INS TAN T
REPLAY
Lisa Kudrow nominates
four TV shows and one
movie worth bringing back
DEREK (2012-2014) I hope Ricky
Gervais brings this back on Netflix.
But I don’t know if I can handle it—the
last episode of the first season made
me cry my eyes out.
THE TROPHY WIFE (2013) That had a
phenomenal cast—Marcia Gay Harden,
Bradley Whitford, Michaela Watkins and
Malin Akerman, who was in The Comeback. And the kids were really funny.
JA’MIE: PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRL
(2013) Chris Lilley, this actor from Australia, created this character in a show
called Summer Heights High and plays
a teenage girl fantastically. There are
moments when it’s heartbreaking and
then she’s okay again.
MR. SUNSHINE (2011) Matthew Perry
was so funny as the manager of a
sports stadium and Allison Janney
was fantastic in it.
ROMY AND MICHELE (1997) We had
talked years ago about ROMY AND
MICHELE GET MARRIED, but so
many years have passed it would probably have to be ROMY AND MICHELE
GET DIVORCED.
“People who sign up for reality shows
now know they are putting themselves in
self-esteem danger,” Kudrow says. “But
in 2005, when i was showing the pilot to
people i trust, i was laughing my ass off.
But my brother or my husband, espe-
cially, would be like, ‘ooh. that’s rough!’ ”
when it aired, Kudrow found that
despite her foibles, Valerie cherish
touched hearts.
“People let me know that Valerie’s
actually really strong. whether you agree
with her goal or not, nothing gets in her
way. there’s something inspirational
about people who just keep going and
don’t turn into rock salt and disintegrate.”
when The Comeback resumes, viewers
find Valerie in 2014.
“her sitcom, Room and
Bored, has been canceled
and so has her reality
show, so we pick up with
her doing a pilot presentation for Bravo with andy
cohen,” Kudrow says.
the new season gleefully
skewers tV today.
“Valerie gets cast in a
six-episode hBo dram-edy called Seeing Red.
it’s about the writer of
Room and Bored—played
by seth rogen—and his
experience with a narcissistic older actress who’s
based on Valerie,” adds
King. “Valerie is thinking
she’s evolved past her first
experience and now, nine
years later, she gets it: everyone is playing
In Real Reality …
on a recent afternoon, Kudrow is tackling
a role she relishes, holding forth in her
west hollywood production offices on
the characters and shows she’s brought
to the airwaves. wearing a bohemian-chic
printed top and jeans, she drops into a
chair, pops nicorette gum in her mouth
and then rummages through her bag.
“i have some wrigley’s for you,” she
offers. “or perhaps you’d like some
rose-flavored candy from france.” she
pauses, momentarily mortified. “i sound
like a grandmother, don’t i?” she asks
with a grin.
when she smiles, the 51-year-old
actress radiates with beauty so youthful
it’s remarkable. so i remark on it.
“well, if i’m not smiling, i look miserable and pissed off,” she replies, laughing.
Kudrow clearly is a refreshing change
from the standard celebrity.
“i’m married to a person who is not in
the business,” she says. “i don’t go out,
get drunk and misbehave. i’m not inter-
esting to the world that reads about that
stuff. i think people really undervalue a
dull and uneventful life.”
“But it’s getting on
my nerves because i’m
up there like level 500,”
she giggles. and when
she isn’t making tV, she
watches everything from
PBs and BBc to Real
Housewives.
“andy warhol was right,” Kudrow
declares. “everyone did get their 15
minutes of fame. they don’t mind how
stupid they look. they don’t mind being
caught lying. you don’t sign up unless
you plan to look horrible in front of
everybody and see what you can get
out of it.”
the more she talks, the clearer it
becomes: there’s an intellectual and
emotional thread running through her
work on The Comeback, Web Therapy and
Who Do You Think You Are? it goes some-
thing like this: in an age where getting
famous, becoming a psychologist or trac-
ing your family tree can be done online,
OPPOSI TE: Kudrow and Michael Patrick
King on the set of the comeback.
ABOVE: Kudrow in her Taft High
School senior portrait, 1981.
RIGH T: Kudrow and Mira Sorvino
in romy and michele’s high
school reunion, 1997.
