The Comeback Review: Lisa Kudrow's Return Lacks Laughs in AI Satire
It has been 21 years since audiences first met the self-absorbed television star Valerie Cherish in the industry satire The Comeback. Now, as Lisa Kudrow reprises her role for a third season, the results are woefully unfunny, and it is not just due to the AI script at the heart of the plot. This long-awaited return struggles to recapture the sharp wit and awkward charm that defined the series in its earlier years.
A Legacy of Satire and Evolution
Valerie Cherish has often been compared to Alan Partridge, with both characters serving as narcissistic figures clinging to past glories while navigating the shifting landscapes of entertainment. Steve Coogan's Partridge debuted 32 years ago, satirising everything from local radio to podcasting, while Kudrow's Cherish first appeared in 2005, returning for a second season in 2014 and now this latest instalment. Both act as prisms through which their creators critique the ever-changing media world, but The Comeback has lost its edge in this new chapter.
The series began as a twin spoof of studio sitcoms and reality TV, co-created by Kudrow and Michael Patrick King. Season one focused on a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Cherish's return to work in a trashy comedy called Room and Bored, while season two saw her gain acclaim in a dark dramedy. This meta and prescient approach has been a hallmark, but season three falters as it grapples with contemporary issues like AI and streaming trends.
AI and the Decline of Humour
In the new season, Valerie Cherish is enjoying semi-retirement, dabbling in podcasting and social media, when she is offered the lead in a traditional sitcom called How's That?. The twist is that the script is secretly written by a large language model, a premise that taps into real-world concerns from the 2023 US writers' strikes. However, The Comeback fails to mine this setup for laughs. The AI occasionally errs, such as randomly relocating the character to prison, but it generally produces competent, albeit generic, jokes suited to multi-camera shows.
Rather than satirising lazy comedy, the series becomes a love letter to human-made sitcoms, arguing that AI's crime is not its derivative output but its displacement of human creativity, leading to apocalyptic unemployment in Los Angeles. This message, however, is delivered with a lack of humour, making the satire feel toothless and overly sentimental.
Structural Flaws and Character Changes
The original The Comeback excelled with its mock-documentary format, presenting raw footage that highlighted Cherish's awkward interactions. Season three maintains this device but with dwindling justification, as the concept of a reality show following a middle-aged sitcom actor seems outdated. The show also inconsistently switches in and out of mock-doc mode, disrupting the narrative flow.
Moreover, Valerie Cherish has undergone a significant transformation. Once a sharp-elbowed has-been akin to Partridge, she is now a reformed character, universally praised by everyone she meets. Her perma-smile and verbal ticks, like incessant "you knows" and "rights," replace compelling dialogue, turning her interactions into exercises in trite sentimentality. This shift strips the character of her monstrous appeal, leaving little room for the biting satire that once defined the series.
A Humourless Meditation on Comedy
The Comeback has always been more of a meditation on comedy than a straightforward comedy itself, but this return is essentially devoid of humour. The protagonist's lack of edge, combined with a toothless satire and sentimental tone, results in a disappointing watch. While it aims to be a heartfelt paean to an artform battered by modernity, it ultimately fails to inspire confidence in the future of comedy or the series itself.
The third season of The Comeback aired on Sky Comedy and is available on Now in the UK and HBO Max in Australia, but it may leave fans longing for the sharper, more awkward days of Valerie Cherish's past.
