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HBO's "The Comeback" - 6/19

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HBO's "The Comeback" - 6/19

Old 06-19-05, 08:56 PM
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HBO's "The Comeback" - 6/19

This is the third time I have watched this show, and probably the last. All we get is 30 minutes of someone being constantly embarassed and terminally pathetic.

No drama. No laughs. No insights.

Probably no viewers.

Is anyone finding this crap worth watching?
Old 06-19-05, 09:02 PM
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Nope. I would have sympathy for Kudrow's character if she weren't so unlikable.
Old 06-20-05, 09:22 AM
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I'm having the same problem with it. After three episodes, I still can't figure out if I'm supposed to find her painfully pitiful or outrageously funny. Not being a sociopath, I'm afraid I can't do both.
Old 06-20-05, 10:22 AM
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Seeing as how this has only gotten three posts, I would say there is little interest. This show needs to be taken off the air once its season is over.
Old 06-20-05, 06:30 PM
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I've been catching this On Demand and it really is the shittiest 30 minutes of TV, IMO...

HBO really dropped the ball with this one... The reason Fat Actress "worked" was that Kirstie played up the pathetic angle, so you feel for her. But where that show and this one differ is Kirstie made it funny instead of completly fucking annoying, like Kudrow's character... That's another thing I really don't like about it, Lisa Kudrow is a ex-TV actress in need of a Comeback... Just like Kirstie Alley is a fat, ex-TV actress looking for a Comeback... Difference? Alley has the balls to see the comedy in making fun of yourself... Kudrow decided to play a character, that probably carries around the same attitude and bagage as Kudrow herself. Only difference is people still probably kiss her ass for being a "Friend."

I just don't see a point to the show... What are we leading up to? Failure? Because if they try to play it off that the show "Valerie's" on becomes a hit, well that's just bullshit.
Old 06-20-05, 07:51 PM
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I laughed at the second episode, with the I Want To Be A Porn Star bit, but everything else has been dreadful, especially this most recent episode.

I've deleted the pass from my PVR.
Old 06-21-05, 10:39 AM
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I sit alone as the only DVDTalker staying with this show.

I like Lisa's lil subtle facial expressions and such, and the funny way as soon as the scene starts this same plastic smile appears. The bad Woody impression, the stupid jokes...all things that people laughed at when she was a star but now they don't work, and her expression when she has to explain it ("that was Woody Allen") is just working for me.

The director of the non-reality show (I don't like it enough to know the character's names or the show's names) said "this show drives you to that show." (The reality show.) I think that may have sunk in a bit to her.

Where I'm hoping this goes is that she finally realizes she isn't the big star she thinks she is and has an interesting time dealing with it. I dunno...

I didn't like Curb Your Enthusiasm at first either, and said some of the same things as posters above. (Ya cared about Jerry, ya don't care for this pathetic man; what's the point of him just walking around being annoying, etc) but now I like CYE.

Still keeping the faith in HBO, but we'll see...
Old 06-21-05, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by marty888
This is the third time I have watched this show, and probably the last. All we get is 30 minutes of someone being constantly embarassed and terminally pathetic.

No drama. No laughs. No insights.

Probably no viewers.

Is anyone finding this crap worth watching?
My wife and I watched 15 minutes of the show and turned it off. We couldn't stand watching how pathetic Kudrow's character is. It's painful to watch and it's not funny.
Old 06-21-05, 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by joefrog91
My wife and I watched 15 minutes of the show and turned it off. We couldn't stand watching how pathetic Kudrow's character is. It's painful to watch and it's not funny.
I agree with all the haters here and would also add that it sucks.
Old 06-21-05, 04:05 PM
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I've never even heard of it.
Old 06-21-05, 04:46 PM
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Yet another season pass deleted here. It's a decent enough premise, but it's like they just let the cameras run for 30 minutes without bothering to make it humorous, interesting, or whatever they're attempting. It seems especially pathetic coming on right after the always halarious 'Entourage'.
Old 06-22-05, 06:07 AM
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Please dont mention this junk and 'Curb Your ...' in the same sentence.

Its very insulting to Larry David.
Old 06-22-05, 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by BassDude
I like Lisa's lil subtle facial expressions and such, and the funny way as soon as the scene starts this same plastic smile appears. The bad Woody impression, the stupid jokes...all things that people laughed at when she was a star but now they don't work, and her expression when she has to explain it ("that was Woody Allen") is just working for me.
OK, I'll admit I did laugh at the Woody Allen impression. I even said out loud, "Ha - Woody Allen" just before she explained it. I also laughed during the long late-night montage in the first episode, when she was reading her script and raiding the refrigerator at the same time. She started with one piece of cake, but toward the end of the sequence the entire cake was suddenly back on the table. For some reason I found that very funny. The rest of the show, though, not so much.

I agree with mikewendt, that "Fat Actress" has taken a similar premise and done it better. I don't mind laughing WITH Kirstie Alley, but I would feel very bad laughing AT her.
Old 06-22-05, 09:35 AM
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My wife likes this show, but it does nothing for me.
Old 06-22-05, 11:28 AM
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I haven't seen this show, so I'm not trying to defend it particularly, but...

Originally Posted by marty888
All we get is 30 minutes of someone being constantly embarassed and terminally pathetic.
Originally Posted by joefrog91
We couldn't stand watching how pathetic Kudrow's character is. It's painful to watch and it's not funny.
Isn't that *the point* of lots of modern comedy these days? I'm thinking of stuff like The Office, especially the British version, which people around here claim to love... Cringe-comedy is the order of the day. I doubt they're even trying for laughs in the traditional "joke" sense.
Old 06-22-05, 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by adamblast
Isn't that *the point* of lots of modern comedy these days? I'm thinking of stuff like The Office, especially the British version, which people around here claim to love... Cringe-comedy is the order of the day. I doubt they're even trying for laughs in the traditional "joke" sense.
Count me as one of those who loves the British comedy "The Office" (and I even like the U.S. version), but the difference between that and "The Comeback" is that while we're cringing at the horrifying antics of David Brent - or, as another example, Kirstie Alley in "Fat Actress" - we are also empathizing with them. There is something about them that most of us can identify with on some level, and so we are able to root for them to succeed. There is nothing in Kudrow's character that's even remotely sympathetic or likeable, or at least I'm not seeing it if it's there. She's just pitiful and annoying.

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