Valerie Cherish, a washed-up sitcom actress whose relentless pursuit of relevance forms the series' backbone. Across its three-season run, with each installment arriving roughly a decade apart, King, who is 71, has managed to satirize whatever fresh indignity Hollywood has devised for itself.
James Burrows' role on The Comeback, where he plays a thinly veiled version of himself, isn't a big one. Over the course of the HBO sitcom's three seasons, he's only appeared in eight episodes, sometimes for no more than a single scene. And yet he serves a critical function in its overarching story about the travails of an aging TV actress, one that's made his brief appearances both memorable and often surprisingly moving.
There are a lot of strange shows on TV, but truly nothing compares to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The show has been on the air nearly as long as Grey's Anatomy and should not exist, yet it does and remains an absolute gem.