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It may have been ahead of its time and may have faced a premature death on HBO but now the pay
cable network’s short-lived comedy series The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow is getting a second lease of life on Sundance Channel, which has acquired basic cable rights to the show. Created by Kudrow and Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King, The Comeback will make its Sundance Channel premiere on November 23 and will run all 13 produced episodes. Shot in the style of a reality show, The Comeback follows sitcom actress Valerie (Kudrow) through her home life and her career resurgence.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Is this the forerunner to the possibility of more Valerie Cherish with new episodes? This show was way ahead of its time and was (and I don’t use this word lightly) a work of genius. Especially Lisa Kudrow’s performance. She made something that was practically impossible to pull off look easy and was achingly funny as well.
I know this is going to sound a bit off the mark, but I think The Comeback is the best TV show produced in America in the last decade – and it was certainly, ahead of its time. Lisa Kudrow, of course, raised the material a thousand notches by mixing her unique kind of raw vulnerability, brilliant humor and intelligence, but the material (as well as the supporting cast) was also on the spot. This is a masterpiece and one of most painfully revealing works about the nature of showbiz and American culture at large. I also have to say… And no, the show wasn’t cynical or judgmental about its characters. even though Valerie (Lisa Kudrow) goes through some unbearable humiliations, at the end, you’re left with a very human picture of an actress trying to survive in Hollywood-land. This how is a MUST and they should do a second season!
I’m with you guys. With the amount of garbage on TV the fact that this show only got one season is CRIMINAL. Time for HBO to admit they made a big fat mistake. Tell ya what HBO–give The Comeback one more season and I’ll PERSONALLY buy you guys a chocolate fountain,….
We DO wanna see that!
Brilliant show that deserved much better.
Still hold out hopes for another “Comeback.”
I loved this show! It was brilliant, LIsa Kudrow was amazing in this role.
Great show, if you haven’t caught it, you should.
This show was so good. I wish they were making a second season.
If only some network would produce NEW eps. It was the best comedy in the last decade. Bring is back!
David Cross has been trying the same type approach with “Todd Margaret” but not nearly as good or effective. Lisa owns “uncomfortable humor” with this show! C’mon HBO – step up and give this show another chance – it’s as good as any other 1/2 hr you have on the air!
I was hesitant at first, but glad I got into the show since it really was excellent, with countless awesome scenes that made you cringe.
The whole cast was great with Paulie G the writer (just looked it up and the actor was Lance Barber), my favorite of the bunch.
If they made new episodes, I’d watch.
I did like this show. Lisa Kudrow is very funny! Good decision by Sundance Channel. Now if we could get a ‘Deadwood’ season 4 or a proper ‘Carnivale’ last season.
It’s sad how HBO didn’t give a chance to this brilliant show and now, they are giving second seasons to basically all their comedies (How to Make it in America, Bored to Death,…)
I LOVE this show. Lisa Kudrow is scarily brilliant. The finale was genius.
So clever, so achingly human, so damn funny. The best half hour since Lary Sanders on HBO.
I want Sundance to make more!
Comeback? Where’d we go!
Has everyone gone mad? It’s an incredibly overrated show and a complete rip-off of Gervais’ “The Office” in setup and tone.
THANK YOU!! I really don’t know, and couldn’t care less, about the “Office” similarities or not. But good God, let’s stop with the “genius” proclamations. It was an ambitious comedy that missed it’s mark nine out of every ten times. I’m happy for those who enjoyed it (hell, I’m happy for those who enjoy Pizza Hut; they probably enjoy their lives a lot more than I do). But it was a failure of concept, if not also of execution. If the lead character had been half-way decent, and still got repeatedly slapped by the business, that would/could have been interesting. As it was, she was an abomination who deserved everything she got – but, unlike The Office, the show itself seemed to direct the audience’s sympathety toward her. I hated the woman, and therefor disliked the show intensely.
Of course she’s not half-way decent as an actress or human being. And she’s totally oblivious to that fact. That’s what makes her character (like the original Michael Scott) so wonderfully detestable.
It’s not a likable character. But neither is Kenny Powers. But we love him.
Rip-off? Maybe The Office was an influence, but not a rip-off. That’s like saying Ricky Gervais “ripped-off” Christopher Guest’s Waiting For Guffman and Spinal Tap before it.
I liked this show! Laura Silverman played a great seg prod – very accurate to how it is in the field on reality shows.
I was NOT a fan of Kudrow during the “Friends” era. This show, and especially her performance as Valerie Cherish, totally changed my opinion of her and her talents. She absolutely nailed the role with stunning precision.
Doesn’t seem like “The Comeback” ever found its audience, which is a shame. But glad to hear Sundance is giving it a second life!!
(And on a geekboy note, I’m anxious to once again see the episode where Kudrow tries to record her video diary while her husband is loudly shitting in the background…LOL)
I loved Valerie Cherish!
so exciting! I WISH, HOPE, EAT, PRAY, LOVE that they make more episodes. Or give Valerie Cherish a one-off, one woman show. It will be GENIUS!
Fantastic show. You laugh and squirm at the same time. I never watched “Friends” but after seeing this understood all the Kudrow adulation. Her pain is sooo believable and funny. Shout out to the hysterical guy who plays her hairdresser. And Pauly G. is one of the great TV bad guys. Happy we get to revisit it again!
I am such a huge fan of this show. It was definitely ahead of it’s time. Most people I know loved it. I always felt like, if you didn’t love it, you just didn’t get it. Lisa Kudrow was genius, and I can’t think of anyone who could have played that role as well….
I truly enjoyed this show – it was smart and funny. I know a lot of guys who really liked this show, but I’m sure women felt this show in their bones to a certain extent. Sure, Valerie Cherish dealt with problems as an “actress”, but there was a lot of cross-over into the lives of everyday women who aren’t 25 anymore. This was a great show that just got better and better as time went on. (Sad to say, if there were more nudity or sex in this show, HBO probably would have kept it around longer.)
I’m on Zoe’s side. I felt like the whole show was one note. And… Valerie gets screwed. It went on endlessly. And even that one note was seldom funny. I love Lisa Kudrow, but the show just didn’t work. It’s arguably the worst HBO comedy of all time, nudging out Arliss.
I’m not usually one to rally for shows to return after their untimely demise, but this is the one exception. Much like the rest of this show’s fans, I came to the party VERY late (about 3 years after it left the air), but was kicking myself for not getting invested in it sooner. This show was just a few years ahead of its time, and could very conceivably work if it were revived.
I know the overuse of the word brilliant pisses people off, but so be it… because the show was, in fact, BRILLIANT. Kudrow absolutely should have won the acting Emmy the year this show aired.
If you’ve never seen the show, watch it on Sundance (or rent it).
I was an executive producer on network sit-coms in the 80s & 90s. “The Comeback” was the most accurate depiction of what goes on behind the scenes, down to the co-exec’s Yankee cap. This show struck so close to the bone that I was either laughing my ass off or cringing at the past horrors I encountered depicted. The show was pure genius. Glad it’s back. It’s must viewing for anyone who wants a job as a writer or a actor in network TV.
HBO made a real mistake with this show — when they canceled it. It was great. Of course it was awkward, even for HBO, and that’s why, presumably, folks couldn’t take it. It was to HBO what Married WIth Children was to Fox during its run.
This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time! I LOVED the show and hope they give it a second season cuz “I need to SEE that!!!” “Awww babygirl…”