Modified On May 4, 2006
“TV Set,” Jake Kasdan’s “precisely observed portrait of the television pilot process” debuted at the Tribeca Film Fest last weekend. Mentioned here because standup comic Judd Apatow is listed as a co-exec producer (along with Jake’s old man Lawrence).
And because who among us doesn’t find the pilot process fascinating? Gut-wrenching, but fascinating nonetheless. (The car wreck analogy is overused, dontcha think? And the manufacture of pilots is not an accident or a violent collision between two fast-moving vehicles. It is a slow-motion disaster, repeated over and over, with eye-popping piles of cash burned up. We can’t keep our eyes off it!)
Frank Scheck of the Hollywood Reporter didn’t much like the movie. He sniffs:
Writer-director Kasdan, a TV industry veteran, knows his territory well and has translated his experiences with an obvious verisimilitude… But ultimately the proceedings have little more than minor emotional impact, and the comedy lacks the satirical brilliance necessary to provide much of interest to those not already involved in the television industry.
We’re willing to bet that he’s wrong. We think folks will watch it and have an epiphany– “So that‘s why television sucks so bad!” (Plus, we’re automatically annoyed at anyone who isn’t a college writing professor who works the word “verisimilitude” into his prose. Don’t bother looking it up. Just substitute “truthiness.” Our nod to Stephen Colbert.)
We liked the junior Kasdan’s “Zero Effect,” and were disappointed when it didn’t strike gold– and birth a succession of sequels.