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.
Rating: R (MPAA) Rating Reason: for language. Runtime: 87 minutes DVD Code: Region 1 US, CA Genre: Comedies Color: Color Rating: DVD Features:
Keep Case
Widescreen - 2.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Alternate Scenes - Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentaries - 1. Jake Kasdan - Screenwriter/Director; David Duchovny, Lindsay Slone - Stars; Aaron Ryder - Producer
2. Jake Kasdan - Screenwriter/Director; Judd Apartow - Executive Producer
Behind the Scenes - "The Making of THE TV SET"
Trailers - 1. Forced Trailers
2. Additional Previews
Tracks:
1. Audition
2. Network Casting
3. Network Notes
4. Not My Vision
5. Business and Pleasure
6. Go Pilot
7. Headaches
8. Diplomacy Required
9. Strange Perspective
10. Best Performance
11. Performance Issues
12. What If?
13. Breakdown
14. Audience Testing
15. Positive Reviews
16. Making the Schedule
17. Picked Up
18. Up Fronts
19. Sales Pitch
20. False Advertising/End Titles
Lucy Davis, Willie Garson, Ioan Gruffudd, David Duchovny, Lindsay Sloane, Judy Greer, Justine Bateman, Fran Kranz, Sigourney Weaver, Susan Alexandra Weaver
Jake Kasdan
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. () "Having toiled in the industry, Jake Kasdan knows what he's talking about, and the accuracy of his shrewd parody concerning the fate of a sitcom during pilot season is a major strength."
Box Office (04/01/2007) "[I]t might have worked as a pilot in its own right. The humor is threaded almost invisibly beneath the surface."
New York Times (04/06/2007) "[T]his very smart, very funny movie about the making of a network sitcom is a cut-glass gem of a showbiz conceit." -- Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (04/13/2007) Theatrical Release: April 6, 2007
() "[I]t's full of sly insider jabs at the inanity of the process, and the performances are spot-on."
Sight and Sound (03/01/2008) |
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