“The Comeback” is coming back one last time.
HBO renewed the beloved Lisa Kudrow comedy for a third and final season on Friday. This renewal comes 20 years after the premiere of the comedy’s first season and 10 years after its second season.
Season 3 is expected to begin production this summer with an HBO and HBO Max debut date planned for 2026. Michael Patrick King, who co-created the series and developed the currently airing “And Just Like That,” will also return. In addition to Kudrow, the series will star Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman and Damian Young. “The Comeback” is created by King and Kudrow, who also executive produce alongside Bucatinsky and John Melfi.
“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,” Amy Gravitt, executive vice president for HBO and Max Comedy Programming, said in a Friday statement.
“Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did,” Kudrow and King added in a joint statement.
The satire takes place in modern Los Angeles and follows Valerie Cherish, the one-time star of the sitcom “I’m It!” After being cast in a new network sitcom, Valerie agrees to have her life and career filmed for a documentary titled “The Comeback.” That was the premise for Season 1. Season 2 sees Valerie playing a fictionalized version of herself on an HBO series called “Seeing Red,” a show about the sitcom writer and producer who tormented her nine years earlier. How meta and self-referential Season 3 will become remains to be seen.
Though the series was canceled after its first season, it’s proved itself to be a cult favorite. That first season was also nominated for three Primetime Emmys, and Season 2 was nominated for one.
