If you were to ask me what my favourite genre of television is, firstly I’d say: thank you for taking an interest in my interests! Most people just talk about themselves. And then I’d say: it is, of course, the genre of “complicated female lead in a show that was axed too soon but then developed a cult following online”. Notable examples include Freaks and Geeks, Enlightened and the pinnacle, my favourite, drumroll … The Comeback.
Co-created in 2005 by a fresh-from-Friends Lisa Kudrow and a fresh-from-Sex and the City Michael Patrick King, it’s brutal TV satire and a cringeworthy character study par excellence. Kudrow, herself a former star of a network sitcom, stars as Valerie Cherish, former star of a (fictional) network sitcom, I’m It!.
Meta, I know. And it just keeps getting better.
We first meet Valerie on the day of a screen test for a role in a new network sitcom, Room and Bored (the show’s terrible name is only the tip of the hacky-sitcom-writing-iceberg being sledged here). But hold on to your horses; Room and Bored isn’t the only show that Valerie’s starring in. The real show, and the one that we, the audience, are situated in, is a new reality show, The Comeback, following the faded ex-sitcom star as she makes her big comeback on a network sitcom. Phew.
In a nutshell: The Comeback is a sitcom starring an ex-sitcom star as an ex-sitcom star, making her comeback in a new sitcom inside a reality show called The Comeback. Capiche?
In Valerie, Lisa Kudrow has created one of those fully formed priceless diamonds of a character. Multifaceted, complex and constantly performing for the camera, she’s a phoney LA has-been, all smug namaste bows and passive aggressive platitudes: “I need to know I’m being heard.”
But Valerie’s is a sharp emotional turning circle – and as she swings from blustery fake to vulnerable verge-of-tears, you can never quite settle on whether you’re rooting for her or not.
Antihero and gay icon, Valerie is a true and pure comic creation surrounded by a perfect supporting cast: her delightful hairstylist Mickey (played by the late, great Robert Michael Morris – the part was written for him); the gruff and ever-present reality TV director Jane (Laura Silverman, yup, Sarah’s sister); and the villainous misogynist sitcom writer Paulie G (the pitch perfect Lance Barber). Oh I love them so.
The performances are *chefs kiss emoji*, but to me, the real genius of The Comeback is its writing. The entire show is formatted as raw footage from the reality show, and with Valerie central to every shot, the way that the story is told around her is exhilarating. We’re fed information through strategic mirror shots, overheard mutterings and one-sided phone conversations. The mic catches whispered asides – “Jane, did that room smell like pot to you?” – and we only see Valerie’s heavily constructed mask slip when she thinks she’s hit the stop button on her personal video diary.
As Valerie – desperate for fame – is demoted from “sexy single” to “Aunt Sassy” and humiliated by the writers, the show offers a biting commentary of the entertainment industry, and a brilliant dissection of reality TV well ahead of its time. This is pre-Kardashians and pre-Housewives, when reality TV was still something of a novelty.
Perhaps it was too ahead of it’s time; after a difficult reception, the show was cancelled after one season. “The feedback from that first season was that it was really hard to watch,” Kudrow has said. “I think for men especially it was really uncomfortable. I was aware that it was mainly straight, white guys who couldn’t watch it.”
Or perhaps we just didn’t deserve Valerie Cherish.
But, lucky us: to add another meta layer to this satire trifle, the show itself made its own comeback. Ten years after it aired, it finally got a second season – and it’s that rare kind of sequel that’s possibly even better than the first. Season two sees Valerie playing herself as the villain in Paulie G’s new HBO prestige drama chronicling the painful taping of Room and Bored. Of course Jane’s there too – filming another reality production. And Lisa Vanderpump even makes an appearance.
It’s perfect satire, funny as hell and surprisingly emotional. If you haven’t seen The Comeback, get out of here. Go watch The Comeback, OK? I need to know I’m being heard.