Lisa Kudrow's Final Chapter In HBO's Cult Classic

All good things must come to an end. And, sadly, for fans, that’s the case for The Comeback.

Originally premiering in 2005, the HBO series followed Lisa Kudrow‘s Valerie Cherish, a former sitcom star attempting to revive her career through a reality TV show that quickly spirals into something far more humiliating than she anticipated. The show was not picked up for a second season, but after gaining a cult following for its sharp, painfully funny look at fame, reinvention, and the ever-changing entertainment industry, the show returned for a surprise second season in 2014, picking up Valerie’s story as she navigated a new era of prestige television. Now, more than two decades after it first premiered, Kudrow is stepping back into Valerie’s shoes one last time, as the comedy returns for its long-awaited third season.

And though fans have spent years asking when The Comeback would return, this next chapter will also be its last. Speaking with ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan at SXSW in Austin, Texas, last week, Kudrow opened up about why now was the right time to bring Valerie’s story full circle, and how the show’s third and final season reflects yet another major shift in Hollywood, much like the ones it’s satirized from the very beginning.

Lisa Kudrow: As we figured out that that’s what this is about, it felt sort of like a callback to the very first season, which was reality TV, which felt like, in this industry, “Well, that’s the end of scripted television. And reality is just going to completely displace us.” And it felt like AI is a similar event, and so it just felt like, okay, that’s sort of like a whole piece, a trilogy.

The journey back wasn’t exactly linear, though, with showrunner Michael Patrick King revealing to ScreenRant that after getting the invite from HBO, he turned to Kudrow to craft a storyline that would be “worth coming back for,” and reflected the changes that have occurred in the industry over the last ten years — which is how they landed on AI.

Michael Patrick King: We had a really good time, the first season, with these people. And we have two new additions for the third season: Jack O’Brien and Ella Stiller. But the chemistry between us was the thing that we were so sad we didn’t have after the first season went away. So, we were surprised. And then somehow, 10 years later, HBO said, “Want to come back?” And we did. And then, Lisa and I came up with a concept that we thought was maybe worth coming back for again, which is that Val is cast in the first multi-cam comedy written by AI.

While AI Dominates, It’s Val And Mark’s Love Story That’s At The Center Of The Comeback

WB Discovery Press

ScreenRant: AI is obviously a big topic, but what from the past 10 years were you just very excited to incorporate? There are things mentioned right off the bat where I’m like, “Oh my God, yes.”

Michael Patrick King: We cared very much about Val and Mark’s love story. Lisa had very strong feelings about Valerie having a husband in the first season, who saw her as desirable, and they were a great couple.
Lisa Kudrow: Desirable was important to you. I don’t care as much.
Michael Patrick King: It was fun to trace a relationship over 21 years.
Lisa Kudrow: She didn’t need to throw herself into the peril of reality TV, because she was married, she had someone who loved her, and she loved. And also, someone who did well. She didn’t need money. So we wanted to take all that off the table, so that you’re not thinking like, “Well, she needs to put food on the table. So she’s got to do the show.” And then there was Damian, who was, “Yep.” And he’s good-looking.
Damian Young: I said yes. I agreed to do it. So reluctantly.
Lisa Kudrow: And he talks like that.
Michael Patrick King: Casting for The Comeback was so important because we were trying to pretend that you’re seeing real people rather than theatrical people, which is Valerie’s world: to be theatrical. So we needed an actor to play her husband, who seemed not theatrical, despite the voice. Laura Silverman — we wrote the part of Jane with her in mind — and then Danny is theatrical in a right, human being way, for the character. And then, Jack and Ella don’t really feel like they’re acting, but they are.

Where The Comeback Crew Landed A Decade Later

The Comeback still featuring Lisa Kudrow and the cast of Chicago on Broadway.

ScreenRant: Where have you two been, not you as people, but your characters, in the past decade? Where are they when we meet them again?

Laura Silverman: I can say Jane’s heart is in documentary filmmaking. She takes herself very seriously.
Lisa Kudrow: She did win an Oscar.
Laura Silverman: And she did win an Oscar, but it means nothing, she says 50 times. I’ve re-watched that scene, and she’s like, “It means nothing.” Yeah, keep telling yourself that, and you might believe it. [Chuckles]
She’s working at Trader Joe’s because she just wants a simple life, but as soon as she hears that there might be a story to follow, it just drops away, and she just goes after it in her Jane way.

Dan Bucatinsky: I think Billy came into the picture for Valerie late in season 1, when she needed — well, [as she put it], “I gotta get a gay Mickey,” and she wasn’t wrong. And Billy, as you met him, had been wronged by a very big and powerful publicity firm, so he was branching out on his own. So, you already got the sense that he was tightly wound, but really interested in being of service to Valerie, whom he saw as a talent, and as someone that he could promote, but had this inner rage, which you would see explode every time he would shove anybody who did anything, or said anything that he didn’t like. Ten years later, Billy is competitive and doesn’t like that HBO has publicists who are also doing what he’s trying to do, and he turns against himself, and he quits. He’s like, “You’re going to fire me anyway.” So you start to see a little bit of his self-hate. And I think now, when you meet him, that inner desire to finally let his inner butterfly be free is something that he sees as an opportunity, since Valerie and Billy get to be executive producers of a whole new show. I think Billy sees it as an opportunity.
Lisa Kudrow: How does that happen? Billy insists, Valerie’s not asking. [Chuckles]
Dan Bucatinsky: Billy has been an ally and supporter of Valerie’s for a very long time. I think Billy is ready to be an ally and supporter of Billy. I’ll say the thing about The Comeback, 22 years, there’s always this identification at work. I think there’s always this identification of a common enemy, which I think we do in society also, but in The Comeback, reality TV is the enemy, or Paulie G is the enemy. And the truth is, Valerie is strong enough to withstand enemies, but she also has her allies, and Marky Mark becomes somebody who, for all those years, is on her side. And Billy, as long as he can, is on her side. So it was fun to sort of play that trajectory.

How The Show’s Fresh Faces Helped Close Out The Trilogy

The Comebak — The Comeback cast and crew at SXSW.

ScreenRant: And Ella, coming into the series. I want you to describe Patience.

Ella Stiller: Patience comes in as Valerie’s social media manager. We first meet in 2023, where we pick up, and then, as most of the season takes place in 2026, Patience and Valerie have been working together for a good amount of time, which is something we always talked about; it is clear there is a real relationship there. There’s a real allegiance there. For me, that was a big thing, because there was a version where she could just be the sort of flighty, Gen Z girl who goes on her phone and gets paid. But I think there’s a real relationship there, and it’s very subtle. I think part of what I found so hilarious about the writing is that she’s just sort of unbothered. Patience is sort of always unbothered, but also around. She’s there, and she’s going to do what she needs to do to make Valerie look good.

ScreenRant: What was the conversation about coming into the show?

Jack O’Brien: I’m an outlier. I mean, let’s face it, I’m Alex in Wonderland, over here. I’m a figment of Michael’s imagination. In the immortal words of Tennessee Williams: “Don’t get up. I’m just passing through.” But, I do know something in my life about companies, about the miracle of when you put them together: they either work or they don’t. And it has a great deal to do with these two people, and the goddess of comedy. Who’s gonna not want to do that? But Michael, I could tell we were kindred spirits.
Michael Patrick King: I’ll tell you a story. Jack is not known as an actor. He’s a genius director. And after I saw him on YouTube, talking about his career, I called Lisa, and I said, “I think I found somebody.” And then I had to beg for a meeting through many people. I had to go through celebrities to get him to meet with me, because he’s so busy. And so finally, at dinner, I said, “Jack, it’s not important, because you have the part, but can you act?” And he said, “What do you think I’ve been doing this entire meal?”
Jack O’Brien: Well, also, there’s the beloved Mickey … and I mean, all of us knew that there was this character, this beloved character, who was also a bit of an outlier. And when they stopped, and he died, clearly, they were going to have to figure out, for the audience, what happened. So, rather than just a line of narrative, it’s good to have an old queen in your back pocket … so here I was. I’ve never had a better time. And even today, it’s totally surrealistic. I’m just going with it.

The Comeback season 3 airs Sundays on HBO, with episodes available to stream on Max.