Review of The TV Set (2007) by Ben L — 29 Mar 2016

The TV Set seems like it was written by someone who literally went through the exact experience that David Duchovny's character struggles with in the film. Every step of the way it feels so authentic and real (by showing how artificial and fake television executives can be.

) Sigourney Weaver was perfect at playing the manipulative force that smiles to your face while stabbing you in the back. I love how clearly the movie shows that a brilliant concept for a TV show can be destroyed as it is adapted from script to screen.

It's a comedy, but unless you work in the TV industry, I doubt it will have you laughing out loud. Instead it will get you to chuckle, in a dark way, because you see how systematically every aspect of a man's dream is ruined.

Most of it made a lot of sense and perfectly served the story, but there were a few elements that were strange detours and probably should have been removed from the film. The most glaring of these was the strange relationship between the two "stars" of the show played by Lindsay Sloane and Fran Kranz.

I couldn't see a purpose to their whole on-and-off attraction because it didn't impact the show they were making at all. But in most ways The TV Set is a very effective movie, and if the premise interests you I can recommend it.

However, for me it started to fall into a genre of film I despise: Movies where everything terrible happens to a very likable main character. The redeeming factor in this movie, and what made it slightly less painful from other films with the lovable loser plot, is that Duchovny isn't all that charming or charismatic so I wasn't crushed when his dream died.

I know it seems odd to appreciate a bland actor, but in this case it worked for me. Your mileage may vary.