Click to read the article
The TV Set (2007)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:73
Fresh:47
Rotten:26
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Offering both broad and insider jokes, The TV Set is a sharp satire that will please both the average moviegoers and pop culture aficionados.
Runtime: 87 mins
Genre: Television
Synopsis: Go to any bar in Hollywood and you're sure to find a hard-done-by writer who is drowning his or her sorrows after being chewed up and spat out by the network television system. In THE TV SET, Mike... Go to any bar in Hollywood and you're sure to find a hard-done-by writer who is drowning his or her sorrows after being chewed up and spat out by the network television system. In THE TV SET, Mike Klein (David Duchovny) seems set to join them. Klein's script for a TV show called THE WEXLER CHRONICLES was inspired by his brother's suicide, and is very close to his heart. After selling the script to PDN, who are headed by a fearsome executive simply known as Lenny (Sigourney Weaver), Klein watches as everything from the casting to the production goes horribly wrong. Klein has one buddy at the network, a Brit named Richard McCallister. McCallister's former position at the BBC leads Klein to believe that some quality control will be exerted over his project, and hopes McCallister will pull it out of the mire of mundanity that PDN thrives on. But he's very, very wrong, and as Klein's dream turns into dust--the show barely resembles anything he wrote--his health takes a turn for the worse and he enters mid-life-crisis mode. Duchovny and Weaver are outstanding in their roles, adding just the right balance of humor and anger to their characters. THE TV SET is ostensibly a comedy, but may make for painful viewing for anyone involved in the industry, or anyone who hates seeing dreams shattered. But director Jake Kasdan (ZERO EFFECT) manages to add a large dose of absurdity to the proceedings, saving it from being too depressing, and making many of the scenes a genuine hoot. [More]
Starring: David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer
Starring: David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Fran Kranz, Lindsay Sloane, Lucy Davis, Willie Garson, Justine Bateman
Director: Jake Kasdan
Director: Jake Kasdan
Screenwriter: Jake Kasdan
Producer: Aaron Ryder
Composer: Michael Andrews
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for The TV Set
Kasdan should have the expertise to write a backstage exposé of the TV industry. This one simply isn't funny.
if Kasdan's point was to use the film as metaphor, its attitude towards the audience is spiteful at best
There's a smugness to TV Set that undercuts the humor. The movie is so confident of its artistic superiority to the commercial ventures it parodies that even its most sympathetic characters are not terribly appealing.
A mostly lightweight endeavor that never builds any genuine emotional traction. And you have to wonder if it's just a little too 'inside' to resonate with a sizable audience.
Director Jake Kasdan's not-so-scathing satire of the slimy underbelly of television program development is neither funny enough nor biting enough to validate its overreaching goals.
The best thing that one can say about this film, is that it's probably too good for TV.
What with its utter lack of passion, it's difficult to say if the film wants to be taken as satire, but if it does then this one counts as a toothless dog.
[Except for Sigourney Weaver] everyone else looks so damn solemn, it's as if neither they nor their director understood this was meant to be a parody.
David Duchovny as the writer delivers a turn so listless and bland, you want to goose him with a cattle prod.
Kasdan, a TV industry veteran, knows his territory well and has translated his experiences with an obvious verisimilitude. But for all the dead-on accuracy of his characterizations and situations, there is little that is terribly surprising here.
A weak satire of network television programming, telling you nothing you don't already know and doing so without providing much more than the occsasional mild chuckle.
An inside Hollywood comedy for people over whose head 30 Rock goes. Those people won't even understand that grammatical construction.
Much like the television pilot it revolves around, the pale satire The TV Set doesn't quite know what it wants to be.
Various news stories have noted the movie's accuracy, which I don't doubt, but the blanket antipathy makes for a wearying and predictable story.
An insider pic likely to produce a few knowing guffaws from the industry but only occasional chuckles from John Q. Public.
What's missing here is the sense that anything truly vital is at stake -- like, say, our cultural intelligence or the future of mainstream entertainment.
Everyone already knew showbiz is ridiculous, but the funniest example Kasdan can come up with is a manager who has never seen Taxi Driver.
Latest News for The TV Set
September 26, 2007:
David Duchovny Talks X-Files 2
The truth is out there. And so is the sequel. More...
September 25, 2007:
RT on DVD: Knocked Up Arrives, Delivers Healthy Bonus Menu
Judd Apatow fans, get thee to a video store! Knocked Up, starring Seth Rogen, is out on DVD today and features an entire disc of bonus materials that make it well worth your... More...
April 28, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
April 05, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Grindhouse" Is Gory Glory; "Done" Needs Fixing; "Firehouse" Is Mangy; "Reaping" Is Plagued
This week at the movies, we've got sleaze (Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' "Grindhouse," starring Kurt Russell and Rose McGowan), fixer-uppers ("Are We... More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- The TV Set at Rotten Tomatoes
- The TV Set at IGN
- The TV Set at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

