Skip to main content

Televisionary Movie Recommendations

And now for something completely different.

I'm constantly asked by readers about what my job is like and what it's like to work within the medium that I love so much. Usually, rather than give them specifics or recount anecdotes interesting only to me, I push them to check out two films which more than anything else completely capture the highs and lows, the ecstasy and frustration that working in television can bring.

One is Jake Kasden's heartbreaking and hilarious indie film, The TV Set (starring David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, and Judy Greer, among a host of others), which should be required viewing for anyone interested in a career in television, whether it be as a development executive, a writer, a producer... or hell, a key grip. Alternately touching and terrifying, it's a brilliant through-the-keyhole look at pilot season, seen through the eyes of writer Mike Klein (Duchovny), whose pilot is picked up by the Panda network and goes through the usual rigors of casting, shooting, and testing. Will it end up on the fall schedule during Upfronts, even as it drives Mike to the brink of insanity and physical pain?

The other is perhaps an odder selection but no less relevant: it's the middle section of John August's mind-blowing metafictional and metaphysical film The Nines (starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, and Hope Davis) entitled "Reality Television." Purportedly about a successful Hollywood writer named Gavin who is the subject of a Project Greenlight-style reality television show documenting his pilot being cast, shot, and tested (sensing a theme here?), it's a biting indictment of the television-making process as a whole, as well as a semi-autobiographical recount of August's own experiences working on his short-lived Dick Wolf series D.C. (which August himself admits caused him to have a sort of break from reality, if he'd actually had time to have a mental breakdown).

In order to get his series, Knowing, on the air, Gavin has to compromise every single one of his values and betray his closest friend, Melissa McCarthy (here playing a variation on herself) in pursuit of that ever-elusive greenlight. Embodying the messed-up system itself is Hope Davis as network executive Susan, a hard as nails, semantics-obsessed suit who seems hell-bent on driving Gavin mad with her notes and suggestions. While it's a brutal look at the industry (complete with a shocking showdown between Gavin and Susan during Upfronts), The Nines is also just a fantastic film that plays with the rules of fictional narrative and storytelling in unexpected ways.

I am curious though: what are your favorite TV-related films? And which are you running to add to your Netflix queue?

Comments

The CineManiac said…
I loved The Nines, it was very, very strange, but the first one that pooped into my mind (along with The TV Set, which I"m dying to see) when i read the beginning of this post.
Also, even though it's not TV I thought of The Player
Anonymous said…
Yay! Two other people who have seen The Nines! For a movie that's so fantastical, the "Reality Television" section is frighteningly, well, real.

I agree with you that these two movies be required viewing for anyone who wants to go into television so they know what they're up against!
Anonymous said…
I have to say, as a self-proclaimed TV Addict I was slightly disappointed with THE TV SET but will definitely check out THE NINES on your recommendation.
Jo said…
I was pleasantly surprised by The Nines but did not enjoy The TV Set as much.

And although it was a cable television series, my first thought was "The Comeback." Watching a washed up sitcom star going through the motions as she tried to revive her career was painful and hilarious, and Lisa Kudrow just nailed it.
ProgGrrl said…
I just happened to watch THE TV SET about a week ago and really liked it (and was slightly depressed by it, of course). What a cast!

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian