THE TV SET (2007) *** David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Fran Kranz, Lindsay Sloane, Justine Bateman, Lucy Davis, Willie Garson, M.C. Gainey, Philip Baker Hall, Andrea Martin.

Tart Satire of TV; Duchovny Gives Great Deadpan

Jake Kasdan's latest satire, "THE TV SET", is a pitch perfect , dead-on depiction of the myopic vision of American television which has become a vast wasteland of so-called 'reality' shows and mean-spirited game shows when in essence, the true pillars of its foundation, the scripted format is on the wane. Never before has a sharp-edged black comedy been needed to poke at the underbelly of the medium than now.

The filmmaker cut his teeth on TV including the much critically lauded, hastily dispatched "Freaks & Geeks, that his insider voice is on full display for biting the hand that fed him and for rubbing its ilk in the mess its created.

To wit: veteran scribe Mike Klein (Duchovny giving deadly dead-pan, is a study in noble rot) is desperately trying to get his current project "The Wexler Chronicles", a dramedy based in part of his real-life brother's suicide's affect on him, past the pilot stage for the fictitious Panda Network (think CW lite) and the biggest hurdle is vacuous, yet tenaciously 'my way or the highway' Lenny (Weaver, a dry riot),a harpy in a suit, who is not Mike's biggest fan but has her current junior exec Richard McAllister (Gruffudd in a modulated turn of a decent guy in a deceptive business),a Brit late of the BBC, whose come to LA for the network to give a fresh perspective on the new crop of shows for the seasonal line-up. He too is hedging his bets but mostly due to his domestic dilemma of not being there for his family while juggling the powers that be with the promising sitcom-to-be.

Mike is plagued not only with the cluelessness of the execs but is shortchanged when he is forced to go with his second choice for the show's lead character, Zach Harper (newcomer Kranz, suggesting a lame-brained Jake Gyllenhaal); an inept director (Garson); his airhead manager Alice (Greer) who backpedals everything thrown her way; his pregnant wife (Bateman making a nice return to film here) his only support system but a constant reminder of the price of failure; and one lulu of a recurring, crippling back ailment.

Kasdan layers everything with a touch of stinging wit, caustic dialogue, and unbelievable accuracy of how some people truly are so incredibly dense to the matters of the creative process it's a true wonder how the hell they got so far (let alone dressed themselves in the morning and made the effort at a daily life!) Duchovny's Mike Klein, behind a thatch of itchy/scratchy beard as a mask of indifference to what is thrown at him knowing ultimately he will have to acquiesce at basically every power play and sign his soul away to get his baby on the air; truly soul-crushing to watch one's lifetime dream become a living nightmare.

While not a classic like "The Player" or even "Network" the film works on its own merits by not caving in to be likable either; Lenny wouldn't have it any other way.

Mike Klein (David Duchovney) is trying to produce a TV show he's written. And, while the network folks SAY they love the idea, the vacuous idiot from programming (Signourney Weaver) does her best to slowly destroy all that is original and brilliant and reduce it to yet another banal sit-com.

I read a book some time ago that talked about the creative process by which movies are made in Hollywood. Essentially, a story is written, re-written and changed so much that by the time the film gets to theaters, if at all, it's absolutely nothing like the original story. This, then, is very much like you see in "The TV Set", as a very good television show idea is created and how, over time, idiots manage to destroy everything that made it so good.

The story is very insightful and clever....and a must for TV/movie buffs. My only reservation is that some folks will not like the movie because it lacks a happy ending. Some others might not like it as well because the film calls out crap TV...and those who LIKE crap TV might be offended....though offending folks like that is hardly a problem.

Mike Klein (David Duchovny) is pitching a new TV show based on his brother's real life suicide. Only manager Alice (Judy Greer) seems to be on his side. Everything goes wrong except the show keeps getting picked up. He doesn't get his choice of lead actor with the very broad Zach (Fran Kranz). Network heads Richard McCallister (Ioan Gruffudd) and Lenny (Sigourney Weaver) keeps changing his vision. His pregnant wife Natalie (Justine Bateman) isn't easy either with her fears of losing the job, and it's all giving him back pains.

This reminds me of Robert Altman's 'The Player' with all the inside ball and Hollywood cameos. Except this one seems to be trying a little too hard. Written and directed by Jake Kasdan, he certainly has all the inside info that's needed. However it actually feels like a TV show of the real TV world. Kasdan needs to hold back on some of the all encompassing TV world. The movie needs to get the audience to relate to it with a story that has a life outside of the TV world. This is way too insular. It may be more interesting for industry people than regular folks. The other big problem is that I found the TV show really boring and tiresome. It grinds the movie down.