{"id":718658,"date":"2026-06-06T08:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718658\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T08:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:56:12","slug":"lisa-kudrow-michael-patrick-king-on-ai-why-the-comeback-is-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/718658\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisa Kudrow, Michael Patrick King on AI, Why ‘The Comeback’ Is Ending"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMichael Patrick King<\/a> and Lisa Kudrow<\/a> didn\u2019t mean to be so on the nose with the title of their HBO comedy \u201cThe Comeback<\/a>.\u201d But, it turns out, that has actually been the case for the show \u2014 every ten years, it makes another comeback.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s more meta than we tried to be,\u201d Kudrow tells Variety\u2018s Awards Circuit Podcast<\/a>. Adds King: \u201cThe second season we thought was going to come back right after the first season, and that did not happen, and here, it became our brand to be this thing that comes back every decade!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Comeback\u201d first launched in 2005, was canceled, then revived in 2014 \u2014 and then returned for a third and final season this past March. Again, they didn\u2019t mean to do this, but \u201cThe Comeback\u201d wound up being quite a chronicle of how the business has changed over the past 20 years. So why end it now?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBecause it\u2019s a perfect piece,\u201d Kudrow says. \u201cIt\u2019s a trilogy, and that\u2019s perfect, it\u2019s completely full circle. First season, reality shows were an extinction event for scripted television. This one, it\u2019s AI that\u2019s an extinction events.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSays King: \u201cWe\u2019re always having potential extinction events, which create enormous fear and comedy. I mean, we thought reality TV was going to end narrative TV, and now it\u2019s just like there\u2019s another wing on the house that you go to if you want to see reality TV. We sort of posture at the end of this, we say maybe there will be incredibly well-received and emotional human shows, and then there will be shows with digital actors that people can leave on while they do whatever. We made room for it, because I think it\u2019s real. That\u2019s why we have a whole final series, because the threat is very real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOn this episode of Variety\u2018s Awards Circuit Podcast, \u201cThe Comeback\u201d creators Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King discuss the evolution of the series (and Kudrow\u2019s character, Valerie Cherish), what they wanted to say this season about the threat of AI, and why they\u2019re ending the show. They also look back at their first time in Variety, and take the Awards Circuit 10 Questions quiz. Listen below!<\/p>\n

\n\tCALL THE AWARDS CIRCUIT PODCAST WITH YOUR BURNING QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS! LEAVE A VOICE MAIL AT (323) 617-9110!<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this season of \u201cThe Comeback,\u201d Valerie agrees \u2014 somewhat reluctantly \u2014 to star in a new sitcom that she discovers is being written mostly by AI. As they discover the truth, the show\u2019s stars and pilot director Jimmy Burrows express their qualms. King says he hears from a lot of real-life writers about a speech Burrows gives about how complicated it is to be a writer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe also learned very early that it wasn\u2019t a joke, and that it\u2019s really not what it was two years ago when people were doing awards shows and doing bad monologues, and the joke was that \u2018ChatGPT wrote my monologue,’\u201d King says. \u201cIt\u2019s past that. We did get the sense that there\u2019s stuff that no one\u2019s even seen yet that is so far past where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis season, \u201cThe Comeback\u201d pokes some fun at the Hollywood lists that all of us put together \u2014 including at Variety. And in one episode, Billy (Dan Bucatinsky) is excited to land on Variety\u2018s \u201c50 Over 50\u201d list.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou should do \u201950 Over 50,\u2019 it would be a great homage!\u201d King says. \u201cPeople are so proud of that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of Variety, this season on the Awards Circuit Podcast, we\u2019ve been looking at the first time our guests appeared in the pages of Variety. For King, it was November 14, 1984, with a mention of his play \u201cTodays Special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was a play about three sisters, and how really they each separately have things that, when they\u2019re together, that makes one perfect person,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a family comedy, and it was done in Woodstock, New York. That must have meant so much to me then, that little mention making it in Variety made it, more from a wish to like a dream coming true. That\u2019s a tiny blur, but has a giant impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd for Kudrow, on March 14, 1989, a review of The Groundlings Sunday Company show \u201cAnd on Sunday He Laughed\u201d earned her some praise, lauding her for \u201csome of the show\u2019s subtlest work in her very funny portrayal of a self-absorbed chatterer in a quiet theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTEN Qs WITH LISA KUDROW AND MICHAEL PATRICK KING:
1. Childhood nickname:\u00a0Kudrow: \u201cLisa Pizza.\u201d King: \u201cSissy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t2. Something you loved as a kid but can\u2019t believe you were into it now:\u00a0Kudrow: \u201cCandy dots. It\u2019s just sugar!\u201d King: \u201cMy grandmother used to make us something called \u2018toast on the stove,\u2019 which is she would put a piece of white bread slathered in butter on the open gas jet, and then take two scoops of sugar and put it on the toast. We would sit at a table like characters from a Dickens novel, eating toast on the stove, and then probably fall into a coma and a nap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t3. Go-to Karaoke or sing-in-the-shower song:\u00a0Kurdrow: \u201cIt\u2019s different every time. I always think it\u2019s interesting, why is this song on my mind today?\u201d King: \u201cI have to be careful because I don\u2019t sing and I don\u2019t think musically, so if I hear a song, it gets trapped in my head. Now I\u2019m still hearing Adele, \u2018should I give up or show I just keep chasing pavements.\u2019 Which when we wete doing the show, Lisa thought the lyric was, \u2018should I give up or should I just keep chasing rainbows.\u2019 And I thought that was so Valerie to spin it up, \u2018chasing rainbows,\u2019 but now that\u2019s in my head a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t4. Give me an alternate title for your show:\u00a0Both: \u201cRaw Footage.\u201d Says King: \u201cWhen we started our research, we got raw footage from \u2018The Osbornes\u2019 bootleg tapes, because I had somebody that worked on the show that I knew. That color bar we kept in the first season, everything started with that, because it was supposed to be like an assembly that was created by the second editor, not the final cut, but raw footage was the first thing. Because it was all raw footage, and that was how we defined what the show could be versus television, because we didn\u2019t want it to look polished at all. We wanted it to look off.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAdds Kudrow: \u201cAnd how awkward it was really going to be!\u201d Says King: \u201cAll that downtime that we saw when we looked at the \u2018Osborne\u2019 footage was just boring! And you could see people sort of trying to get something going, and so \u2018Raw Footage\u2019 was the first title, and we also thought we were doing it with one camera. Carolyn Strauss at HBO was such an advocate, she said maybe try two cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAren\u2019t you glad now you didn\u2019t call it \u201cRaw Footage?\u201d King is relieved: \u201cYes, because I don\u2019t think \u2018Raw Footage\u2019 comes back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t5. What\u2019s your secret talent?: King: \u201cI can wiggle my ears.\u201d Kudrow: \u201cI don\u2019t have any!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t6. Favorite ice cream flavor: King: \u201cChocolate chip mint.\u201d Kudrow: \u201cI don\u2019t like ice cream! Too cold. Even as a kid, I thought, why is this a treat? It\u2019s milk! I hate milk. Just chocolate! That\u2019s a treat. But frozen milk, that\u2019s kind of bullshit.\u201d So what is Kudrow\u2019s favorite dessert? \u201cI love chocolate chip cookies.\u201d (\u201cFriends\u201d fans might note that on the show, it was Ross who hated ice cream \u2014 because it was too cold.)<\/p>\n

\n\t7. The one item you couldn\u2019t live without: Kudrow: \u201cThere\u2019s too many! But Nicorette.\u201d King: \u201cMy version of nicotine, which is television.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t8. What TV show in all of history do you wish you were a cast member of?: King: I feel like there\u2019s a magical, \u2018Brigadoon\u2019 kind of bridge that I would have liked to have crossed to go into \u2018The Mary Tyler Moore Show.\u2019 That felt like something new and warm, and I bet she was a great No. 1. It had all those great writers, and it felt like a charmed circle.\u201d Kudrow: \u201cWhen I was a kid, \u2018The Brady Bunch.\u2019 Or \u2018The Partridge Family.\u2019 I used to be like, \u2018what if I could be in the Partridge Family? Wouldn\u2019t that be great?\u2019 I wasn\u2019t acting, it wasn\u2019t even a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t9. Fictional character you most relate to: [Not asked]<\/p>\n

\n\t10. Your favorite piece of advice: King: \u201cI tell writers all the time that there\u2019s only one path, and it\u2019s yours. Don\u2019t think you have to have somebody else\u2019s path, because they can all be very personal to them. Don\u2019t compare yourself path wise to anybody else, and it\u2019s easier said than done, but it\u2019s a valuable lesson. As you start on the road to writing and showrunning, you look around and see how everybody else got there. But it doesn\u2019t help, just keep doing you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSays Kudrow: \u201cI had an acting teacher, and it was really just a cold reading class. It was about coping with acting, auditioning, and on TV and film, and it was something along those lines. Do what you do, and be your version of who that character is, and you at least have done a good job. The rest is none of your business. That\u2019s your only job, and it\u2019s really simple, so you don\u2019t have to take it personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the start of the episode, the Awards Circuit Roundtable discusses CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d debacle, previews the Tonys and answers a listener question about broadcast dramas at the Emmys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety\u2019s \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, \u201cAwards Circuit\u201d features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow didn\u2019t mean to be so on the nose with the title of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,208188,16906,134,111932,34332,205158,427],"class_list":["post-718658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-awards-circuit-podcast","tag-emmys","tag-entertainment","tag-lisa-kudrow","tag-michael-patrick-king","tag-the-comeback","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}