‘The Studio’s Seth Rogen Wins Lead Actor In A Comedy Series, Regrettably Forgets To Thank Sal Saperstein
Apple TV+’s critically-acclaimed comedy, The Studio, is winning big at the 77th Emmy Awards.
Co-creator and star Seth Rogen, who plays newly promoted head of Continental Studios Matt Remick, won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in the first award of the night. The award was well-deserved, but regrettably, Rogen forgot to thank his deal friend Sal Saperstein! And The Studio stans are livid.
“Thank you! Wow, this is amazing. I so could not wrap my head around this happening that I literally prepared nothing,” Rogen told his peers and viewers. “I’ve never won anything in my life. When I was a kid, I bought a used bowling trophy and an estate sale, and my parents were like, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea…’ Thank you to my wife, my mother, everyone who works on the show, my agents, my managers, the writers, everyone who guests start on the show. Thank you so much. This is really just so lovely. I don’t know, I don’t know what to say! This is so nice. Thank you. I appreciate you all. Have a good one.”
Rogen was caught so off guard that much to the dismay of The Studio fans he didn’t thank the one, the only, Sal Saperstein! “Who the heck is Sal Saperstein?!” you might be asking? Sal is Ike Barinholtz’s character on The Studio, but the inside awards show joke runs much deeper than that…
One of The Studio’s greatest, most star-studded installments, Season 1, Episode 8, “The Golden Globes,” gathered some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Ted Sarandos, Zoe Kravitz, Quinta Brunson, and Adam Scott, for an awards show, at which Matt desperately wanted to be thanked for his hard work behind the scenes. In a hilarious twist, during Adam Scott’s acceptance speech, he thanked Matt’s colleague, Sal Saperstein (Ike Barinholtz), an old pal whose couch he used to crash on before he made it in the industry.
As the night went on, thanking Sal Saperstein became the Golden Globes’ hottest bit. Quinta Brunson thanked Sal Saperstein! Jean Smart thanked Sal Saperstein! And so on, and so forth! With each and every Sal shoutout, Matt died a little more inside. Nevertheless, the bit persisted, but alas, it didn’t make it to Rogen’s Emmy’s speech.
With 10 wins already and 23 total nominations, there’s still hope for The Studio to show good old Sal Saperstein some Emmys love. So stay tuned and keep following Decider’s coverage of TV’s biggest night!
Can’t get enough of the 2025 Emmy Awards? Follow along with Decider’s coverage, including:
The 77the Emmy Awards premiere Sunday, September 14 on CBS with streaming on Paramount+.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
