The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
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The TV Set
Comedy · 2007
As a writer named Mike struggles to shepherd his semi-autobiographical sitcom into development, his vision is slowly eroded by a domineering network executive named Lenny who favors trashy reality programming. The irony, of course, is that every crass suggestion Lenny makes improves the show's response from test audiences and brings the show a step closer to getting on the air.
Movie details
The TV Set
“A place where dreams are cancelled.”
2007 Comedy 1h 25m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.5 / 10
6.1K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
64 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
65 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
As a writer named Mike struggles to shepherd his semi-autobiographical sitcom into development, his vision is slowly eroded by a domineering network executive named Lenny who favors trashy reality programming. The irony, of course, is that every crass suggestion Lenny makes improves the show's response from test audiences and brings the show a step closer to getting on the air.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The TV Set?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Celeste Talbert is the star of the long-running soap opera "The Sun Also Sets." With the show's ratings down, Celeste's ruthlessly ambitious co-star, Montana Moorehead, and the show's arrogant producer, David Seton Barnes, plot to aggravate her into leaving the show by bringing back her old flame, Jeffrey Anderson, and hiring her beautiful young niece, Lori Craven.
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Jimmy Carr refutes the idea that you can't joke about anything these days with his edgy takes on gun control, religion, cancel culture and consent.
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The eccentric new manager of a UHF television channel tries to save the station from financial ruin with an odd array of programming.
Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable...
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The Roast of Tom Brady
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Offensive lines. Full-contact comedy. Kevin Hart hosts this all-star roast of NFL legend Tom Brady.
Amazon Women on the Moon
Comedy · 1987
Centered on a television station which features a 1950s-style sci-fi movie interspersed with a series of wild commercials, wacky shorts and weird specials, this lampoon of contemporary life and pop culture skewers some of the silliest spectacles ever created in the name of entertainment.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jake Kasdan
Written by
Jake Kasdan
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
Court is in session
Put The TV Set on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.