If The TV Set were a TV series, you'd think it was a rerun. But it's a film about TV, notably an earnest writer named Mike (David Duchovny) who pushes a pilot for a drama inspired by his brother's suicide.
Its name?
The Wexler Chronicles. Not Who's the Boss? Not Bosom Buddies?
Hey, this sounds more like highbrow PBS fare than the broad strokes of PDN ("the Panda"), a network that bends over backward for mass-market compromises.
From boardrooms to soundstages, Mike has no chance among its shifty sharks, which gives The TV Set a numbing inevitability. Its gallows humor and inside jokes work well enough, but mostly the film isn't funny so much as painfully predictable.
From Network to TV's Action and Entourage, Mike's torturous road has been trod too many times. In effect, The TV Set is a clich e d film about a man trying to avoid clich e s.
That's not to say it lacks rewards, the best being Sigourney Weaver.
She plays Lenny, a hyperobsessed network chief who worships broad appeal while paying lip service to creative zeal.
As the daughter of a former NBC president, Weaver knows the vibe of network number crunchers, and her character, while overplayed, feels real.
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