Dan Bucatinsky on The Comeback’s queer legacy, Billy’s power trip & paying tribute to Robert Michael Morris
For three seasons now and over the course of the previous twenty-plus years, we have watched, laughed, and cried together with sitcom actress Valerie Cherish (Lisa Kudrow) as she’s fought to maintain on to relevancy in an trade continually shifting on to the shiny new factor, whether or not that be actuality TV or AI.
But the attractive irony is that, in our world, Valerie Cherish won’t ever not be related, and HBO’s The Comeback—irrespective of what number of years go by between seasons—has at all times felt like a comedy on the innovative.
And Dan Bucatisnky’s been there each step of the way in which. An actor and Executive Producer on the collection, he is effectively conscious that Valerie’s unflappable resilience and is what’s made her a homosexual icon from the very first time she uttered, “Hello, hello, and hello!” He additionally is aware of that, in 2026, we’d like her greater than ever.
“Between season one and two, and then two and three, we always imagined Valerie Cherish in one scenario or another (Valerie in a British period show like Bridgerton; Valerie doing a TED talk… and yes, Val on Broadway),” Bucatinsky writes to Queerty. “But Lisa and Michael [Patrick King] knew it would take a big, dramatic story—a threat to the creative engine of Hollywood—to warrant a whole season of The Comeback.”
The impending period of AI is one such menace, which he notes appears like “a potential extinction moment” for thus many creatives, so the timing was proper: we would have liked Valerie to swoop in and save the day… or one thing like that.
“We hope Season 3, our final season, will shed light on how we imagine life could be if the worst-case scenario isn’t as bad as we feared,” Bucatinsky provides. “And, even if it is… like Valerie teaches us: we get up; we adapt; we keep going. It’s the only way to accept that, as our logline for the season states: it’s ‘time to face reality.'”
While these sharp-as-ever new episodes have discovered Valerie again within the limelight because the headliner of her personal sitcom, we have seen her supervisor, Bucatinsky’s Billy Stanton, do the whole lot he can to profit from this second, too. And, actually? It’s just a little terrifying.
“We’ve known him to be volatile, impulsive, emotional, and temperamental. But now Billy has something he’s been striving for: a title,” the actor shudders. Which means now Billy can discover “the one dream he’s been trying to harness in the years he’s devoted his efforts to Valerie’s spotlight: his own stardom.”
The showy Thom Browne wardrobe is one factor, however in the event you thought Billy flaking on Val for the “Variety 50 Over 50″ photoshoot was a sure sign fame had gone to his head, just wait ’til you see Billy finally hit the red carpet in Episode 7 (a scene which Bucatinsky recalls as “particularly fun and liberating” to movie).
As chopping & satirical as The Comeback can nonetheless be, it additionally feels prefer it’s coronary heart is larger than ever, maybe reflecting our personal rising affection for it over the a long time. That was by no means extra obvious than in its tribute to Valerie’s late hairdresser & confidante Mickey—and by extension Robert Michael Morristhe beloved actor who performed him & sadly handed again in 2017.
“It impossible felt for us to imagine doing another season of The Comeback without Robert Michael Morris—he was always as filled with love, joy, laughter and generosity off screen as he was on screen,” says Bucatinsky. “So, giving Mickey (and Robert) a proper, emotional, and heartfelt send-off in the new season felt essential. We were able to give Valerie the closure she needed. But it was also the closure we who loved and worked with Robert also needed to say goodbye to him in a way we knew he’d appreciate: on screen.”
No matter the place this so-called “final season” goes from right here (though we’ll maintain out hope for an opportunity to verify in with Valerie once more in one other 10 years or so), The Comeback you have got already cemented your legacy as a totemic treasure of queer tradition that we have been blessed to have in our lives for the previous few a long time.
So, together with his indispensable position in bringing this collection to life, we thought it was solely applicable to invite Dan Bucatinsky to participate in our ongoing Queer Time Capsule challenge, which asks a few of our favourite LGBTQ+ icons to hand choose 5 objects from the tradition that they really feel are worthy of being preserved for the queers of the long run. And, don’t be concerned, The Comeback It’s very a lot within the operating!
So, head beneath to discover out what 5 timeless items of popular culture Dan Bucatinsky believes ought to take up house in our Queer Time Capsule:
