Seth Rogen Thanking Tim Cook at the Emmys Felt Like ‘The Studio’ Come to Life

The Studio has done a pretty wonderful job blurring the lines between fiction and reality. In it, Seth Rogen plays a high-powered studio executive (who is often in way over his head). While he plays a fictional character, the people he interacts with are real. That leads to exchanges with people like Anthony Mackie, Ron Howard, and Ted Sarandos, all playing (somewhat) heightened versions of themselves.

There are nods to the reality of these interactions. While these celebrities aren’t exactly playing themselves, they come close, while leaving room for embellishment. For instance, Ted Sarandos has a whole bit about how executives like him aren’t actually doing anything creative, and I would bet money that he doesn’t believe that in the slightest.

I will admit that the bit was pretty funny, and likely made it easier to attract someone like Sarandos. Actors and the like have (mostly) no problems with pretending they’re crazy, mean, or violent (as they often do on the show). Someone like Sarandos needs to be coaxed more gently. It needs to add to his “mystique.” Since it did, don’t be surprised if we see Tim Cook do something similar next season.

While the CEO has been busy sucking up to the current President, he took time to attend the Emmys last night. AppleTV+ won quite a few, thanks in most part to Rogen’s hit show. It only makes sense that Rogen would wind up thanking Cook when The Studio won for Outstanding Comedy Series. Rogen was asked about Cook afterward, and he revealed that Cook is a fan.

“I met him last night for the first time, and he said he was a fan of the show, which was very nice,” Rogen explained to Deadline. “I’m on another show on Apple [Platonic]. He didn’t say he was a fan of that one. So, I believed him. We know he’s honest, and I don’t know, I hope we all get free iPhones out of this or something.”

Rogen’s fictional executive does not work for Apple, and Cook isn’t usually so out and about on the creative side of things (as far as I’ve noticed), so it may be harder to come up with an excuse to get him on the show. His character doesn’t work for Netflix either, but getting to Sarandos is a shorter walk, logic-wise. Coming up with a plotline may take some extra finessing.

That’s also assuming Cook even wants to be on the show. He may stop short in terms of getting himself out there, or he may embrace it, in hopes of it bringing some positive press to make people forget about his cowardly capitulation. If he does appear on the series, prepare for the interaction to, at least, be reminiscent of the one Rogen described, with Cook possibly being on ayahuasca as a subplot.