So far in 2025, I’ve seen shows about doctors in urgent care, cannibals stranded in the woods, superheroes battling the forces of evil, vast governmental conspiracies that go all the way to the top. None has stressed me out half as much as Apple TV+’s The Studio, a comedy about the relatively lower-stakes world of moviemaking.

From episode to episode, I squirmed and groaned and held my breath. Between chapters, I had to steel myself to keep going. There were moments I could hardly see the screen at all — sometimes because I was peeking through my fingers, but mostly because I was laughing too hard. The Studio’s strain of cringe humor won’t be for everyone; even as it mellows in the second half of the season, it remains too intense to wind down with or throw on in the background. But for those willing to get on its frazzled wavelength,...