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Consider this: a group of oddly charismatic male friends obsessed with marijuana, action movies and Marvel comics who enjoy bickering with one another and refuse to grow up could describe either the Wu-Tang Clan or the characters of the latest Judd Apatow comedy.

Coincidence? Most definitely. But the Judd Apatow universe can be a confusing and overwhelming place when you consider his name has been attached to seemingly every big-budget Hollywood movie released since his directorial debut, "The 40 Year-Old Virgin," in 2005.

As in all of life’s mysteries, the Wu-Tang Clan can offer clarity.

First of all, it’s worth asking what “a Judd Apatow production” even means. What’s the difference between a movie that Mr. Apatow writes and directs ("Knocked Up") versus one he produces that stars many of his homegrown players ("Pineapple Express")? How exactly can a group of mostly white, privileged man-boys who riff on Back to the Future, Judaism, and weed resemble nine black men from Staten Island who rap about violent urban life, Chinese mysticism and weed?

Once you realize that Apatow is essentially the RZA to the stable of actors that routinely appear in his movies, the answers to such questions seem obvious. Members of the Wu Tang Clan all have individual voices, flavors and even genre within the small(ish) group, but there is a shared sensibility and style, too. There are Wu-Tang Clan albums which feature most-to-all members which are usually overseen by the RZA. Then you have the Wu-Tang solo albums like Ghostface Killah’s "Ironman" and Raekwon’s "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…" which feature so many Wu members they might as well be proper Wu-Tang albums.

The Apatow films work much in same way. While he is in charge of the movies he directs and writes (obviously), his scripts are loosely outlined with plenty of room for creative input from actors like Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd. So in the same way the track “Method Man” from "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" is the Method Man’s song, the poker game scene in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is Steve Carell’s song. The “you know how I know you’re gay” scene is Seth Rogen and Paul’s Rudd’s song. Judd Apatow edits and sequences them all together to form some sort of cohesive statement just like the RZA does as overseer of a Wu Tang album.

Using this logic, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is their "36 Chambers" (a very strong and impressive debut that was different from everything else), "Knocked Up" works for "Wu-Tang Forever" (the epic follow up) and "Funny People" could very well be "The W" (the album that came out after the group’s popularity had peaked). Or maybe the TV show "Freaks And Geeks" would be their "36 Chambers" since that’s where all of the actors first met and became influenced by Apatow’s style of comedy just like the Clan gave a lot of control of the group to the RZA and adopted his vision of hip-hop (for the time being). Both of them were also cult classics well before they were looked back upon as cultural touchstones in their respective worlds. Obviously there is a lot of room for interpretation here.

Neither of them have any ladies in the group either (Leslie Mann is the exception, but she does sleep with the boss). You’re getting a sausage fest with both, and the male point of view is going to be dominant in both. Since you probably know that going in to either arena, this isn’t really a problem, although in the Apatow world a little female perspective with some complexity could help. You may notice that Mr. Apatow made sure nearly all of his male leads from "Freaks and Geeks" found work in his movies, but virtually ignored the female cast members. Doesn't Busy Philipps deserve better than "Cougar Town?" The new Ghostface R&B sex album, "Ghostdini: Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City," seems willing to show his rather tender side. He’s making an effort at least.

Then there are the solo albums. While GZA’s "Liquid Swords" isn’t technically an album by the Wu-Tang Clan, it might as well be. It has the early Wu-era, RZA-produced, bare-bones sound, and the whole crew is all over the album. Also, "Liquid Swords" is as great as some of the best Wu proper albums. "Superbad" is similar in that it’s just as good as an Apatow-directed film, to such a degree that it can be difficult to differentiate it from one.

Just like "Liquid Swords" remains GZA’s album, "Superbad" is Seth Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg’s film. They wrote it and molded it for 10 years and found a solid comedic director to shape it for them. While not all of the Apatow players appear in the film, they stamp with an identifiably Apatowian aesthetic so that there’s no mistaking who was involved in creating it. Apatow himself is not a credited writer on the film, but he is a producer and served as a sounding board/RZA-esque supervisor of the material. This was on full display in the summer of 2007, with Knocked Up followed by Superbad only two months later.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" could be Jason Segel’s "Supreme Clientele" (Ghostface) and "Pineapple Express" is Seth Rogen’s "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…" (Raekwon). By that logic, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" is "Nigga Please" (Ol’ Dirty Bastard). This is getting too out of hand, so let’s just try to figure out who’s who here:

RZA = Judd Apatow

GZA = Paul Rudd

Method Man = Seth Rogen

Ghostface Killah = Jason Segel

Raekwon = Jonah Hill

Inspectah Deck = Leslie Mann

Ol’ Dirty Bastard = James Franco

Cappadonna = Steve Carell

Masta Killa = Craig Robinson

U-God = Martin Starr

Can it all be so simple?

Jeremiah Tucker contributed to this story

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