The TV Set is rather innocuously titled. I received a promo copy of the film in a simple white envelope with no cover art. Hmmm. I looked at it, wondering just what was contained within the shiny surface of the disk. For a time I set it aside as I worked through the pending pile of titles to review.

Along the way I saw a trailer for this on some other disk, I don't remember which. What I do remember is that the trailer caught my eye. First off it featured David Duchovny, a face seemingly absent from the screen (big or small) for some time. Secondly The TV Set showed what it was about, and it attracted me. The trailer did its job and got me interested in watching the movie. Now I have taken the plunge and dived into this simply titled, unassuming little film and have come out better for the experience. It did not blow the doors off my house, but it did make an impression. This is well worth your time.

Set within the cutthroat, compromise-is-king, artistic-integrity-be-damned world of television, The TV Set chronicles the development of a television pilot. It is a fact that there are hundreds of shows pitched each year. Of these, dozens get made, and of those dozens a handful are chosen to be inserted into the television lineup. Those of us on the outside of the biz generally only get exposed to those that get picked up.

It is appropriate that this DVD is being released at this time of year, coinciding with the start of the new television season. Knowing all of this whittling that occurs, it has to make you wonder how something like Cavemen got past the pilot phase and was actually picked up. Then again, it must just point to some executive falling in love with the concept and forcing it along despite all reasonable thought. But that is neither here nor there, this movie is not about Cavemen, it is about the general process of pilot creation, and it treats the subject in a lightly satirical fashion.

David Duchovny stars as Mike. Mike is the creative mind behind a potential show called The Wexley Chronicles. He is in the final stage of getting the green light to move forward and actually make the pilot. Obviously, they get the green light and make the pilot. They take the pilot and move towards the possibility of getting picked up. While the movie is structured around the making of the show, that is not really what it is about.