The TV Set (2006)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.8/10   

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Guionista (WGA):

Jake Kasdan (written by)

Género:

Comedia | Drama

Frase comercial:

A place where dreams are canceled

Plot:

The story of a TV pilot as it goes through the Network TV process of casting, production and finally airing.

Plot Keywords:

Assistant | Focus Group | Pregnancy | Fart | Director

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Knowing spoof of theTV business

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 8	3:30 AM	SHOW
Fri. July 10	11:00 AM	SHOW

Reparto

David Duchovny	...	Mike Klein
Sigourney Weaver	...	Lenny
Ioan Gruffudd	...	Richard McCallister
Judy Greer	...	Alice
Fran Kranz	...	Zach Harper
Lindsay Sloane	...	Laurel Simon
Justine Bateman	...	Natalie Klein
Lucy Davis	...	Chloe McCallister
Willie Garson	...	Brian
M.C. Gainey	...	Hutch
Wendle Josepher	...	A.D.
Philip Rosenthal	...	Exec. #1 / Cooper (as Phil Rosenthal)
David Doty	...	Exec. #2 / Rose
Matt Price	...	Exec. #3 / Berg
Simon Helberg	...	TJ Goldman

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Duración:

88 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

USA:R | Australia:M

Locaciones de Filmación:

Beverly Center - 8500 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Compañía:

TV Set Holding Company, The

Trivialidades:

In this movie, Sigourney Weaver plays a television network president. Weaver's father, Sylvester ("Pat") Weaver, was for many years president of NBC; the writer and director of TV Set, The (2006), Jake Kasdan, was a producer and writer on "Freaks and Geeks" (1999), which aired on NBC (albeit many years after Pat Weaver's retirement).

Citas:

Mike: If I don't worry about the content in my show, then I'm part of the problem. I'm making the world more mediocre!
Alice: I think that you're overstating the situation just a little bit.
Mike: But you've never seen "Taxi Driver"!
Alice: I am going to rent "The Taxi Driver", okay?

Conexiones de Película:

References Taxi Driver (1976)

Banda de Sonido:

Television Set

Knowing spoof of theTV business

Die-hard fans of network television are sure to get a kick out of "The TV Set," a rib-tickling parody about the making (and possible unmaking) of a TV pilot. Mike Klein (David Duchovny) is the writer who has high hopes for his new dark comedy series entitled "The Wexley Chronicles" - until, that is, he sees the purity of his artistic vision becoming increasingly compromised the longer the filming goes on. Klein views his creation as a cutting-edge mixture of comedy and tragedy, but the powers-that-be seem to have their own concept of where it ought to be heading (i.e., the tragedy is too depressing and the comedy needs to be kicked up a notch or two if the show is to have any chance of achieving broad popular appeal). The foremost liability is that, against his better judgment and strenuous protestations, Klein has been saddled with an actor, Zach Harper, who's a scenery-chewing ham if ever there was one (whom, naturally, the show's ham-fisted producers feel is just perfect for the role). In short, Klein finds his work being undermined and sabotaged every step of the way by bottom-line corporate executives, intrusive producers, sycophantic underlings, temperamental performers, fence-sitting decision-makers, knob-turning test-audiences, and even a pregnant wife who, though supportive of Klein's vision, keeps insisting he hang in there for the sake of the baby on the way.

"The TV Set" succeeds primarily because it has been conceived more as a gentle spoof than as a full-throttled, rip-everything-to-shreds farce. As such, it resists the temptation to go more broad and over-the-top than it needs to in its comedy, thereby allowing us to relate more fully with the characters. Basing the film in part on some of his own personal experiences in the business, writer/director Jake Kasdan has written a sly script filled with subtle humor, laugh-out-loud moments and cunning insight into all the behind-the-scenes compromising that goes into the making of a TV show.

The film is further buoyed by its sharp and delightful cast, consisting of Duchovny (his face all but buried under a bushy beard), Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Fran Kranz, Lindsay Sloane, Justine Bateman and Philip Baker Hall. Sigourney Weaver deserves special recognition for her juicy turn as the producer whose ratings-driven ruthlessness is barely hidden beneath a thin veneer of faux caring and sweetness (think of this as a somewhat toned-down version of Faye Dunaway's character in "Network").

"The TV Set" makes it clear that's it's hard for any artist to keep true to his principles in a cutthroat industry where business generally comes ahead of art, and where the lowest-common denominator often serves as the sole criterion for deciding which series will be green-lighted and which will be stopped dead in their tracks. But it does so in such a lighthearted, tweaking sort of way that it prevents any potential bitterness or rancor from slipping into the tone.