Lisa Kudrow’s The Comeback Set to Return for Season 3 After 11-Year Hiatus
Fans of Lisa Kudrow’s beloved cult classic sitcom The Comeback will want to mark their calendars — season 3 is officially underway.
HBO announced the exciting news on Friday, June 27, confirming that this upcoming season, which will begin production this summer, will be the final one.
Kudrow, 61, along with creator Michael Patrick King, expressed their enthusiasm for the announcement in a joint statement, affirming, “Valerie Cherish has made her way back to the current TV landscape. Neither of us are surprised that she did.”
Kudrow also embraced her character for the official reveal, but true to Valerie’s style, she struggled with the delivery. “This is the last one, last time. Never doing this again,” she declared in a YouTube video shared on Friday.
After several humorous attempts, she finally said, “Well, I’ve got a new show, how’s that? And I’m so excited,” before storming off the set.
The lively announcement confirmed that The Comeback season 3 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2026.
“No matter the challenges the industry throws at her, Valerie Cherish is a survivor,” stated executive vice president of HBO & Max Comedy Programming Amy Gravitt in a press release. “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 it.”
In the HBO mockumentary co-created with Sex and the City’s King, 70, Kudrow portrays fictional sitcom actress Valerie Cherish. The first season of the cherished series consisted of 13 episodes that aired from June to September 2005 before being canceled. However, nine years later, The Comeback was revived for season 2, which included eight episodes airing in November and December 2014.
The first season followed Valerie as she filmed a reality series entitled The Comeback, which documented her attempt to revive her Hollywood career alongside younger co-stars. Season 2, set a decade later, depicted Valerie working to produce a reality TV pilot for Andy Cohen and featuring in a documentary about her career resurgence.
Alongside Kudrow, The Comeback featured Damian Young as Valerie’s husband Mark; the late Robert Michael Morris as her hairstylist and friend Mickey; Laura Silverman as reality show producer Jane; Lance Barber as her rival Paulie G; Malin Åkerman as her co-star Juna; Robert Bagnell as sitcom co-creator Tom; and Dan Bucatinsky as Valerie’s publicist, Billy.
In June, Kudrow and King celebrated the 20th anniversary of The Comeback, teasing potential for a third season at that time.
“There are always periodic meetings where we brainstorm ideas,” King shared with Variety. “It has to be a finely balanced mix to get us both to that moment where we think, ‘Oh, wow.’ We find humor in everything; Valerie could be hilarious anywhere. But the key is discovering what event is significant enough to bring Valerie back. We’re always chatting — hey, how about this?”
Regarding what specifically it would take for season 3 to come to fruition, King mentioned, “It’s about finding a concept that offers more than just a single joke.”
Kudrow, for her part, confirmed that they are “always discussing it and searching for ideas.”
King added: “She’ll show up at one of those lunches, and I’m laughing as hard as I did 20 years ago. The energy is still there. The beauty of Valerie — the reason why, if we find the right scenario, it will be fantastic — is that Valerie will forever face challenges in getting everything she desires. It’s exhilarating to have a character reminiscent of a Greek hero, venturing through the underworld only to return with the golden apple and say, ‘Well, I got it!’”
