12 years after the beloved comedy The Comeback last satirized the entertainment industry, the HBO show is poised to make a comeback of its own.
Actor and producer Dan Bucatinsky told Obsessed: The Podcast host Kevin Fallon that he “never intended” for his show’s three seasons to span 21 years.
“Even though that wasn’t the intention, the gift it’s given us is the ability to check in on the same character as she has grown over decades—with the same amount of drive and the same amount of spirit and ambition—but with major changes in the way the entertainment industry is being run,” Bucatinsky, 60, said.
The Comeback premiered in 2005 to address the 00s ‘threat’ of reality TV from the perspective of wannabe superstar Valerie Cherish, played by Friends alum Lisa Kudrow, 62, directly after her historic sitcom wrapped.
The show’s original pitch, Bucatinsky said, was to “show people the unedited raw footage of this actress getting an opportunity at her comeback.”
Now, 12 years after its second season aired, the mockumentary-style show has its sights set on modern Hollywood.
“There’s been a strike. The looming evil of AI is now the biggest threat to writers,” Bucatinsky said, who plays Kudrow’s publicist on the show. “To get to see that threat 10 years later through the eyes of a character that we’ve come to love is a real gift that I don’t think any of us predicted until we got to do it.”
The Comeback puts Cherish in increasingly cringeworthy situations as her boundless ambition butts heads with her people-pleasing demeanor.
“We’re used to watching characters who are ruthless,” Kudrow’s long-time producing partner said. “We know people like that. We have a nation that’s run by people who behave that way.”
But Cherish, Bucatisnky noted, is different.
“She doesn’t ever sacrifice the feelings of another person. She doesn’t take anybody down in the pursuit of what she wants,” he said.
In the same interview, Bucatisnky shared how Jennifer Lopez once saved him from embarrassment in front of his mother, the phrases from the show he uses in his real life, and the actress he wants to see make a comeback.
Through Kudrow, who earned two Emmy nominations for the role, the show examines and critiques the entertainment industry as it unfolds. Its first two seasons saw Cherish, a once-notable sitcom actress, attempt to ride the waves of reality TV and then prestige television. Now, her quest for stardom forces her to lead an AI-written sitcom.
“I don’t want to say it’s an evil,” Bucatisnky said of AI, which has become a hot-button issue in Hollywood. “It’s a reality that she has to face. It’s a reality that probably all of us need to face. And this season, we certainly explore the ways in which that bumps up against the things she wants, as well as not wanting it to make waves.”
“Now, the show has taken on an ability to comment on how the entertainment industry impacts one individual person,” Bucatisnky added.
The Comeback will return to HBO in March. All previous episodes are available to stream on HBO Max.
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