Valerie Cherish will be given another take as HBO is bringing back The Comeback for a third and final season.
The pickup comes on the heels of the cult comedy created by Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow, marking the 20-year anniversary of its launch earlier this month and more than a decade after the show’s Season 2 revival. The official green light follows weeks of speculation about a potential return of The Comeback, including chatter about a mini-room for the project this spring.
The third and final season will begin production this summer and is expected to debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2026. Kudrow will reprise her role as Valerie Cherish, a one-time sitcom star who chronicles her return to show business on a companion reality TV series called The Comeback.
“Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did,” King and Kudrow said.
Dan Bucatinsky (Valerie’s publicist, Billy Stanton), Laura Silverman (reality TV show producer, Jane Benson), and Damian Young (Valerie’s husband Mark Berman) will also reprise their roles in the new season, which is executive produced by King, Kudrow, John Melfi and Bucatinsky.
“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,” said Amy Gravitt, EVP, HBO & Max Comedy Programming.
The Comeback originally premiered in 2005 on HBO, marking Kudrow’s first starring television role following the 10-season run of Friends. Despite the mockumentary being a critical darling, the premium cable network axed the comedy series after one season.
In the years following its initial cancellation, the series gained a cult following, and HBO picked it up for a second season, which premiered in 2014. By the time the second season aired, The Real Housewives and lifestyle reality TV had become much more prevalent, setting the stage for Valerie Cherish to stage another comeback.
The second season saw Valerie attempt to produce a pilot for Andy Cohen. Valerie is also cast in an HBO series called “Seeing Red,” playing a fictionalized version of herself in a show about the life of Paulie G., the sitcom writer who tormented her.
More than 20 years since The Comeback originally premiered, people have continued to ask Kudrow about a third season. Last year, Kudrow told Newsweek she and King were “always talking about what would happen next” with Valerie Cherish and were “thrilled” fans continued to recognize the show after so many years.
