It has been over a month since we’ve last heard an update regarding Showtime’s The Comeback Girl, and now Variety brings word that the development of the limited series about the life of late comedian and host Joan Rivers has officially been canceled. The project was supposed to be led by Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn, who was previously attached to play Rivers.
According to the outlet, the reason for the cancellation was that the producers including Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Production weren’t able to successfully secure Rivers’ life rights from her daughter, Melissa Rivers. Even though the project could have proceeded as an unauthorized biographical drama, it wouldn’t have been able to include any of the acclaimed comedian’s jokes and catchphrases. That is why they’ve ultimately decided to scrap the series out of respect towards Melissa Rivers and the estate.
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The Comeback Girl would have been primarily set in the aftermath of The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers’ cancellation and would have followed Rivers as she deals with not only her television show being canceled but the unexpected death of her husband, Edgar Rosenberg.
“Trailblazer. Adored. Cruel. Diva. Joan Rivers had a life like no other,” reads the logline for the series. “At age 54, she was a superstar comedienne…and then it all fell apart. The Comeback Girl is the awe-inspiring untold story of how Joan Rivers persevered through near suicide and professional abyss to rebuild herself and her career to become a global icon.”
The canceled project was going to be executive produced by Hahn, Greg Berlanti, and Cosmo Carlson, with Berlanti set to direct from a script written by Carlson. Carlson’s script for the series initially began as a spec script but was picked up by Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle and Robert Amidon, who then brought it to Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions.
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Despite this, fans of Hahn will still be able to see her in two upcoming projects including: Apple TV+’s The Shrink Next Door, and Netflix’s star-studded whoddunit sequel Knives Out 2. For her most recent performance as Agatha Harkness in Disney+’s WandaVision, she scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series. She will reportedly reprise the fan-favorite role in Marvel Studios’ potential WandaVision spin-off series.
