After Friends, Lisa Kudrow Starred In A Fascinating HBO Comedy Series

I'll be honest: if your tolerance for cringe comedy is low, "The Comeback," the HBO series that stars Lisa Kudrow fresh off her turn in "Friends," may not be for you. I would, however, urge you to give it a shot even if your shoulders ache from said cringing, because it's one of the funniest shows the premium network has ever made, and it's returning for a third and final season after its second outing concluded in 2014.

Kudrow — who, as pretty much everyone knows, starred as Phoebe Buffay on "Friends," which made her into one of the biggest sitcom stars of all time — stars on the series, which she created alongside Michael Patrick King, as Valerie Cherish, who's also a sitcom star. Valerie, unlike the real Kudrow, is a fading star ... and in the first season, she's offered the role of the older, mumsy Aunt Sassy on a series called "Room and Bored," which presents some unexpected personal and professional challenges. (I'll circle back to those; they're extremely funny.) 

Structured as a mockumentary — within the narrative, there's literally a documentary about Valerie's return to TV, which is also called "The Comeback" — this show first premiered in 2005 and, at the time, it definitely seemed like a one-off series, albeit a delightful one. Then, nearly a decade later, King and Kudrow teamed up again for a second season of the delightful, acerbic, and admittedly cringey comedy, and now, a third season, which will serve as a conclusion to Valerie's story; specifically, the story of an actress whose fervent, borderline rabid desire for recognition and fame overtakes her to the point where it adversely affects her life. So what should fans remember about the first two seasons?

In the first season of "The Comeback," Valerie Cherish, known primarily for her role on a show called "I'm It!" (that, in-universe, ran from 1993 to 1996), stages a comeback (sorry) on the aforementioned comedy "Room and Bored." Unfortunately for Valerie, she immediately makes an enemy out of one of the fictional show's two co-creators and head writers, Paulie G. (Lance Barber), who bristles at her attempts to participate in the writing process and starts making her life considerably more difficult. (Her catchphrase as the show's Aunt Sassy, for context, is "I don't want to see that!" It's not great!) Thankfully, the show's other major players — including her young co-stars Juna Millken (Malin Åkerman) and Chris MacNess (Kellan Lutz) and the other creator and head writer, Tom Peterman (Robert Bagnell) — are kinder to Valerie, but throughout both the "documentary" and the filming process on "Room and Bored," Valerie's marriage to Mark Berman (Damian Young) grows increasingly strained.

The first season ends with the documentary taking a much more negative approach than Valerie realized, and a decade later, the second season revisits the actress, who's now trying to create a reality show that she hopes to pitch to Bravo's biggest personality, Andy Cohen. In the process — and while "cameras are up" — Valerie learns that Paulie G. is pitching a dark, gritty show called "Seeing Red" about the making of "Room and Bored," and her attempt at a reality show becomes behind-the-scenes content for "Seeing Red." (Seth Rogen, playing himself, "stars" in "Seeing Red" as Paulie G.) In the end, "Seeing Red" and her documentary help Valerie reach a major career milestone: an Emmy nomination.

On June 27, fans of "The Comeback" got great news: "The Comeback" is, in fact, coming back with Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick KingIn a statement obtained by outlets like The New York Times, Kudrow and King said, "Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did." In addition to that, a one-minute video dropped on HBO Max's YouTube page of Kudrow, in character as Valerie, announcing that she has a new show coming out.

I can only imagine what King and Kudrow are cooking up for this sequel season, largely because so much has changed in Hollywood since 2014; for one thing, the idea of Valerie navigating TikTok is already blowing my mind. There's one devastating aspect of this season, though, that needs to be addressed ... which is that since the second season concluded, the actor Robert Michael Morris passed away. Morris, who died in 2017, played Mickey Deane, Valerie's hairdresser and closest (and perhaps only?) friend, and her loyalty to Mickey actually defines the season 2 finale when, even as she's nominated for an Emmy, she rushes to be by Mickey's side when he experiences a major health setback. 

Presumably, the season will be in Morris' memory, and it's certainly bittersweet that the show will go on without him. Still, based on the second season of "The Comeback," King and Kudrow wouldn't come back for a third round if they didn't have a great concept, so I'm putting my full faith in them for this reboot. 

Before that drops in 2026, the first two seasons of "The Comeback" are streaming on HBO Max now.