I was shocked and disappointed when HBO cancelled #TheComeback. The inside word was that it was only watched by the grays and the gays. But now we are all old and gay, so…
Set off for the premiere this past week with a skip in my step. How could they ever top the toe-curling genius of the first season? With the same kind of eviscerating merciless brilliance they used the first time around, of course.
Beaming with pride HBO introduced the first two episodes and took credit for bringing the show back (only ten years later, huff). Not sure they get that this time they’re in the line of fire…
You see Valerie finds herself victim of her former nemesis who has written a vengeful parody of her life (she says it’s a dramedy which means “a comedy without the laughs”). What network would ever greenlight such a cruel, derivative project?
Valerie in her signature style snatches victory from the jaws of epic fail and gets to play herself in this twisted scripted rehash of her unscripted show. Posing in the corridors of HBO with all the posters of their hit shows, Valerie couldn’t be happier now that she’s part of the family.
It’s just as funny as before – funnier even: Now that Life itself has become a reality show – or at least a webisode – there’s just so much more to play with. Reality effortlessly abundantly and brilliantly plays itself… there’s #AndyCohen, #LisaVanDerPump and – my favorite cameo - #RuPaul. “Oh, you have that show” Valerie says when she meets him.
But it’s definitely not as toe-curling. First time around Valerie’s predicament was rather more unique and awful. But now thanks to social media we are all au fait with the lukewarm soup of unmet expectations. In addition to being gay and grey we are all just slightly less famous and less respected than we feel we deserve to be.
Case in point my trip to the Comeback premier was a bit Comebacky. You see after Valerie gets the part playing herself, she gets invited to the HBO Golden Globes party – she’s part of the family now. So she turns up, ticket in hand, and instead of sitting with the great and good finds she has been siphoned off to some kind of viewing room.
Happily trotting along in Valerie’s footsteps we turned up at El Capitain in plenty of time – we didn’t want to be up in the balcony in the nosebleed section. “Will call” is always a bit of a gauntlet; that fear your name is not on the list. And indeed it wasn’t. Because we were supposed to check in at the #Outfest desk, over there. Oh, phew. No problem, then. Until the ticket guy looked at our tickets and sent us straight to the balcony. And the after party? Our tickets were fine but there was a wristband we didn’t have.
“Lesson learned” as Valerie might say, reminding us there is no lesson to be learned and exhorting us just to keep on keeping on. We’re all part of the family now, and it’s something to #cherish. Welcome back, Valerie, because we need you now more than ever.
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