| MATRIX | Movie series set inside a simulated reality, with "The" |
| TICKETYTOC | Animated series set inside a clock (7,3) |
| FACTUALLY | In accordance with reality, with or without leading female (9) |
| HALLOWEEN | Our star's horror movie series set on October 31 |
| AGE | "Ice ___" (movie series set in prehistoric times) |
| ESCAPISM | Avoidance of reality with Conservative in impasse, unfortunately (8) |
| TRON | 1982 Disney movie set inside a mainframe computer |
| ROOTS | House band for "The Tonight Show," with "The" |
| ITCLUB | L.A. jazz venue where Thelonious Monk recorded a live album, with "the" |
| OJAYS | "Love Train" group, with "The" |
| SMITHS | "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" band, with "The" |
| MALL | "Chopping ___" (1986 horror film set inside a retail complex) |
| SOPRANOS | #1 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" list, with "The" |
| ROOM | 2003 cult film known as the "'Citizen Kane' of bad movies," with "The" |
| OLDS | Parents and grandparents, in slang, with "the" |
| LEGOMOVIE | 2014 animated film whose protagonist, aptly, is a construction worker, with "The" |
| SIMS | Popular game with virtual people, with "The" |
| ONION | Publication with the spin-off site Clickhole, with "The" |
| RECESSED | Set inside a wall |
| THICKET | Abundant sets inside a dense clump of shrubs (7) |
