The TV Set

Duchovny has produced a couple shows himself at this point. Sigourney Weaver. Justine Bateman. Simon Helberg from bang theory. Phil Rosenthal, who produced Raymond. Here, Lenny (Weaver) and the writer Mike (Duchovny) are producing a pilot for the network. It's a show within a show. They bring in several actors to read. And of course, there's a major disagreement between Mike and Lenny over which male lead is best. Will Mike back down to get the show made? And now they want the suicide of one of the characters to disappear. But the lead actor is supposed to be affected by that. The "team" is already trying to get Mike to sell out, but he's not sure if he wants to go along with that. And now there are more changes. They do the up-fronts, and Mike is downing booze and pills. Clearly, he's not happy that his project is so changed. But honestly, i DID want to see what happened in ep two! But it's a film. Maybe this WILL be made into a series. Lenny is the over the top president of the network, and she is SO inappropriate. But has no idea. Written and directed by Jake Kasdan; with Apatow producing.

This movie is for those of us sorry schmucks who have worked our hearts & brains to the bone, only to be told by some soulless corporate suit that our creative efforts are not required.

What, me bitter?

"The TV Set" is a great comedy/drama about a writer who realizes his 1 shot at success requires him to sell out to mediocrity. This paradox leads to some great acidic fun. The movie gets its power from a great script as could only be conceived by a person (writer/director Jake Kasdan) who has seen the spectacle in real life. It builds momentum through brilliant acting, as could only be pulled off by actors who've lived the nightmare in real life. Presented with moments of riotous satire (stick around after the credits to see a scene from the network's golden egg, "Slut Wars"), the humor is spot-on with great deadpan deliveries all around.

I don't usually harp on a film's casting, but in this case it was flawless, from the smallest roles (loved the wardrobe lady!) all the way up to Sigourney Weaver as the "soulless suit" who massacres the script, much to the applause of her corporate toadies.

INTERESTING TRIVIA: Sigourney's character "Lenny" was originally written for a man. But due to late scheduling problems they gave it to Sigourney. She insisted that no changes be made to her lines, and even the male name "Lenny" was kept. The result is possibly the funniest clueless exec you've ever seen. Pay attention to her, as almost every one if her lines is classic, such as: "This is not just an opinion here! We have the research from other shows. Suicide is, like, depressing to 82% of all people."

Omg I had to rewind that one and play it again to get the laughs out.

I will warn you, though, I wouldn't call this "uproarious" the way the DVD box advertises (I'm sure some corporate suit came up with that marketing angle). No, like any good satire, its power is in subtlety. No wisecracking punchlines, no slapstick pratfalls, no fart gags. Well OK, 1 fart gag, but you'll agree it really punctuates the point.

Jake Kasdan, himself a veteran of many ill-fated TV pilots, gives us a film that very few can claim to be: an honest & mercilessly uncompromising joyride til the end. It reminded me of the brilliant Christopher Guest satires of the entertainment industry: "Waiting for Guffman", "For Your Consideration", "Best in Show", and the king of them all: "This is Spinal Tap".

I can see how this film might not be for everybody, but I make my living writing for television and this movie is actually pretty dead on. The satire works because I felt they keep it real. Stuff that might seem absurd I have seen happen (actually real stuff that happens in the development of a pilot would make people shout at the screen and say "come on - that couldn't happen!!). The film is very well cast - everyone from Lindsay Sloane to Ion Gruffudd give strong performances. Many of my fellow writers begged me to see it, so I finally went and I thought Kasdan does an excellent job. But the film could pretty much play like a documentary - without fail, the nets will almost instantly try and change the ONE thing about a project that makes it unique - they want it to be like everything else (Weaver's character has the great line - "it seems original and original scares me!"). It is a real marathon filled with danger to get a pilot sold, then possibly get it filmed, then edited, then tested and then through literally winning a lottery - getting it on the air!! But at the end of the day - it is the viewers who decide what stays on - if something gets numbers, it stays - if it doesn't - it goes. And every now and then a unique and smart show will get on the air and more times than not - no one will watch it. Viewers SAY they want something different, but most of the time when you try to do that - they go "what the hell is this?? This is too different" and then they go back to watching Jim Belushi.

I saw this at the Traverse City Film Festival and it was one of my favorite films there.

David Duchovny has written a great script for a new TV show and the studio wants to make the pilot. Unfortunately, before it airs, they want to make some changes to his script. The film follows the script as it goes from one hand to another before it gets turned into the perfect TV sitcom.

The cast is excellent. David Duchovny does a great job as the lead, we all relate to him because we all want to see something new, not just the same clichéd sitcom premise. The TV show cast is great, from the opening moments in the film when they audition for the parts, all of their scenes are perfect. And Sigourney Weaver steals the show playing the evil network boss, every time she's on the screen it's impossible not to laugh.

Jake Kasdan was at the screening and told us afterward that most of the stuff shown in the film has happened to him before on several pilots he's worked on. It's sad that things like this still take place, that so many shows keep dumbing down and are afraid to be different. Hopefully TV executives will take a look at this film and get some ideas.

By the way, be sure to stay for the closing credits.

9 / 10

I really liked the idea for this movie, cast was great (especially David Duchovny and Judy Greer), but when I was expecting the plot to move in the most interesting parts of the TV series production suddenly the end titles showed up...

"The TV Set" is really good project, but unfortunately the creators have only highlighted the process and left a lot of comic potential untouched. I know there is the rule "always leave them hungry", but in this one they've left me starving :)

But above all this it worth watching movie, especially if you want to find out how your favorite TV series were created.