Underplayed Gems

The Comeback (2005)

The Comeback poster
Directed by
David Steinberg, Clark Mathis, Greg Mottola, Michael Patrick King
Genre
sitcom
Country
United States
Length
3 seasons, 29 episodes
Rated
TV-MA
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 72 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A former sitcom star tries to revive her career by agreeing to star in a new sitcom and letting a camera crew film her life. The series shows her struggles with a degrading role and clueless network executives from her own viewpoint.

satiricalcomedicmetacringeawkwardobservationalbitingself-aware

What happens

The Comeback is an American sitcom produced by HBO. The series stars Lisa Kudrow as sitcom actress Valerie Cherish in modern-day Los Angeles, and was created by Kudrow herself in collaboration with Michael Patrick King, a former executive producer of Sex and the City. Kudrow and King additionally serve as screenwriters and executive producers of the series, with King also having directed several episodes. The series originally aired for a single season of 13 episodes from June 5 to September 4, 2005, before being canceled. Nine years later, The Comeback was revived for a second season of eight episodes that aired from November 9 to December 28, 2014. Ten years later, it was renewed for a third and final season, also with eight episodes, that premiered on March 22, 2026, with the series finale airing on May 10, 2026. The Comeback is a satirical and comedic look inside the entertainment television industry. It was shot by a two-camera crew. The first season is presented as found footage shot for the fictional reality show within the series, also called The Comeback. The second season is presented as found footage shot by a camera crew originally commissioned by Valerie to pitch a pilot to noted reality TV producer Andy Cohen, later repurposed as behind the scenes web content, and then into a full-scale documentary. The third season is presented as a mix of single-camera scenes and found footage shot by returning filmmaker Jane Benson, with social media and digital and security footage of Valerie's role in an AI-written sitcom also utilized. The show has received mass critical acclaim, with particular praise for the writing and Kudrow's performance, which has received three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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