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91If only for the comedy glory of Sigourney Weaver as a TV network president who confuses acid reflux with gut instinct, this very smart, very funny movie about the making of a network sitcom is a cut-glass gem of a showbiz conceit.
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91Weaver is hilarious and horrifying.
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88A tart, smart, closely observed satire of the television industry.
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80The TV Set is a little wonder of a movie, as smart and sad and true as any comedy I've seen this year.
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75You'll have major fun at this movie. But what makes it something special is the way Kasdan laces the laughs with a sting.
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75Sigourney Weaver is a riot in the cynical Faye Dunaway network boss role.
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75Wickedly funny.
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75Could almost be a Christopher Guest bridging project--it's essentially Guest's The Big Picture for TV instead of film, though it's structured in the low-key, rambling, observational manner of Guest's later ensemble comedies.
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70It's deftly calibrated and acted with relish: Kasdan is really good!
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The TV Set is wry and true about the messy tangle of art, commerce, and family, as talented creative types try to stay true to themselves and put food on the table. The movie is also a treasure trove of inspired comic personalities.
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70In general, the movie doesn't necessarily reveal anything we don't already know but delivers it in a personable, entertaining manner.
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70At times The TV Set seems to unfold almost entirely without exaggeration.
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70Smart, funny and authentically terrifying. It's a comedy that explains how network television succeeds in being so horribly awful.
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70Often possesses the gimlet-eyed wit of "The Player" or the mock docs of Christopher Guest.
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70Kasdan is shrewd and funny about such things as the ease with which powerful people can mimic, when they need to, the forms of sincerity and concern. The satire is unrelenting but not too broad; it stays close to common observation.
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Full of sharp comedy, the writing and directing is skillful and reminiscent of Kasdan's first two feature-directing efforts, "The Zero Effect" and "Orange County."
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67A pointed satire of the dumbing down of network TV with a sour tone and a broad execution.
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For all its bright writing, TV Set is contrived and predictable, another morality lesson from a poisoned pen telling us what we've heard before.
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63In a way, The TV Set suffers from the same syndrome as the industry it's parodying: bland and compromised, it feels as if it's been fine-tuned and focus-grouped within an inch of its life.
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63The TV Set skewers the television industry in a manner that occasionally feels familiar and at other times is humorously incisive.
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60This is a tepidly amusing film that will offend no one, including those it claims to skewer.
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50Whether outsiders will find much to appreciate in The TV Set is another question because the film fails to provide the thematic resonance of similarly themed predecessors like the brilliant "Network."
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50Results are breezy though toothless, with too much repetition and not enough originality.
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40Various news stories have noted the movie's accuracy, which I don't doubt, but the blanket antipathy makes for a wearying and predictable story.
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38Satire is merciless; it demands that mocker be superior to mockee.
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38Insipid, formulaic and suitable for the dumbed-down sensibilities of lowest-common-denominator couch potatoes.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 5
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Mixed: 0 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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AlanC.3
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KenG.8Sharp, clever, funny, on-the-mark satire, giving insight as to what is wrong with modern day TV.
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AdamB.9