The Emmys may have overlooked her for her delicious turn as Agatha in Marvel’s “WandaVision” limited series on Disney+, but Kathryn Hahn playing comedy legend and icon Joan Rivers in a limited series for Showtime: does that not scream gunning for that Emmy nomination? And yep, that no-brainer of casting is in the works.
Fall 2021 TV Preview: Over 40 Series’ To Watch
According to Variety, the limited series will be titled “The Comeback Girl,” and its currently in development at Showtime, produced by Warner Bros. Television, Atlas Entertainment, and Berlanti Productions. Hahn will executive produce, Greg Berlanti will direct and executive produce, and Cosmo Carlson will write.
Berlanti will be the question mark here. He’s a capable comedy director and is one of the most powerful people in television, thanks to the various TV and superhero TV empires he has built at The CW under Warner Bros. Television. But like showrunner Ryan Murphy, another powerhouse in TV who deals in volume, it’s a lot of quantity and not often that much quality.
READ MORE: Summer TV Preview: Over 40 Series To Watch
Hahn is the terrific highlight, though, an actress really having her moment lately, super adept at comedy, drama, and anything and everything you can possibly throw at her. It’s crazy that she’s not an Academy Award, Globe, and Emmy winner yet, but that time should come (she is a two-time Emmy nominee, however). Next, she’ll appear in AppleTV+‘s “The Shrink Next Door” alongside Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd.
Kathryn Hahn Joins Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’ Sequel
Hahn is coming off her aforementioned Emmy nomination for “WandaVision,” and before that, excellent turns in “Transparent” (her first Emmy nod) and criminally overlooked performances in HBO’s “Mrs. Fletcher,” and Netflix’s “Private Life” among many great roles.
Other plusses, Carlson, a two-time Black List screenwriter (“The Showrunner,” “Valedictorian”), wrote “The Comeback Girl” as a spec script that clearly got the attention it deserved. Rivers died at age 81 on Sept. 4, 2014, after what should have been a routine endoscopy on her throat went poorly. A comedy legend, she worked in show business for nearly six decades, including several successful talk shows. Before that, she was a regular fill-in host on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show,” becoming the first regular guest host.
We had a long podcast chat with Hahn on the Deep Focus podcast last year, and if you haven’t heard it, you should definitely give it a listen.