The Comeback has long been a battle between writers and actors, the two necessary components for any sitcom worth its weight in residuals. Sitcoms require even more sustained investment than movies or most prestigious dramas and therefore need actors and writers who can keep things interesting for years—and not just through likable characters but ones audiences depend on. A successful sitcom can’t take years between seasons, like, say, The Comeback. It can barely afford an unhappy ending. They must deliver week after week for at least five years to achieve syndication and prove to broadcasters that people don’t just like a show; they need it. The Cheers theme song isn’t just about the bar; it’s about the show and what it hopefully means to viewers.
But on The Comeback, and presumably in real life, writers see actors as obstacles to greatness, and actors find writers bitter and pedantic. In its first two seasons, The Comeback had Valerie and Paulie G. By season three, the war is over: Writers have lost to AI, and until Silicon Valley can generate a Valerie Cherish, actors will still have a place onscreen (though the show hints at that defeat, too). Tonight, our hero tells her fellow thespians that a world without writers is possible. In fact, they’re living in it. Three weeks after she brought Paulie back into the fold, How’s That?! is writerless once again. They might like it, but the public sure doesn’t. Worse still, it’s not just the writers who are gone. Valerie’s entire support system (Mark, Jane, and Tommy) exits stage right as she tries to hold things together against producers, actors, and the TikTok trolls ready to cancel her ass once and for all.
After dealing with pathetic Patience’s swollen lip (she was stung by a bee hiding in her breakfast sandwich), Mark says goodbye before heading off to Burning Man for a weekend of nudity and ayahuasca. Valerie doesn’t have time to deal with him because she has a marketing meeting. After ignoring her request to get the show’s writers assistant in the WGA and shooting down her New England state flag idea, her marketing team let her know that AI has taken over another department: marketing. The show will be advertised using an AI-generated version of the Under The Tuscan Sun poster with Valerie’s head pasted atop Diane Lane’s body. Nailed it!
Valerie’s meeting with Billy isn’t so simple. Tardy due to a body-scan delay at the Digital Dome, which reeks of AI encroachment, she arrives at Billy’s wallpapered and wainscotted office to discuss their relationship, only to discover it’s an ambush. Billy has his own camera crew ready to shoot a couples-therapy pilot for therapist David Berkus (Kadan Well Bennett). The reality-crew standoff is The Comeback at its best, the formal impracticalities of reality TV colliding with the relationships of incredibly guarded public figures. (On that note, tonight was filled with slight stylistic flourishes, such as the camera’s rack focusing in the first scene. The show has become so adept at filming people on multiple screens and reflective surfaces in a single shot.) Even with all that going on, Valerie, a true pro, makes sure all the camera operators are getting her good angles. If they’re going to hash things out, they should do it for the content she’s producing: Cherish The Time. It can even be a two-parter.
After absorbing another of Billy’s responsibilities, Valerie misses rehearsal to make sure the show’s color-timed correctly, whatever that means. Once she’s back in the dressing room, though, the tension from Billy’s office carries over into “actors’ business.” Walter is certain that How’s That?! is failing because the star is trying to take over the show, but before he can even get a word out, Valerie lets the cat out of the bag. Surprisingly, the actors quickly grasp the benefits of a show without writers, and Frank learns why no one would give him Al’s contact information. At least the performers won’t have to walk on eggshells around improving someone’s lousy joke.
Just when Valerie begins to think that everything will work out, Jane’s girlfriend, Peri (Clea DuVall), arrives at the studio to confront her estranged beau. Jane hasn’t been showing up to work at Trader Joe’s, she hasn’t been answering her phone, and now she’s following around this woman again. These personal problems become professional once Billy learns that Jane is focusing her documentary on AI and hasn’t signed her network’s NDA. The confrontational energy follows Valerie to her dressing room, where Tommy is sexually harassing Frank via a shoulder rub, as he has done for nervous actors like Larry from Perfect Strangers—whatever his name is, Mark something—since WKR-fucking-P In Cincinatti. As EP, Valerie takes on another job that Billy should be doing and confronts Tommy, who, at the behest of his astrologist, takes this as a sign to exit. But Valerie and Tommy’s spell of adult communication breaks as soon as Frank returns, and Tommy blames “gays” like Frank the “assassin” for bringing him down.
Tommy’s exit feeds into Jane’s. After refusing to sign the NDA, Jane leaks the news of AI Assist, leading to the long-awaited cancellation of Valerie Cherish. Though this episode closes on Valerie at her lowest, it’s always nice to see those around her defend and comfort her. Valerie watching Jane stick up for her on CNN was a touching setup for the return of Marky Mark, whose very presence brings the episode to an emotionally powerful catharsis reminiscent of the season-two finale. It’s really not much. Just a hug and a “I’m here.” The Comeback is often elevated by the people who continue to love Valerie despite her ego. The show rejects cynicism and often finds true sincerity in Mark’s love for Valerie. It’s what makes her such a sympathetic and human character. If he can see through her flaws, surely the trolls on TikTok can do the same.
Stray observations
- • As readers now know, I’m a huge Hatt-head, and the chance to see even a second of it was the highlight of the season. Seriously, can you believe she got Paul Dooley to play Mr. Hatt? What will she dig up next? But more than enjoying the running joke of another Cherish vehicle we weren’t privy to (this episode introduces another: Two 2 Tango), I’m genuinely touched by how proud of Mrs. Hatt Valerie is. Unlike her other shows, Valerie made Mrs. Hatt because she enjoyed the work of its maker, and it’s the closest she comes to true creative fulfillment. It’s not like we ever see her bust out episodes of I’m It. Mrs. Hatt, however, is her comfort show. Though someone, probably Mark, is going to have to talk to her about how human beings on Earth consume pizza. Honey, that ain’t it.
- • That said, Finance Dudes when?
- • Little Francesca is married with two kids? She and her husband, Omar, hate Mark? Mark disapproves of Omar? It’s too late in the season for that lore drop.
- • “And, long story short, me too!”
- • Vulture ran a lovely interview with Tommy Tomlin-himself, Jack O’Brien, earlier this month. Here’s a taste of his first time wearing a hairpiece: “I went off to the bathroom, saw myself in the mirror, and said, ‘Jack, this isn’t who you are.'”
- • In addition to some of the funniest costuming since John Early’s hats on Search Party, I’ve been loving the rat-a-tat dialogue the show has been gifting Dan Bucatinsky. “Nobody wants a water, Willa” got the biggest laugh of the night from me.
- • “I only have enough waters for our crew.”
- • “It’s only shoulders, darling. If I wanted in your pants, they’d be off by now.” Please, god, do not let this be Tommy’s last appearance.
- • Can you imagine a world without writers?
Matt Schimkowitz is a staff writer at The A.V. Club.
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