its executive producers Armando Iannucci, the creator of the earlier series. The two shows share plots of frenzy amid insignificance, and both abound with florid insults, rapid-fire banter, and acid appraisals.
The territory is so familiar that “The Franchise” initially feels like part of the same Hollywood ouroboros it’s mocking: a phenomenon gets big, copycats rush in and flood the zone until diminishing returns set in, a lazy parody takes aim at the laziness of the phenomenon’s tropes. You might agree with the show’s points, but it’s not much fun having your disdain spat back at you. Of course, he has to care, eventually.
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