Lisa Kudrow defeated the Friends curse creatively very quickly after Friends ended. The show was initially skewered for the most part, but it developed a good reputation over time and eventually came back for two more seasons about a decade apart.
3. Season 3: Artificial Intelligence
Over a decade later, The Comeback returned for a third and final season. The show was always trying to comment on the current state of Hollywood, and this season was no different. The season was a targeted attack of A.I., and the way giant corporations have immediately gone all in on using it to attack labor. The show does a fine job hammering home that any concession to A.I. and Big Tech will just lead to a total defeat. The show is less sharp, funny, and raw as it was at its peak. It was well enough done though, and I enjoyed jumping into this world one final time. They probably should have just done a meta-take down of legacy sequel seasons of a beloved television show though.
2. Season 2: A show about a show about a show about a show
A decade after cancellation, The Comeback returned. It was not quite as sharp as the original season, but, despite the cringe comedy aspect, the show was just generally pleasant to watch. Kudrow’s character starring in a meta show about her failed sitcom seemed appropriate for the time period, and the show used its ensemble well. The strength of the season is the long con payoff of Mickey dying of cancer as a background storyline that Kudrow’s character not acknowledging it all season long. It truly felt like they would not only kill off the character (the actor was dying of cancer in real life) and that Kudrow would not care at all. The show pulling off the twist of Kudrow actually prioritizing being with him at the hospital instead of being at the Emmys was a sweet and earned ending.
1. Season 1: Post-Friends
You watch this perfectly fine and funny debut season for a sitcom, and you cannot help but wonder why it was dead on arrival in virtually every way when it premiered in 2005. If you did not exist during a time when there was a monoculture though, it might be hard to appreciate how much shows like Friends just existed on a higher plane in regards to cultural penetration (if not quality). Matt LeBlanc tried to keep Friends going with a disastrous spinoff that died in two seasons. Lisa Kudrow was up next.
She made a funnier and better show here. But nobody watched (at the time) and nobody seemingly cared (at the time). Well, it was quite good. Kudrow does a great job of walking a fine line between pathetic and empathetic. They round out the ensemble competently with Malin Akerman being the standout for having a relatively unique characterization. She is the young, hot blonde that represents the existential threat to the middle-aged Kudrow. But Akerman does nothing to warrant any suspicion. It adds a necessary layer of nuance to the show about how women are pigeon-holed no matter their age and how women are pitted against one another constantly and unnecessarily. This was a damn fine season of TV.
The Reel World 