REVIEW
The TV Set – They’re Happy Tears – Honest.

With a tagline of “A place where dreams are cancelled”, The TV Set seemed destined to be sad, depressing and hopeless.

It is . . . but damn is it good. 

Giving a satirical but honest look into the life of a television pilot that is excellent enough to get picked up but not good enough to make it to airtime without being bruised, scraped and battered by the big fist of compromise, The TV Set is so dead on it hurts.  Beginning with aspiring television writer Mike Klein (David Duchovny) nervously awaiting his first casting session, the film follows Klein’s subtly humorous but woefully dubbed Wexler Chronicles through the rigors of casting and the uphill battle of production to a practically unrecognizable format on the air of the fictional PND Television network.  Welcome to the world of television.  Yay! 

Driven by flawlessly drawn and impeccably acted characters, The TV Set beautifully exemplifies the Hollywood the world rarely sees.  David Duchovny is solid, empathetic and heartbreakingly relatable as Mike Klein, the writer who just wants his vision to be realized exactly as it is.  Duchovny is able to make Mike’s endless struggle both heroic and pathetic, inspiring and soul-crushing, triumphant and defeating, and we are left to wonder what makes any writer stick around this town.    

Sigourney Weaver is flawless as Lenny, the powerful but hopeless lame network executive at imaginary PND.  Having recently secured fantastic ratings with the newly minted reality based Slut Wars, the boisterous, uncompromising Lenny demonstrates a delightfully ill-placed belief in her skills, knowledge and self-importance that Yes Men simply flock to.  Weaver pulls off this persona seamlessly, showing just how easy it is for someone who doesn’t have the smarts to work in the industry can end up running it.

Ioan Gruffudd is wonderful as Richard McAllister, a man of principle who, having worked in the British Television scene, has been pulled in to lend some class to US television as the head of primetime programming.  He still has his dreams, his beliefs and his convictions but they are put mightily to the test as he attempts to bridge the gap between Lenny and Mike, between England and America, between his sense of duty and his wife Chloe’s (Lucy Davis) desire for a normal life.

Furthering the feast of caricatures, Judy Greer is perfect as Mike’s slippery-smooth, double-talking manager, Alice.  Greer finely walks the line between placating Mike and doing everything in her power to secure that almighty dollar but as Set progresses, it becomes clear that, like a good deal of managers, Alice’s allegiance leans more towards money than Mike’s convictions.  Sad but once again . . . very true.

Rounding out this delightful cast is Laurel Simon (Lindsey Sloane) the typical Hollywood hottie actress who has worked hard to lose those last four pounds that had kept her from sheer perfection, the outlandish and off-beat geek-turned-actor Zach Harper (Fran Kranz), and Klein’s supporting and “voice of reason” spouting wife Natalie (Justine Bateman).

These beautiful characters swirl around within the confines of a quick and subtly witty script crafted by Writer/Director Jake Kasdan.  Beautifully juxtaposing Klein’s story against that of McAllister, Kasdan keeps Set moving forward and away from the slippery slope of a mere morality tale of a television writer who fights against the big bad system. 

The TV Set does an excellent job of portraying the struggle of entertainment life, the struggle between keeping your ideals, dreams and convictions alive AND paying your outrageous rent, while simultaneously providing a plethora of laughs.  Some laughs spill out from knowledgeable industry professionals who see a reflection of their own bosses or circumstances.  Other laughs stem from the sheer honest wit of the script.  An education or livelihood in the entertainment business is not required to enjoy this flick . . . but it definitely makes everything a bit richer.

Ultimately, The TV Set is subtly and quietly funny and provides a peak, a taste, a glimpse into the sometimes glorious, often times demoralizing world of television.