LISA KUDROW has trod the Emmy path before -- six nominations including one win (for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy in 1998) for her performance as the loopy, likable Phoebe Buffay on the popular, long-running "Friends."
But this time around it's different.
To begin with, she was nominated for lead actress in a comedy series for a role she created, co-wrote and co-executive produced. Her character on HBO's "The Comeback" was Valerie Cherish, a desperate, irritating has-been actress who made viewers squirm as she tried to claw her way back into the spotlight. And this show didn't live past its first season -- HBO canceled it the day after last year's Emmys.
"The Comeback" was all about failure, which seems a fitting subject on a day when the television industry celebrates itself. Most pilots made never air on TV, and most of those that do don't last.
Kudrow, after years of working in the rarefied air on one of the most popular shows in television history, has suddenly found herself in the unfamiliar position that Valerie and many others in Hollywood would recognize: a one-season wonder. That her pet project took a beating but came up with an Emmy nomination is particularly sweet, she said, and helps her combat the odd feeling that the show never existed at all.
Creating new scenes for the just-released DVD of "The Comeback" had helped reconnect her to the show, she said.
Still, a hint of bitterness was audible when she talked about the critical reviews and the cancellation. While HBO supported her efforts to create "The Comeback," Kudrow said, "they never got it fully."
"I guess they needed better ratings or for it to catch on sooner. Plus the press was a little over HBO and their behind-the-scenes-of-the-industry shows. They weren't in the mood for 'We're leaving it on,' " she said.
"The Comeback" mocked the current state of television through Kudrow's character, a needy, obsessive, sometimes pathetic, sometimes strong actress who volunteers to star in a reality show that documents her return to television on "Room and Board," a vehicle for hot twentysomethings. Her comeback, of course, is charged with humiliating moments when Valerie finds herself relegated to the role of the tracksuit-wearing older aunt and comic foil.
With the ever-present reality show camera lingering on her facial expressions, the show highlighted Valerie's raw emotions as she careened from confusion and self-deception to fruitless attempts to dictate situations far beyond her control. "The show was really a dance between the camera and me and the [audience]," she said.
