Why I'm So Ready For A Lindsay Lohan Comeback

Are y’all ready for this? It’s time for a Lindsay Lohan comeback. Or, to be accurate, another Lindsay Lohan comeback. The 30-year-old freckled goddess has had several falls from grace and subsequent returns to fame. Recently, she has been busy meeting the Turkish president, hugging Syrian refugees and carrying around a Qur'an. Earlier this year she declared “I’m back, bitches” when she launched a game show called The Anti-Social Network, where she takes over contestants’ social media accounts. It does actually seem that this time, bitches, she could be back for real. One can only dream. Girlfriend is nothing if not persistent.

Just two days ago, Lohan shared photographic evidence on Instagram of positive career progression. “Back on the set of my new TV show #SickNote” she wrote, with a couple of emoji smiley faces. The picture was this one, alongside Rupert Grint (aka Ron Weasley) and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). 137,000 likes later, the picture was trending on Twitter and Lohan fans were celebrating this elusive announcement. They were also, naturally, celebrating the debut of an asymmetrical bob (WIG OR REAL, WIG OR REAL, WIG OR REAL?), which is of course newsworthy in itself.

Frankly, Twitter user Brodie Lancaster summed up the mood best with this tweet:

As it turns out, “whatever the fuck this is” is a comedy show called Sick Note. The first season is coming out soon on Sky and they’ve just started filming the second season – and that’s when Lohan comes in. The premise sounds pretty good, to me. Rupert Grint stars as Daniel Glass, a miserable insurance broker with a compulsive lying addiction. He’s misdiagnosed with a terminal illness but decides not to tell his family and friends. Don Johnson plays Daniel’s boss… and next season, Lohan will play his boss' daughter, Katerina West.

Now, here’s why this is excellent news. Here’s why this is the best evidence we’ve had for a proper Lohan comeback. This is comedy, baby. This is Lohan’s heartland. Think of Mean Girls, hell, think all the way back to The Parent Trap. Watch any and every time she has appeared in sketches on Saturday Night Live. This woman has comic timing. Say whatever you will about her extracurricular activities, Lindsay Lohan is more talented than the media deign to acknowledge. She’s proper funny, she always has been. Sure, in recent years, she’s been funny accidentally, like that time she claimed to have woken up with a Turkish accent. But when she’s given the comedic roles, she nails them. We can only hope she brings back the British accent she cultivated for The Parent Trap.

The other thing is this. The reason Lohan has been out of work for so long is that no production company could afford the insurance to employ her. She, ah, wasn’t exactly professional on a couple of projects and basically nobody could (or would) put up the cash to pay for the thing if Lohan either didn’t turn up or, I don’t know, got arrested again midway through shooting (a friend of my ex-boyfriend’s saw Lohan during her community service and said she was extremely polite and very diligent about emptying the rubbish bags). So, Sky Atlantic, which is producing Sick Note, has either taken a leap of faith on Lohan and pulled together the insurance to cover her – OR she’s redeemed herself enough to be a safe investment again. Either way, Lohan is clearly turning up to work and frankly, that’s the best endorsement of her wellbeing we’ve had in a long time.

And this show actually sounds like a good vehicle for Lohan’s proper comeback. Firstly, she seems weirdly enamoured with British culture and we, in turn, appear to be sort of grudgingly fond of her. Remember that time she got involved in some sick banter with the British town of Kettering and promised to put their Christmas lights up? I mean, she didn’t turn up but, still, the thought was there.

Secondly, her co-stars are great. Nick Frost is comedy industry royalty. Together with Simon Pegg, he brought us the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy of films, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. He is a lovely writer, a brilliant comic and, having sort-of flirted with him once at a film junket, I can say he’s a jolly nice man. Rupert Grint is, of course, a comedic talent; did you see the facial expressions that man pulled throughout all eight Harry Potter films? Ron Weasley was the comic relief and frankly, this project must be good for Grint to take a break from drinking beer with his mates to commit to it. It’s also in very safe hands: Sick Note is produced by Jo Sargent, David Walliams and Miranda Hart’s production company, King Bert.

And so, let us rejoice for a serious Lindsay Lohan comeback is in play. Long live Lohan.