Two of the buzziest shows in the streaming world, The Studio from Apple TV+ and HBO Max’s Hacks, proudly follow in the well-established tradition of motion pictures and TV shows that take a penetrating gaze at the inner workings of Hollywood. We may live in a world of billions of people and a smaller but equally impressive number of sources of entertainment material that run the gamut of human emotions, situations, and professions. But Hollywood has always found comfort – and more than a fair amount of commercial success – in gazing inwardly at the business we call show.

Comedy is the preferred although not exclusive genre for the Hollywood inside baseball game, and The Studio and Hacks shine at that. For those that haven’t seen or maybe haven’t even found it in the streaming universe, Apple TV+’s The Studio was co-created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez. Longtime creative partners Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg often co-write and co-direct and the show centers around a hapless head of the fictional Continental Studios portrayed by Rogen and surrounded by a band of equally myopic execs.

Besides being flat-out funny, with a wonderful supporting cast including Katherine Hahn and Catherine O’Hara and a host of celebrity cameos, the show is at its best in its meta-moments of delicious self-awareness about the business. This includes an episode all shot in one take in which characters inside the episode rhapsodize about the achievement of famous one-take sequences in films such as Goodfellas. Another has Rogen’s exec arguing with a table-full of oncology doctors about the relative value of making movies versus a children’s cancer cure, an argument taking place inside of a show all about making movies.

Hacks takes no backseat in its send-up of show biz inanity, but with more heart along the way. The shows creators are Jen Stasky and the husband-wife duo of Paul W. Downs (who also acts in the show) and Lucia Aniello. The show is labeled a “Max Original” which is a bit odd since the streaming service it appears on is no longer called Max but is once again HBO Max. Oh, well, no matter where it runs, it’s terrific.

The series has already won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy, and Jean Smart has already won multiple Emmys for her portrayal of the Joan Rivers-flavored Deborah Vance. Hannah Einbinder as her writing assistant matches her quip for quip and facial expression for facial expression (she also hails from royal comedic blood through her SNL-original mother Laraine Newman). The show savages comedic divas, lascivious network executives, Vegas casino moguls, quirky denizens of writers’ rooms and every flavor of personal assistant imaginable. And in the midst of this are marvelous moments of complex character affection (and disdain) between Smart and Einbinder.

OK, I’m a sucker for Hollywood self-absorption (or maybe just self-absorption). I know – and hope - you’ve all been waiting for this. Here’s my top 10 favorite examples of show biz narcissism (at least on screen).

There are so many more, but I’ll just throw in a few worthy honorable mentions. Think of them collectively as the Miss Congeniality of show biz-themed films: Trumbo (true story of Hollywood blacklist); Hail, Caesar! (Coen Brothers again on the old-time studio world); Mank (making of Citizen Kane from the besieged writer’s perspective); The Artist (2011 Oscar-winning black-and-white silent film (!) about the end of the silent film era); and Joan is Awful (2023 Black Mirror episode about a dystopian AI-driven future for actors). I hate to end on such a dark note, but how do you not hit AI?