Dan Bucatinsky on AI and shrinking TV budgets
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details about Episode 4 of “The Comeback” Season 3, now available on HBO Max.
Billy Stanton, Valerie Cherish’s publicist, manager and production partner on “The Comeback,” is more than ready for his close-up.
In episode 4, Billy, played by Dan Bucatinsky, is photographed for a fictional film Variety 50 More than 50 edition. When Valerie [Lisa Kudrow] Interrupts the shoot, Billy begs her to step away. “I’m suicidal for a solo press,” says Billy.
“I had that line engraved on a pair of glasses that I gave to everyone as a wrapping gift, and they were signed ‘Billy Stanton,’” says Bucatinsky, who is also co-creator and executive producer of the three-season HBO series. “It’s incredible how that sentence tells you everything you need to know, and it encompasses so much of Hollywood. It says it all.”
When “The Comeback” premiered in 2005, Billy was a publicist at the legendary PR agency PMK. By the time Season 3 began, 21 years later, he was tapped to become a producer on “How’s That?!,” Valerie’s new sitcom being secretly written by AI.
“I’m an EP. I can get a parking spot and wear some damn cool clothes,” Bucatinsky says of Billy, who spends most of his time in Season 3 wearing Thom Browne skirts. “I can finally enjoy my perks and all the perks that come with an EP. We meet Billy at a time when he’s going to take advantage of everything that comes his way, whether it’s a gift bag or being one of the 50 Over 50 in the world.” Variety.”
But is Billy finally happy? “I would have to say no,” Bucatinsky says. “I don’t think there is love in his life. I think the devotion and preoccupation with attention that Billy has developed over the past twenty years is a false journey to what he believes will bring him happiness, like any drug addict, a quick hit of some publicity. But what do you do when you wake up in the morning with no one in your bed? I don’t think Billy feels happy – not yet. I think when you see the end of this season, Billy will find a sense of love.” goal.”
While ‘The Comeback’ is clearly a comedy, its emotional and dramatic arcs give audiences a real glimpse into the reality of how Hollywood is struggling right now. With budget cuts across the studio system and the pervasive fear of AI taking away jobs, it can sometimes feel like Hollywood is on the brink of implosion.
In one scene in episode 4, Valerie asks, “What’s that like?!” writer Mary Abrams (Abbi Jacobson) to polish a script because she isn’t happy with the AI-generated version. Mary lashes out at Valerie, using the harshest language to let her know that she doesn’t care about the show and that her only goal is to make enough money to move her and her children as far away from Los Angeles as possible.
“I don’t care if Rome is on fire,” Mary snaps.
Yet Bucatinsky emphasizes that “The Comeback” does not take any side in the AI debates.
“We represent Valerie’s point of view, which is, ‘I just want to work, whatever it takes,’ and the point of view of the writer who says, ‘I’m not going to play this game this way,’” he explains. “You show people, you show human experiences and you don’t boil down to whatever the issues are. In other words, you don’t preach.”
“The Comeback” certainly felt like it was crunching songs in the real studio. While season 1 had about ten writers in the writers’ room, season 3, which consists of eight episodes, only has three. “It was out of necessity and budget,” Bucatinsky said. “If we had done ten, twelve or thirteen episodes, we would have needed more writers, but the budget for our eight episodes wasn’t huge. We’re not ‘Euphoria.’ We don’t get the audience that ‘Euphoria’ gets. So we had to do everything on a budget, including writing the Lisa and Michael episodes [Michael Patrick King] every version of it printed out. It was an economic issue.”
With that knowledge in mind, the already very meta show becomes even more meta as the audience watches Valerie so dedicated to making “How’s That?!” work.
“I always saw Valerie as a heroic figure,” Bucatinsky says. “She can flip the switch. She can turn the story around in a positive way, no matter what comes her way. Yes, there is less work now, and yes, it’s written by AI, but look at the 200, 300 people we’re going to employ. She’s able to find a path to adapt, change and be happy no matter what comes her way.”
