Every 10 years, it looks as though Lisa Kudrow will stage a brand-new “Comeback.” Exactly 20 years after the beloved comedy series’ first season debuted in 2005, and 10 years after Season 2 in 2015, Kudrow officially is reprising her cult favorite role of Valerie Cherish for “The Comeback” Season 3.
Creator Michael Patrick King, who is now pulling double duty at HBO with “And Just Like That,” will return as showrunner. HBO is billing “The Comeback” Season 3 as “the final season,” but who knows if, in 2035, there will yet be another iteration. The third season will premiere in 2026 on HBO and HBO Max; production will begin this summer.
“The Comeback” centers on has-been sitcom actress Valerie Cherish (Kudrow) who makes her big return to network TV with a reality show called “The Comeback.” Valerie previously led comedy “Room and Board” and is looking to stage a reboot. Season 2 saw Valerie being Emmy-nominated (Kudrow also was nominated in real life for both seasons) after playing a version of herself for a HBO dramedy.
“No matter what the industry throws at her, Valerie Cherish is a survivor,” Amy Gravitt, Executive Vice President, HBO & Max Comedy Programming, said in a press statement. “On the 20th anniversary of her debut, Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow have brilliantly scripted her return to HBO and we can’t wait to see that.”
King and Kudrow added together, “Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did.”
Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman, and Damian Young will all be back for Season 3. King, Kudrow, Bucatinsky, and John Melfi will executive produce.
King recently told Variety for the show’s 20th anniversary that a Season 3 would be possible about “whether we can find an idea worth going beyond one joke.” He added, “The thing about Valerie — the reason why, if we find an arena, it’s going to be great — is that Valerie will never get everything she wants. It’s thrilling when you have somebody who’s practically a Greek character, going through the underworld to get the golden apple and coming back up like, ‘Well, I got it!’”