What is it? The Comeback, Complete Series, 21 episodes on four discs from HBO Home Video
How much? $19.98
When? Tuesday
Who’s making a comeback? Valerie Cherish (Lisa Kudrow). And she makes two, actually.
Back in the 1990s, she became a TV star on I’m It!, a workplace sitcom that ran for four seasons. Since then, she has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth as far as Hollywood is concerned.
But then she gets a chance to return to the big time. She lands a supporting role in the network sitcom Room and Bored with one stipulation — that she must agree to be the focus of a “reality” series called The Comeback. So a film crew follows her around, chronicling her return to the business (and providing cross-promotion for the new sitcom).
Valerie’s beloved best friend/hair stylist Mickey (Robert Michael Morris) is in her corner and she has a great relationship with her young costar, up-and-comer Juna (Malin Akerman), but Valerie soon learns that this second chance at stardom might not be all it’s cracked up to be.
The Comeback’s producer, Jane (Laura Silverman), is manipulative. One of the sitcom’s showrunners, Paulie G (Lance Barber), hates her and makes her work life miserable. Her husband, businessman Mark (Damian Young), loves her, but neither likes nor understands showbiz.
Season 2 picks up almost 10 years later with Valerie once again being followed by film crews and getting another shot at a TV role, this one a part written by Paulie G and based on their experiences with Room and Bored. But her crumbling marriage and Mickey’s faltering health complicate her possible jump to the top.
What’s it like? Uncomfortable to the extreme. Valerie frequently finds herself in humiliating situations, so if that’s not your idea of funny, stay away.
Most of the series is “raw footage” the film crew captures for The Comeback “reality” show. That means hand-held cameras and lots of awkwardness as the characters alternately put on a front for the cameras and forget they’re there. It also means that the audience doesn’t get to see the finished, edited product until later episodes.
The series functions as a scathing satire of the entertainment industry, particularly its ageism, sexism, manipulation of the public and the often cruel side of the business. To add to the realism, there are numerous in-jokes, references to real-life TV shows and appearances by actors and celebrities such as Seth Rogen, Jay Leno, Sean Hayes and Conan O’Brien.
Valerie is the center of the show, but she’s not always easy to love. She’s egotistical, insecure and tries way too hard, leading more often than not to embarrassment. But there is something touchingly vulnerable and lovable about Valerie, which makes her failures that much more painful and her triumphs more affecting. Kudrow is a pro who throws herself into the part with gusto. Traces of Phoebe Buffay (the role she played for 10 years on Friends) remain, but on the whole, Valerie Cherish stands apart.
Who would be interested? Fans of Kudrow, people who love inside stories about Hollywood, fans of uncomfortable humor and mockumentaries.
Are there extras? Episode commentaries, deleted scenes and a five-minute bit with Valerie and Mickey backstage at Dancing With the Stars.
New this week: The Affair, Season 1; How to Get Away With Murder, Season 1; I Love Lucy, Season 2; Last Tango in Halifax, Season 3; The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Season 1; Orphan Black, Season 3; Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show, Season 3; Strike Back, Season 3.
Next week: 2 Broke Girls, Season 4; Dig, Season 1; Hell on Wheels, Season 4; The Jeffersons, Season 8; The Knick, Season 1; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Season 16; Maude, Season 2; Person of Interest, Season 4; Scandal, Season 4.