Lisa Kudrow‘s The Comeback was canceled — and brought back — multiple times before its third and final season.
Created by Kudrow and Michael Patrick King, The Comeback premiered in 2005 and followed Valerie as she filmed a reality show called The Comeback, which chronicled her journey on a new sitcom with young costars as she tried to resuscitate her Hollywood career. The HBO show debuted to low ratings — and mixed reviews — despite being nominated for three Emmy Awards. Kudrow, for her part, received a nod for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Amid its award success, the show was canceled after 13 episodes. According to The Wall Street Journal, the show averaged 955,000 viewers per episode at the time. HBO said in a 2005 statement that after looking “at our schedule,” they decided that “given our future commitments, we felt we would not be able to give the show the support it needed.”
The show was revived nine years later for a second season of eight episodes. The show returned in 2014 to a more positive reception but since it was announced as a “limited event series,” there was no news about more seasons.
“The show originally felt like one humiliation or punishment after another,” Kudrow told W in 2025. “Now, everyone’s signing up for that.”
Season 2 picked up 10 years later as Valerie attempted to produce a reality TV pilot for Andy Cohen while appearing in a documentary film about her career. HBO confirmed the news in June 2025 that the upcoming season, which premieres Sunday, March 22, will be the show’s last.
Kudrow and King shared their excitement over the news via a joint statement, saying, “Valerie Cherish has found her way back to the current television landscape. Neither of us are surprised she did.”
Kudrow had stood by the sentiment that season 3 is the show’s third and last.
“We need to say ‘third and final,’ ” Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month before the show’s return to HBO. “I don’t know if I’ll want to do it again in 10 years, so let’s be done, that way no one is asking what’s next or whether we will even want to do more.”
She added: “The most respectful thing we can do for the audience and for the character is make it a three-part story. It’s a trilogy, and this is the end.”
