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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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Television

Theatrical Release:Apr 6, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $34,531

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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Release:

Sep 25, 2007

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Reviews for The TV Set

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
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The jokes are things people shooting a pilot might actually say; the telling episodes of vanity or stupidity are entirely believable.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/09/07
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Kasdan's] execution can sometimes be laugh-out-loud clever... It isn't broad enough to expose why most programming is condescendingly terrible, but the cast is genuinely funny...

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
07/13/06
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

Doesn't win any points in the originality department (television executives suck, apparently), but an unusually game, most likely overqualified cast manages to give it a fair amount of bite.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
04/18/07
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

The TV Set, written and directed by Jake Kasdan, often possesses the gimlet-eyed wit of The Player or the mock docs of Christopher Guest.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/23/07
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

Kasdan goes too far over the top on occasion. But he mostly straddles the line between reality and absurdity. But in network TV, reality is absurdity.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
05/04/07
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

The TV Set skewers the television industry in a manner that occasionally feels familiar and at other times is humorously incisive.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
04/09/07
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

Honestly, isn't it a little late to be bemoaning sleazy reality TV?

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
07/13/07
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

The TV Set is a little wonder of a movie, as smart and sad and true as any comedy I've seen this year.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
08/18/07
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Slate

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

The satire is unrelenting but not too broad; it stays close to common observation.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
04/09/07
David Denby
David Denby
New Yorker
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s deftly calibrated and acted with relish: [writer-director] Kasdan is really good!

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
04/02/07
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...an intriguing, occasionally horrifying look at the behind-the-scenes shenanigans within the network-television world.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
04/10/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A familiar satire of the entertainment industry, the film is enlivened by some sharp observations and good acting (Sigourney Weaver) about this cutthroat milieu, but helmer Kasdan can't resist taking some easy shots at the banality of American network TV

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
04/01/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The TV Set is therapy for actors and writers, and other people's therapy is almost always fun to watch.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
04/24/07
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

The TV Set, written and directed by longtime tube toiler Jake Kasdan, gets it both right and funny.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
04/07/07
Evan Henerson
Evan Henerson
Los Angeles Daily News

A clever satire on the dynamics of prime-time television in America with its sleazy programs and its slavery to ratings and ad dollars.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
04/05/07
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

... the movie deserves attention because of its sunlit graces, droll subtleties, terrific performances and soft-boiled rue.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
04/09/07
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Writer-director Jake Kasdan has been through his share of meetings with production executives eager to share their ideas on improving his ideas, and in The TV Set, we see that dynamic play out from beginning to corrosive end.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/27/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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