The TV Set - Possible Spoilers
Well, yesterday I drove close to 250 miles round trip and got lost in Seattle just to see The TV Set. Was it worth it? Since it's not likely to be playing any closer, I would have to say yes. Of course, I should add the caveat that I love road trips. As for the movie, it certainly deserves a wider release. The movie is a witty view into the development side of television production; a business that continues to pander to the lowest common denominator of entertainment if a project makes money. It also showed how easily even someone with discriminating taste will compromise when seduced by success. Sigorney Weaver gives a hilarous performance worth of an Oscar nomination with some memorable dialouge. David Duchovny does well as a frustrated scriptwriter who runs into an abundance of roadblocks as he must decide if it is better to modifiy his vision to get his show on the airwaves or keep his vision intact and risk that the show will never see the light of day. Ioan Gruffudd does a spot on job playing a BBC executive brought into the network to be the voice of class and finds himself caught up in the desire for adulation and Hollywood success. This is a movie where performance is more important than action and all the performers do an excellent job. Whether it's at your neighborhood theater or if you have to wait until it's out on DVD, The TV Set is worth a view. GG

Haven't figured out how to edit yet, but I thought I should add for those who might be concerned about these things. The TV Set was not rated and had some language and semi-nudity. Just an FYI GG

GG - it's that teeny, tiny button top right of the message (I know, you probably need varifocals like mine to read it!). I don't suppose that's Gruffudd nudity we're talking about? (Thought not, but a girl can hope.......)

Thanks for the review, GG. I don't have much hope I will ever get to see it in a theatre, but it's already on my list of dvds to buy as soon as they are released. :smile:

Thanks Stevie, I figured it out after I added the info and yes I had to wear my super strength lenses. :lol: No, quite sadly it was a flash of David Duchovny's not in prime shape rear :cry: and if I remember correctly clips of some women partially clad. Not much really, but figured there might be a good idea to mention. Frances, I'm afraid not many of us will get to see it before it goes to DVD. I think Lavinia and NattyKay saw it before IOL closed and that's all I remember. Quite sad considering some of the junk that can get wide release. GG

Re: The TV Set - Possible Spoilers
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Yes, I will have to admit, I'm quite addicted. I had to drive nearly as far to see Amazing Grace. The friend I was with really enjoyed it too and she is in her early twenties. Sadly, there were only two other people in the theater, but they both stayed through the credits, so I think they liked it. The theater itself was not very impressive with horrible parking, so that might have scared some people off. I wish they'd play it at a better location and see how well it does. GG

Various curse words are used, but I don't remember it being really frequent like a Tarentino movie. They actually had real dialouge, if you know what I mean. I think the R or NR came because of the highest rated show on their Network was called SL*t Wars. It's used to satirize how low networks are willing to go for money. My travels included crossing the Hood Canal and the Tacoma Narrows bridge and exploring a part of Seattle I've never been to previously. The exploring was purely unintentional. :lol: GG

Evidently David Duchovny gained a little weight for the film, though not as much as they wanted. He also wore a full beard to give him the appearance of more weight. Could have been the angle of the shot, but the flash was used for a laugh as opposed to "Ooooh hot!" as might have been the case in his XFile days. Gaffer's Girl

The TV Set Is Bittersweet Comedy By Mark Davey Monday, 07 May 2007 Film is the grea-*test*-('") art form ever created, incorporating every other medium of art within it. The big screen has always been the perfect canvas for film, but it has always been in a popularity struggle with the television. But there is something about the small screen that is detrimental to the romantic nature of cinema, and The TV Set exposes what may go on behind the scenes of the television world. The comedy tells the story of a TV pilot as it undergoes the process of casting, producing, and airing, while jumping through the hoops of network bureaucracy. David Duchovny, carrying a thick beard and sarcastic personality, plays Mike, the writer of a semi-autobiographical sitcom pilot, trying to get his show on the air. But to do so may require sacrifices he is unsure about making, despite the encouragement of his overenthusiastic manager, played by Judy Greer. To get his pilot on the air, Mike must satisfy a pair of network executives. Sigourney Weaver, who is well cast in the cynical role, plays the big boss. Her assistant, played by Ioan Gruffudd, is somewhat of the good cop of the two, seeming to agree with Mike on most of the crucial issues. The film is written and directed by Jake Kasdan, who has experience in the television business as one of the creators of Freaks and Geeks. He structures the picture in a low-key manner, with a sort of rambling, observational perspective. While it would have been easy for him to make a safe slapstick comedy, his script finds the right balance of wicked humor and a mild sting. http://www.tamnews.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=902&Itemid=77 May 04, 2007 The Painful Truths of 'The TV Set' The laughs are laced with pain in the new bigscreen comedy “The TV Set” that made it to town today. David Duchovny looks a little like Tim Allen in his role as a much-abused TV writer whose dream is to bring to television a series based on his own experience of a family shattered by a brother’s suicide. His passage through pilot season is perilous though not, I imagine, unusual. The suits upstairs want a few changes. They want the kid who plays the lead role broader than the actor the creator really wants. They pick the actress whose “cuteness,” according to a network chief, “doesn’t get in the way of her hotness.” And the suicide part: Isn’t that a little depressing? Any writer worth his salt would bolt right there, but real life isn’t so easy, especially when you’ve got a wife and baby and another one on the way. Practicalities take hold. So the pain continues. Jake Kasdan, writer and director of the lowkey comedy, knows of what he speaks. He was behind “Freaks and Geeks,” the well considered comedy that nonetheless only lasted a season or so. It certainly rang true to me, considering the limited time I’ve spent around TV executives, some of whom look just like Sigourney Weaver. As for Ioan Gruffudd’s character, there’s a lot of Brits involved in cable TV, but not a ton of them in broadcast networks (the fictional one here is not Fox, but the Panda). The notion that they brought him in because of the quality he brought to the BBC is a joke, though. Quality isn’t exactly a commodity hotly sought in networks. The truths of “The TV Set” can also be seen in the kinds of shows TV turns out. Next week, you’ll find out for yourself with the premiere of “Traveler,” a thriller whose watering down is plain to see. Any saga about Americans wrongly accused of terror, with the smallest concern for accuracy, would have used a racially profiled cast. Because that probably didn’t -*test*-('") well, the suspects in “Traveler” are a pair of cute white guys from Yale no less. The producers of that sure-to-fail show. too, like the character Duchovny plays in “The TV Set,” probably had to swallow hard and implement inane suggestions, if only to get their to air in some form, even a ridiculous one. http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2007/05/the_painful_tru.html

Great to read the reviews Annee. Thanks, Gaffer's Girl

Thanks to Blather and Martin. :) Monday, May 7, 2007 The TV Set (Jake Kasdan, 2007) - B Ricky Gervais recently covered this territory to somewhat funnier effect in Extras, but Kasdan's movie is worth a look too. It's a bit mean-spirited in the way it caricatures selectively: Sigourney Weaver's single-minded tv executive is a complete horrorshow, if a funny one ("He's not coming; he had an emergency and had to go to the hospital." "He's not coming?"), while Ioan Gruffud is humanized despite being painted as a similarly ratings-minded tv business superstar; the male and female leads of the show respectively exhibit the same dynamic. It's as if Kasdan took his cast of characters and pitted them against each other, with half being put-upon artists trying to eke out a career in a brutal industry and having to navigate their way around a gaggle of tin-eared buffoons (the other half). Still, great to see Weaver and David Duchovny doing comedy (both are terrific), and though the movie is mostly a blunt instrument, it has some first-rate zingers. Query: If I'm actually curious to watch "Slut Wars," am I part of the problem? http://filmblather.blogspot.com/2007/05/tv-set-year-of-dog.html Monday, May 07, 2007 "The TV Set"---a movie review Currently: Fort Lauderdale, FL 77°F, 41% humidity ° Partly Sunny There are two good things about "The TV Set", the first being Sigourney Weaver and the fact that it wasn't (or as bad) as Spiderman 3! The premise is excellent but it isn't executed entertainingly. Possibly it would be more fun for an 'insider' of what goes on behind the scenes at TV shows but though a lot was familiar to me I don't feel I learned anything new. Sigourney's dad was a big CEO in the early days of television so I assume she knows what goes on behind the scenes as does Jake Kasden, the writer and director of the movie, having been involved as a creator of a TV show called "freaks & Geeks". I admire Sigourney as an actress for her wide range and her ability to get a character across. Here she is a foul mouthed (What is it about a mature woman like Angela Lansbury, currently on stage, using foul language?? Is it suppose to shock?? Suppose to be funny?) version of Faye Dunaway in Network and even hints at the sexual angle. I was disappointed in her performance in this movie, a lot to do with the 'outer' trappings: horrible red hair, angles that made her face look like it had work done--(Or did she, especially her nose?)--almost everything to disguise her beauty except in one quiet scene with her daughter where it shines through. Most of the players are bland including David Duchovny, Judy Greer and Fran Kranz with a couple standing out which includes Ioan Gruffudd and Lindsay Sloane. It has a running time of 90 minutes and, in a rare instance for me, will probably play better on the small screen. I am ready for a good movie after 2 bombs---ohwell, I can always go back to looking at Dreamgirls!! LOL Posted by Greatmartin at 3:59 PM http://greatmartin.blogspot.com/2007/05/tv-set-movie-review.html