Television Review: The Comeback

Generally, comebacks are not viewed favorably. (See, for instance, Strong Bad’s return to checking emails and Homestar’s frustration at the end of it.)

Really, however, a comeback results in an attempt to regain those fifteen minutes of fame, usually in a very self-serving way. And often, the person pursuing a comeback overestimates the amount of control s/he has over the situation.

Lisa Kudrow (Friends) stars in the HBO comedy series The Comeback, which aired for one series; Kudrow portrays the B-list sitcom actor Valerie Cherish, who peaked in the early ’90s with her role on the sitcom I’m It.

I’d be lying if I didn’t reveal my reason for buying this series from the Staples $5 bin: I wanted to see Lisa Kudrow dressed up as a giant cupcake.

In the end, I got what I paid for, if only because Kudrow’s character--while dressed as a pink-frosted cupcake--gut punches a television writer, an act that results in a bout of double-vomiting. But moments like this demonstrate the height of the show’s slapstick comedic material; these instances, which are far and few between, highlight The Comeback’s focus on the personal drama of Valerie Cherish.

In most programs, a lack of chemistry would be viewed as a fault; in The Comeback, Cherish--who often has difficulty relating to her husband, step-daughter, directors, and cast and crew--reminds of the artificiality of reality television. Because we do have personal reflections, in our minds; we just don’t have to edit them or consider what other people will think. Our thoughts keep to ourselves, unlike Cherish’s personal video diaries or interviews.

Often, Cherish tells the camera woman recording her reality show that “I need to know I’m being heard,” and this repeated statement uncovers the deep sadness of Cherish’s life: She is out of her prime, playing a bit part, and she has no control over the editors who piece the footage of her daily life into a television show.

I wouldn’t rush out to the store to buy The Comeback, but it’s at least worth borrowing through Netflix or through a friend. The program has some amusing moments, but it also presents a poignant reflection on reality television: that, regardless of how “unscripted” the program is, there are voices vying for control of the narrative.

Watch the HBO Trailer for The Comeback.

Television Review: Doctor Who, "The End of Time" Parts 1 and 2

Screenwriting, much like cooking, requires a proper application of ingredients and a careful use of techniques and tools. When I was in high school, my home economics teacher told an anecdote about how some of her early students cooked pasta; instead of cooking the pasta until it was al dente, the students spooned a noodle from the pot and flung it at the wall. If the noodles stuck, then they figured that the noodles were cooked.

I bring up this anecdote as a way to think of Russell T Davies, the godfather and story editor of the revived Doctor Who, as a screenwriter. There exist two Russell T Davies: The first flings story ideas like half-cooked noodles at the walls, and he uses whatever sticks; the other Russell T Davies is a master chef, capable of combining the essential ingredients of television narratives--character, storytelling, drama, and suspense--in a visual treat.

“The End of Time,” the conclusion of David Tennant’s tenure as the Tenth Doctor, reveals both of these Russell T Davies, apparently in league to cook up Tennant’s final hurrah.

[Note: In deference to those who have not yet seen the episodes, I have attempted to write as spoiler-free a review as possible.]

Part One of “The End of Time” is a smorgasbord of sounds, lights, action, and adventure. The Doctor’s nemesis and rival Time Lord, the Master (played by John Simms), exhibits all the characteristics of a Dragonball Z Super-Saiyan; he gets resurrected, becomes blonde, jumps ridiculous heights, has an insatiable appetite, and shoots energy bolts out of his hands. The episode’s aliens include green cacti (Vinvocchi) that hide their real shapes with a device called a shimmer. And the action of the episode--as Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbens) searches for the Doctor who in turn searches for the Master--seems to be an endless search for a discernible plot.

In the second part, Russell T Davies demonstrates his true aptitude as a storyteller and combines much of the Doctor’s past--the Time Lords (led by Rasillon, portrayed by former-Bond Timothy Dalton), the Master, and the oft-alluded to Time War. Whereas the previous episode mashed explosions, an energy-deprived Master, and a device that repairs the genetic matrices of entire planets, Part Two draws from Davies’s five years with the revived Doctor Who and shows the audience details from the Time War--Dalek saucers strewn about Gallifrey and the Time Lords’ high council--while finally investigating the Master’s recurring insanity. Davies also concludes the episode with a touching series of interactions between the Doctor and his former companions--a send off to both David Tennant and Russell T Davies, as well as their contribution to the Doctor Who mythos.

But the Doctor--who regenerates into the Otter Mullet foppery of Matt Smith at the second part’s conclusion--becomes a new man in more than face and form alone. Regenerations--when the Doctor cheats death by changing every cell in his body--in the revival have often demonstrated the Doctor’s compassion; he exchanges his life for those of his companions. But when the Doctor sacrifices himself this time around, he must destroy his people--the Time Lords--again in order to secure the safety of the universe and of time itself.

The Doctor becomes a man who can sacrifice anything--himself included--because, in “The End of Time,” he realizes that the responsibility of being the last Time Lord means that he must protect those everyday people, friends and companions, who do not have the control and influence over time that the Doctor possesses. And now that the Doctor has become a new man--now that Russell T Davies and David Tennant are leaving the show--we will have to see what the new production team cooks up.

Look for more of David Tennant later this year; PBS is allegedly going to broadcast the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, in which Tennant plays the famous Prince of Denmark.