The Comeback is back, and Michael Patrick King is here to talk about it. The co-creator and director joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to break down how he and Lisa Kudrow arrived at the idea of Valerie Cherish being cast in the first sitcom written by AI, what it means to finally see Valerie in the real world without cameras, and why they only return to the show when there's a seismic cultural shift worth exploring. He also gets into the origin of his creative partnership with Lisa, what makes her performance genuinely one of a kind, and why, after 21 years, this feels like the right moment to say goodbye to Valerie Cherish. Spoiler: it's a party, and you're invited. 

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Dan Bucatinsky has been in Valerie Cherish's corner since the very beginning, and he's here to make the case for why she's always been a heroine, not a punchline. The actor and producer behind Billy, Valerie’s manager, joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to talk about what makes this final season of The Comeback so emotionally satisfying, how the show manages to tackle AI without an agenda, and what it really means that Valerie is finally going head-to-head with the one person who knows her best. He also opens up about his decades-long creative partnership with Lisa Kudrow, the beautiful way season three honors the legacy of Robert Michael Morris (Mickey), and why, even as the cameras stop rolling on Valerie Cherish, he's not entirely ready to call it goodbye. 

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She's back, and she needs to be heard. Lisa Kudrow joins the Newsweek's H. Alan Scott to talk about The Comeback season three, the one we didn't know we were waiting for but absolutely needed. We get into an evolved Valerie Cherish navigating AI, a gut-punch tribute to Robert Michael Morris and what it means that Val is suddenly the one in the room who has it most together. As Kudrow puts it, "everybody is in that place that Val was 20 years ago"—and she's not wrong. Plus: that ‘Friends’ moment, and why Stage 24 will finally have its hit TV show. This one is heartfelt, funny and essential listening for any fan of the show. 

Read the feature: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/the-comeback-returns-lisa-kudrow-on-why-valerie-was-always-right-11687203 

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South by Southwest is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and it looks different than it ever has. Greg Rosenbaum, the festival's head of programming, joins me to talk about the creative reset forced by the demolition of the Austin Convention Center, the new neighborhood clubhouse model that's embedding communities throughout the city, and what it actually means to run all of SXSW simultaneously for the first time. Plus, the story of how the Daniels went from screening music videos at SXSW in 2012 to sweeping the Oscars with Everything Everywhere All at Once, and what that journey says about what the festival has always been trying to do. 

Newsweek will be at SXSW this year, covering it all. In fact, I'll be on stage with Jamie Lee Curtis on March 14 for what is sure to be a conversation worth the trip alone. Also, Newsweek’s Editor-In-Chief Jennifer Cunningham will be there on March 16 for the panel on the future of news. If you see us there, make sure to say hi. And make sure you watch this space and subscribe to my newsletter for all the latest.  

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The Outlander audience is massive, and I learned that firsthand when I chatted with Caitríona Balfe, who plays Claire in the beloved, long-running Starz series. The response to that conversation, and to the show itself, was overwhelming. So I started wondering: who is the person who truly understands this fandom from the inside out? Turns out, she exists, and her name is Reshma Gopaldas. 

Reshma is a writer and podcaster who has been covering Outlander for years. If you haven't read her interviews with Caitríona and Sam Heughan in Vogue, do yourself a favor and click the link below. She joined me to talk about the series, its fandom and why the show connects with people in such a singular way. With the final season coming to Starz, there's no better time to listen. 

Listen to my chat with Caitríona Balfe: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/outlanders-caitriona-balfe-bids-farewell-a-quarter-of-our-lives-11537618 

Follow Reshma on Substack: https://substack.com/@reshmago 

Follow Reshma on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReshmaGo 

Read her Vogue feature: https://www.vogue.com/article/caitriona-balfe-sam-heughan-outlander-season-8-interview 

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Some stories don't have clean endings. A.J. Daulerio published Hulk Hogan's sex tape, watched Gawker collapse under the weight of a $140 million lawsuit, and spent years wondering if he'd ever work again. He was somewhere between 90 and 100 days sober when he sat in that courtroom. He didn't know yet that all of it, the public humiliation, the professional exile, the long uncomfortable crawl back to himself, would eventually become the foundation for something genuinely good. 

Daulerio joined me to talk about that journey. We got into the Hulk Hogan trial, what sobriety actually looks like a decade in, and how The Small Bow podcast became a community for people who needed somewhere to land. He also talks about writing Hogan a letter in 2018 without telling his lawyers. It's a conversation worth sitting with. 

Visit thesmallbow.com to listen and watch the podcast.  

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I love weird. I especially love weird when it incorporates my favorite moments in pop culture. So when I recently saw Linus Karp and Joseph Martin's live show "Gwyneth Goes Skiing," a sort of musical retelling of Gwyneth Paltrow's 2023 ski crash trial, I knew I needed to chat with them. 

Turns out Karp and Martin are a pop culture nerd's favorite duo, because they've done tons of shows that scratch that weird, nostalgic itch: shows like "Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story," about Princess Diana, and "Fit Prince," a spoof on Hallmark made-for-TV movies. I chatted with this comedy duo and couple about pop culture, where they come up with ideas for their shows, and whether Paltrow herself has ever come to see it. 

For more on their work, follow their production company: https://www.instagram.com/awkwardprods 

For their live shows, visit https://linktr.ee/awkwardprods 

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Jenna Lewis-Dougherty and Kyle Fraser join Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to break down their Survivor 50 exits, shocking game moves and who they're rooting for to win it all. 

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Tom Ellis is ready for his next chapter. The actor talks CBS’ CIA, the new Dick Wolf drama he couldn't turn down. It’s a character who won't be naked like Lucifer but could still “put you on the floor with one move.” 

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Gabriel Basso is back as Peter Sutherland in season three of Netflix’s The Night Agent, and he's thinking big. "Relatability breeds success and success kills relatability.” It's a juxtaposition that shapes both his character and his outlook on his career. 

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