HBO has officially revived The Comeback for a third and final season marking 20 years since Valerie Cherish first stepped into the spotlight.
HBO has confirmed that The Comeback, the cult mockumentary comedy starring Lisa Kudrow, will return for a third and final season. Created by Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow, the series will begin production this summer and is slated to premiere in 2026 on HBO and Max.
This long-awaited announcement comes on the heels of the show’s 20th anniversary and over a decade since its critically praised second season aired in 2014. The Comeback originally debuted in 2005, marking Lisa Kudrow’s first lead TV role after Friends. Though it was canceled after one season, the show’s satirical lens on fame and reality television earned it a loyal cult following.
In Season 3, Lisa Kudrow reprises her role as Valerie Cherish, the washed-up sitcom star who documented her desperate return to Hollywood via a reality show titled The Comeback. Now, two decades later, Valerie is once again navigating the ever-evolving television landscape.
Returning cast members include Dan Bucatinsky as publicist Billy Stanton, Laura Silverman as producer Jane Benson, and Damian Young as Valerie’s loyal husband Mark Berman. The new season is executive produced by King, Kudrow, Bucatinsky, and John Melfi.
“Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did,” Lisa Kudrow and King shared in a joint statement.
Amy Gravitt, EVP of HBO & Max Comedy Programming, added, “No matter what the industry throws at her, Valerie Cherish is a survivor. 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.”
Season 2 found Valerie navigating the reality TV boom, attempting to pitch a pilot to Andy Cohen, and starring in an HBO drama Seeing Red, where she played a version of herself in a show about her old tormentor, sitcom writer Paulie G.
Ever since the second season, fans have been hoping for more, and Lisa Kudrow revealed in 2024 that she and King were always talking about what might happen next. With The Comeback’s final chapter now in motion, fans will finally get the closing arc Valerie Cherish has always dreamed of — and probably filmed herself dreaming.
