With the popularity of shows taking a mickey out of Hollywood on the rise – like the Emmy-winning series Hacks and The Studio – it feels like the perfect time for The Comeback to, well, make a comeback.
Starring the always-hilarious Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback first debuted in 2005. The 13-episode, half-hour comedy marked Kudrow’s first follow-up after completing 10 successful seasons of Friends, which ended in 2004.
In the mockumentary-style series, Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish, a fading Hollywood star desperate to claw her way back into the spotlight.
No amount of humiliation or roadblocks will stop Valerie from trying to stay relevant in Tinseltown – where, as an ageing B-list actress, time is very much not on her side.
The series received a lukewarm response from viewers but was adored by critics, earning three Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Kudrow.
It was, however, cancelled after just one season.
Co-creator Michael Patrick King – the man behind Sex And The City – later said that audiences simply didn’t resonate with Valerie’s antics.
Kudrow agreed.
“The show originally felt like one humiliation or punishment after another (for the character),” Kudrow, 62, told W magazine in an interview last year.
But then something unexpected happened – The Comeback found a second life as a cult favourite, as more viewers discovered it in the years that followed.
That resurgence led to HBO ordering a second season in 2014.
And now, 12 years later, Valerie Cherish is back for a third – and final – cringe-worthy romp.
Kudrow and King felt the time was just right to bring Valerie back to tell a cautionary tale, albeit in a comical way.
While the first season focused on the rise of reality TV and the second dwelled on premium TV viewing (or what we now know as streaming), the current season looks at artificial intelligence (AI) in the Hollywood landscape – a hotly discussed topic in the industry.
The new season of The Comeback finds Valerie still hustling for a piece of the elusive Hollywood pie. Now categorised as an “actress of a certain age”, roles are even harder to come by.
But never one to give up easily, Valerie fights tooth and nail to stay relevant.
Good for her, because good news comes her way when a TV network expresses interest in casting her in the lead of a multi-cam sitcom titled How’s That?!
How’s that, haters!
One caveat, though – the show will be written entirely by AI, making it the first show on any US network to omit the services of writers. Uh-oh.
And since she’s also billed as an executive producer, Valerie needs to keep this a secret from the cast and crew, as AI is a touchy subject in Hollywood, especially when the creatives are vehemently against it.
Full-circle moment
For Kudrow, agreeing to the third season of The Comeback after a 12-year hiatus was a no-brainer.
“Oh, well, I love acting. It’s fun to be an actor for hire,” she told the international media at an online press conference last month, which StarLifestyle was invited to participate in.
“I think there’s such a thing as people wanting to have a nice set, and work with good talents. That’s what I’m looking for.
“Am I gonna drag myself out of my house to do The Comeback again? No.
“Valerie Cherish is very dear to me and important to me, and our work on this show – I’m very proud of it.
“I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” added Kudrow, who won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998 for her role as Phoebe in Friends.
The new season not only brings back some of the original cast members (such as Dan Bucatinsky as Valerie’s manager, Damian Young as her husband and Laura Silverman as her documentary collaborator), but it also features a bevy of guest stars (Jane Fonda, Adam Scott, Fran Drescher) and sees Kudrow working with her 27-year-old actor son Julian Stern for the first time on screen.
For Kudrow, it was a full-circle moment to see Stern shooting his scene on Stage 24 at the Warner Bros lot in Los Angeles, the very same studio where she filmed Friends all those years ago.
“I have a picture of him at two years old in the craft service kitchen washing his hands, and then here he is, back (on Stage 24) and acting. Oh my God,” she said, laughing.
In this interview, Kudrow talks about the evolution of Valerie Cherish, how she handles fame and why she continues to find joy in making people laugh.
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
How has Valerie changed over the past 10 years?
She aged 10 years.
But it feels like a natural ageing process... she had won an Emmy, had some (acting) opportunities and a lot of things that didn’t work out.
There’s slightly more confidence (in her). But still the desperation, because she hadn’t worked (for a while).
I mean, remember the (writers) strike in 2023 and there was nothing happening. And after the strike, it was like, great, everyone’s going back.
“But what’s happening?, Where is it?” There’s still nothing, (no work) to do.
So, you know, she’s been adrift for a few years when we meet her again. Which is right where we want her.
Is Valerie’s resilience a real strength, or is she just accepting mistreatment? What do you take from her?
I think it’s a strength. People would say to me, “Oh my God, how did you play her? That must have been so hard, especially the first season... it must have been so hard to be her.”
And it wasn’t at all. I mean I never felt terrible.
She’s that delusional that she just believes the reality she’s creating.
But look, I admire someone (like Valerie) who is sort of like Phoebe too – they are like, “Here’s how I see the world and you don’t have to agree.”
On the show, Hollywood became hostile towards Valerie when it was leaked that she’s collaborating with the enemy, AI. How would you personally react to Valerie’s situation when the industry turns against her?
What is there to do except you take a deep breath, try to regroup?
You know, on Friends, there was this huge backlash when everyone hated us, we were overexposed.
And (the cast) got together and just said, “All right, we have to just (keep our) heads down, stop doing press, and just do our work.”
You have starred in so many memorable comedies throughout your career – Friends, Web Therapy, The Comeback, Mad About You, Romy And Michele High School Reunion. What has led you to dedicate your life to making people laugh?
There’s just nothing better than making people laugh and what’s better than laughing?
It’s so healing. It’s so cathartic.
The things that make us feel the best are the things we actually do for others, right?
Where does your comedic talent come from?
My father is really funny and my brother and sister, my whole family... I’m the youngest so I was just trying to keep up, always.
I didn’t realise it then, but no matter what was going on, someone would make a joke, (even) at a funeral.
If you could come back as any fictional sitcom character, who would you choose?
Fictional sitcom character, who would I choose?
Wait, I know there’s an answer.
I know... it’s a male that I would watch, like, Frasier – self-aware, but not smart.
New episodes of The Comeback Season Three drop Mondays on HBO Max. Seasons One and Two are also available on the same platform.
