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Movies / On DVD / The TV Set
The TV Set

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The TV Set (2007)

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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

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Reviews for The TV Set

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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Not a backstage film for the ages, but it manages to be a bit more useful than the vast bulk of its stablemates.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
09/20/07
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

A facile but likable send-up of how things (don't) work in Hollywood.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/10/07
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Yes, it’s funny because it’s true. But it’s also sad for just the same reason.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
05/04/07
Toddy Burton
Toddy Burton
Austin Chronicle

... a well-acted and generally funny comedy that doesn't bog down in emotion even when it bogs down in its own plot.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
04/07/07
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

A tart, smart, closely observed satire of the television industry.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/20/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

The conclusion of Kasdan's snarky, low-budget glimpse behind the small screen is appropriately cynical. It's hard to be shocking or revelatory on this subject, yet it's made crystal clear we’re amusing ourselves to death.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/14/07
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
Boxoffice Magazine

An inside Hollywood comedy for people over whose head 30 Rock goes. Those people won't even understand that grammatical construction.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
04/06/07
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

"The TV Set" feels a little underdone and half-realized, as if it were the pilot episode for a show that never got picked up for the fall season.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment 1 Comment
05/25/07
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/27/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Kasdan wisely doesn't make this about the big, bad bosses vs. the creative geniuses who won't compromise. It's a well-balanced look at a process, which, from the outside seems arbitrary and convoluted, but from the inside makes sense.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/27/07
Teresa Budasi
Teresa Budasi
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's interesting and funny and agonizing and illuminating to know what happens before you get that first annoying animated promo for a new show. For fans of: Undeclared, Studio 60.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
11/22/07
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

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.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
05/03/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Sharky, cynical look at TV world needs more bite.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
10/22/07
S. Jhoanna Robledo
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media

While it's no 'Network,' this pic is frequently quite funny as a character study of people who decide what is chosen for prime time TV sitcoms.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
03/28/07
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

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.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
04/20/07
Chuck Barney
Chuck Barney
Contra Costa Times

This very inside but modestly amusing show-business satire doesn't seem too far-fetched or exaggerated.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/31/07
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

While some of the gags may be a little too inside baseball, anyone who has seen Broadcast News or reads the occasional issue of 'Entertainment Weekly' will have no problem understanding and enjoying Kasdan's chomp on the hand that once fed him.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
05/04/07
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

A somewhat cold and calculated film that apparently unconsciously exemplifies that which it intends to criticize.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
05/04/07
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

What rescues The TV Set is the character work.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/03/07
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
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