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We cherish this idea.
Twenty years after HBO gave viewers the beloved sitcom “The Comeback,” starring Lisa Kudrow, fans may be in store for a Season 3. Kudrow, 61, played sitcom vet Valerie Cherish — a woman desperate to revive her career.
The original show aired in 2005 before returning for Season 2 in 2014. Now, Dan Bucatinsky, who played Billy Stanton, Valerie’s publicist who couldn’t control his anger, is getting candid on the possibility.
“I would love it,” the actor, 59, exclusively told The Post at the 2025 Astra Awards. “I would love it. It gets talked about all the time. So just know — I hope so.”
Although there has been no official word from the network if a reboot is in the cards, Bucatinsky, Kudrow and the rest of the cast would be game.
“We talk about it all the time,” the “Scandal” alum confessed. “If there are talks happening, I can’t answer, but we talk about it all the time and we all would love it.”
The sitcom also featured Damian Young, Lance Barber, and Robert Bagnell. Robert Michael Morris, who played Kudrow’s hairdresser Mickey Deane, passed away in 2017 at age 77.
“We worked together a lot over the years,” Bucatinsky reflected. “But certainly shooting ‘The Comeback’ was one of them. I think one of the scenes I loved the most with her, was going into her trailer in Season 2 when Billy has just had it and is quitting and throws his phone across the room.”
“That was a really iconic moment for a publicist who could never really keep his rage to himself,” he went on. “We had a really good time doing that.”
Kudrow was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006 for Season 1, and again in 2015 for Season 2.
Michael Patrick King created the satirical comedy that poked fun at reality television and the entertainment industry. He and Kudrow have spoken out about the possibility of another comeback for Valerie Cherish.
“There’s always a meeting, every now and then, where we put ideas on the table,” the director, 70, told Variety in honor of the 20th anniversary of the program earlier this month. “It has to be a really intricate combination of things to get us both to the place where we think, ‘Oh, God.’ We laugh at anything; Valerie could be funny anywhere. But the thing we’re always looking for is, what would make an event worthy of Valerie coming back? So we’re constantly meeting — ‘Hey, what about this?'”
In 2025, Kudrow feels the show would resonate even stronger with those trying to make it on reality television.
“It’s much more identifiable,” the “Friends” star admitted. “I’ve seen ‘Housewives.’ We have another point of reference for a woman and what she’s willing to do. Every one of those Housewives, they know what they’re doing; they’re playing a role in order to get their brand out there, and it’s a means to an end.”
In addition to “The Comeback,” Bucatinsky has his sights set on another role.
“I want to play a villain,” he told the Post. “I want to play a criminal, a villain or a cop. Maybe not a cop that is a criminal or a villain, but why not?”
A dream co-star for Bucatinksy would be a few familiar faces that he’s worked with in the past — and a few new ones.
“I loved working with Corey Hawkins on ’24:Legacy,'” he shared. “I’d love to work with him again. But Lisa Kudrow has been a friend and partner of mine for 20 years. So, I always love working with her again. I’ve really been lucky to work with a lot of great, strong women and I hope that continues because I’m a fan of so many. Kristen Bell. I would love to work with Kristen.”
Bucatinsky recently worked on Season 4 of the hit HBO series “Hacks.” The show stars Jean Smart as stand up legend Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder, a comedy writer.
“It was the relationship that I was able to form with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder,” the producer gushed about his favorite part of joining the cast. “That friendship is one that I will cherish. Getting to know them off camera, then getting to play with them on camera is a dream. So much of my job on that show was playing the guy whose job it was to wrangle these two forces. I am a father of two, so I was playing dad a little bit on the show as well. But the gift really was being part of that community that felt really strong both behind the scenes and in front of the camera.”
The trio’s time on set included many chats in the greenroom.
“We would hang out in this little greenroom area at our chairs,” Bucatinsky reminisced. “We would talk. We would keep each other warm. We would go get tea. We would go get snacks. We would ask each other for advice about everything. Recommendations of movies and documentaries and doctors. And talk about our kids and our pets. And it was really an opportunity in between scenes to really get to know one another.”
English (US)