From "'The Comeback' to Come Back/Lisa Kudrow’s critically beloved cult comedy will return to HBO next year, the network announced on Friday" (NYT).
You may remember, long ago, in September 2005, I told you "The Comeback" was my favorite TV show:
Just yesterday, re-watching the last episode of my favorite TV show, "The Comeback," I said, "Valerie Cherish is my favorite TV character, ever."
"Really? What about Seinfeld?"
"No." I thought back over all the TV characters I could remember to see if anyone meant so much to me and said, "There's only one other person I can think of: Maynard G. Krebs."
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२८ टिप्पण्या:
Lousy beatniks!
Maynard was the real deal. All he needed was a joint and the character study would have been complete not it would have ever been allowed on 60's TV.
work? WORK!??
Told the wife about it, and we will check it house. Respect the hostess!
Newman was my favorite. De gustibus....
Check it out. Good God, I am in decline!
I watched maybe 5 or 10 minutes earlier this year. I didn't hate it, but I drifted away and quickly forgot about it.
If you want a great not-so-well-known HBO show, check out Barry--it's about a hit man who really wants to become a better person but can't seem to understand that killing people, all by itself, is enough to make you a bad person.
If you like Maynard G Krebs and you like comic postmodern novels, have I got a book for you! Gilligan's Wake by Tom Carson is probably my favorite novel written this century. Each chapter is a memoir by one of the castaways, in theme song order. Well, sort of, it's postmodern and complicated. It turns into a fairly profound (if you ask me) meditation on the history of the United States in the 20th century. Oh, and, unlike the other chapters, the first chapter is not from Gilligan, but from Maynard G Krebs (sort of).
Pop cultural references just spray out of the text in torrent and allow a Boomer or Gen Xer to experience something of the effect that Ulysses must have had on a Dubliner of the right age, no need for footnotes, you know that advertising jingle, pop song, political scandal, what have you, immediately.
It's funny, thoughtful, and relentlessly clever; and far too little known. But perhaps it's one of those works of art that was made just for me.
I saw one episode of "The Comeback" and wasn't impressed enough to watch another. I suspect that this is one of those "critic's darlings"-type shows to which the general public is indifferent, much to the critics' rage.
Copilot: Who was Maynard G. Krebs?
"He was a fictional character played by Bob Denver on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a sitcom that aired from 1959 to 1963.
Maynard was the archetypal beatnik—goateed, jazz-loving, allergic to work (literally yelping “Work?!” whenever the concept arose).
His quirky, offbeat charm made him one of TV’s earliest breakout sidekicks and a touchstone for counterculture humor."
"There's only one other person I can think of: Maynard G. Krebs."
Maynard is, at best, second on Dobie. The crusty dowager Mrs. Osborne, played by Doris Packer, is an inner circle great sitcom character.
Maynard was great, as was that entire show. However, there is only one George Costanza.
Another for you, from one of Kudrow's old sidekicks. Matt Leblanc starred in a little watched show on Showtime a few years ago called, "Episodes". It was hilarious. Some of it laugh-out-loud funny.
Surprisingly, it ran for 5 seasons, though a couple of short ones.
I hear that it wasn't much of a stretch for Tuesday Weld to play Thalia Menninger.
"... if anyone meant so much to me ...".
An interesting turn of phrase. "It means so much to me" often signifies simply "I desire it so much", or "it pleases me so". But it could also indicate that you find some specific sort of meaning in it. Maxwell's Laws are fraught with meaning. You also said that "Valerie cherish is my favorite TV character, ever." Are Valerie and Maynard meaningful? Or just enjoyable?
The first season of The Comeback is bracketed in my mind with Extras. In Extras, a man wants an acting career and can’t quite get it, in The Comeback, a woman wants her acting career back and can’t make that happen. Both are good, but very cringe while you watch. I’ve never seen the second season of The Comeback, or even heard of it until now (I must have been in no HBO saving money mode when it came out). I’ll see if I can find it, it's likely worth watching.
"Valerie Cherish is my favorite TV character, ever." A good character and a very good performance, but I’m not sure Valerie was even my favorite character on the show. The actor who played her (I think) hairdresser was also terrific.
“ Another for you, from one of Kudrow's old sidekicks. Matt Leblanc starred in a little watched show on Showtime a few years ago called, "Episodes". It was hilarious. Some of it laugh-out-loud funny. Surprisingly, it ran for 5 seasons, though a couple of short ones.”
I’ve seen every episode of “Episodes.”
“ The first season of The Comeback is bracketed in my mind with Extras. In Extras….”
I’ve seen every episode of “Extras” too. And “After Life.”
What endeared Maynard Gwalter Krebs (the g is silent) to Althouse? Was it his principled opposition to the Puritan work ethic, his devotion to art cinema (particularly to The Monster that Devoured Cleveland), or his eclectic taste in petrified frogs?
Even more wind getting behind Trump's sails. Big court win today (with the cherry-on-top utter smack-down of the court's AA hire) and success on bringing Iran to heel.
Geez, my comment on previous post is even more accurate here. "I believe were we're becoming a Nation of pre-adolescent children"!
I second Temujin. Episodes, starring Matt LeBlanc, is amazing. Similar plot, but British, and so, much funnier.
“The Comeback”. It just keeps on… coming back.
If it's the hostess's fav it must be a galaxy-wow show.
I also loved Episodes. The arc with the former Make-A-Wish girl was dark, cruel genius.
‘just keep coming back’ is what is said to AA newcomers, repeatedly.
My favorite TV comedy character was Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife. I like him so much that whenever there is a law enforcement election position on the ballot, I always write in the name of "Barney Fife."
I hated "The Comeback." It was the same stupid joke -- clueless, vain Valerie Cherish getting things wrong -- over and over and over again. I don't love the comedy of humiliation, but some people have done it better. If you want to see a better development of a similar premise, take a look at Jean Smart in "Hacks."
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