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LISA KUDROW WAS one of the standout stars of the much-loved 1990s sitcom Friends, playing the quirky Phoebe with sweetness and charm.
When the series ended in 2004, the big question was what each of the six Friends stars would do next. For Kudrow, it was becoming the lead in the HBO comedy The Comeback.
Unlike Friends, The Comeback has clearly had a slower run, with large gaps between each of the seasons. Case in point: it has just kicked off its third and final season. But it’s built up a reputation as a cult comedy which astutely skewers contemporaneous issues in the US entertainment industry.
Interested in checking it out? Here’s what you need to know about The Comeback.
What’s it about?
The first season of The Comeback was Kudrow’s return to TV after Friends. It debuted in 2005, while season two debuted in 2014.
The series was co-created by Kudrow and her longtime friend Michael Patrick King. Yes, the same guy who was behind Sex and the City and And Just Like That.
At the centre of The Comeback is Valerie Cherish, a character that Kudrow came up with while part of the improv group The Groundlings (though the character initially didn’t have a name).
As Kudrow told The Guardian about Valerie’s origins:
“She’s really phoney,” Kudrow says. “She’s so desperate to be in the spotlight, and she’s missed it so much. She had this weird, continental-ish, theatre-y accent.”
Valerie Cherish is a lot more sympathetic than that description, and is played by Kudrow as someone who has to keep up a happy face even when things are going down the toilet. In series one, she’s a B-list actress whose biggest hit was a role I’m It!, a sitcom that ran from 1989 – 1993.
For over a decade afterwards she struggles to get back in the spotlight, until 2005 when she’s cast in a new sitcom called Room and Bored. This is when The Comeback kicks off.
Valerie thinks she’s going to be playing a ‘slightly older’ roommate on the show, alongside actors in their thirties. She turns up to discover the other women are in their 20s, and is later told she’ll be playing the very un-glamorous ‘Aunt Sassy’ character.
At the same time, she’s filming a reality show about her comeback (hence the title), and the raw footage from this makes up a lot of the show. We see that Valerie is tenacious and determined, but also a little vulnerable behind the scenes. She’s at the whims of the entertainment industry and not treated well because of her age. The mockumentary tone here is a little like Curb Your Enthusiasm, with awkward moments a-plenty for Valerie.
Her big supports are her husband Mark Berman (Damian Young) and her makeup artist best friend Mickey Deane (Robert Michael Morris). Morris has sadly since passed away.
The series has included cameos from people like Andy Cohen, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien.
What about the second series?
The Comeback season one lasted for 13 episodes, and got a mixed response initially. But it’s been heavily praised in recent years and become a cult hit.
In the second season (aired in 2014), Valerie is trying to make her own reality TV show, reflecting the growth in popularity of reality TV since the first season. She’s then cast as a fictionalised version of herself on a series called Seeing Red on HBO, and we watch as this series impacts on her personal life.
Each series of The Comeback reflects issues in the entertainment industry. For example in season one, the writer of Room and Bored, Paulie G, treats Valerie badly, which highlights issues women experience in the screen industry.
Said Kudrow:
“The show is the closest thing to my experience in writing rooms, with male energy and the sophomoric madness that happens when people are trapped, trying to do a series.”
Meanwhile, Seeing Red reflects the move to ‘prestige TV’ that happened in the 2010s.
The Comeback also looks at what people are willing to do to become famous, or at least maintain their fame.
“Valerie is my cautionary tale of choosing fame over family,” Michael Patrick King told The Guardian.
What’s this latest season about?
When the third season opens, the 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike is ongoing and Valerie is starring in a run of Chicago as Roxie Hart.
But things aren’t going well and she quickly leaves it to try and find a new role. Meanwhile, her husband is part of a series called Finance Guys.
Valerie then gets a role in a new series – but it turns out it is secretly written by an AI chatbot. This gives a chance for the show to explore the ongoing fears in the entertainment business about AI writers and actors, and what sort of impact it could have on the industry (which was a big impetus for the writers’ strike). Once again, The Comeback finds itself at the forefront of using comedy to dig into some pretty serious issues.
There’s also an Irish connection in the latest season, as the actor Andrew Scott stars as network head Brandon.
As it’s the final season, the big question is whether Valerie (at 60), can get the respect she deserves in the entertainment industry, and if she can get achieve peace with her level of fame. Whatever happens, it’ll be a fun ride watching her strive to get there.
Where can I watch it?
You can watch the first two seasons of The Comeback in full on NOW TV.
Series three is being rolled out weekly on Wednesdays at 9pm on Sky Comedy and available to stream weekly on NOW TV.
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