Rewatching season 2 of "The Comeback"

The Comeback, seasons 1 & 2, are both fantastic, funny and poignant in the perfect balance.

It's perfect.

I just re-watched the first episode and am not sure if I'm going to be able to continue--so real and close to the bone.

Even though the seasons were a decade apart, they mesh so well together. And the ending is perfect.

In season two, I grew to get a kick out of the nepo baby who’s part of the crew.

They had an idea for Season 3 that never came to fruition. Valerie Cherish was gonna make her Bway debut, and there was actually gonna be some kind of faux show with Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish in, (and I can't remember if there was an actual show or if they hadn't come up with that part of the concept yet). It would have been quite innovative in how they would have extended the 3rd wall.

I do hope that this show comes back someday. Lisa as never said NO. She has always been open. I have not heard her talk about The Comeback in a while though...

The 2nd season was even better than the first- which itself is a feat.

This is in my Top 5 shows ever- up there with The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Industry.

What I like is that there is so much subtext and so many layers to Valerie and the writing that you can rewatch this show endlessly and always find something new.

Just love it and i love Lisa. (And I fucking HATED Friends)

The Comeback is one of the best shows ever

Lance Barber played such a 180 degree character in Young Sheldon that it's hard to believe it's the same actor.

The ending of season 2 made me cry embarrassingly hard.

R9 Yes, it was brilliant!

For me at least, another show that gets better with every rewatch is Fleabag. (which also broke The Third Wall in it's final episode).

For anyone here who hasn't seen it, like The Comeback, the first few episodes can be a very difficult watch. I kind of hated it but was still curious where it was heading.

Like both seasons of The Comeback, I felt richly rewarded!

Brilliant show. Lisa Kudrow deserved the Emmy for this scene alone. It tears my heart out every time.

“Valerie, we’d like to invite you to the set.”

Ugh, that annoyed me too.

***SPOILER***

I love how in the final episode after she’s announced as the Emmy winner, you see Paulie G about to get up and accept on her behalf but he gets waved away. lol.

I agree, R10. I wasn’t really feeling it the first few episodes but then got so into it.

r12 that was a great scene, where Valerie's finally had it and just lets all of her pent up anger out.

Season 3 would be great but I would so miss Mickey fiddling with her hair whenever the camera were on.

Astounding that this show never really found an audience. One of the best series ever produced on TV.

Holy shit R10-

Fleabag was EVERYTHING and now in my Top 10---

Funny that someone should mention this above- The two finales I cried during -were Fleabag and The Comeback Season 2.

And if you notice, both of these shows has 2nd seasons than were even better than the first.

I fucking LOVED Fleabag!

I really think that going against the obvious and making Juna a genuinely sweet person who looks up to Valerie was a brilliant choice. They drove home that point in season 2 when Valerie met the actress who was playing Juna in "Seeing Red" and the actress couldn't even be bothered to look up from her phone to be polite to the older woman.

Agreed! I thought that Juna was very real and a perfect character in her own right. And yes, very few of the characters were cliches- and many (like devious yet sweet Jane- hit very close to home)

***SPOILER***

R18 I think it was because, in the final scene of both shows, we see the humanity in both characters that's been kept from us until this final moment.

The problem with Fleabag in the first few episodes, (and to a lesser extent, Valerie in The Comeback), she is SO unlikable. Why are we spending time with this person? But in very intricate layers, we come to realize she hates herself far more than we, the viewer, ever could. And as we start to understand why, and watch as she becomes aware and gradually attempts to cross-correct, well, by the end we're totally in love with her, (at least I was!).

In The Comeback, it all came down to the scene in the Uber when it's raining, (at least for me), and she's freaking out. "Her" cameras have been completely shut out, and knowing she is no longer "on", for pretty much the first time, we see who Valerie REALLY is! (yes, we've caught the occasional glimpse, but not like this!). We see the thoughtful, loving, wonderful person who just wants to be there for her the people she loves, and is panicked that she fucked it up. We see the Valerie that her husband, Mark, and Mickey have always seen, (R19) that Juna has always seen.

The best part, IMHO, is the very last interaction with her husband when they're leaving the hospital and getting in the elevator. Mark asks if she wants to go to an Emmy party, and she responds (paraphrasing), "Have you ever met me?".

That said it all!!

I got The Comeback vibes from Bojack Horseman (rather than from Fleabag, which didn't resonate with me).

Same showbiz setting (cheesy sitcom success), same pathos. Highly recommend.