The Comeback Turns 20: Will There Be a Season 3? Lisa Kudrow & Michael Patrick King Reveal

It’s been 20 years since Valerie Cherish booked “The Comeback.”

The Comeback,” an HBO series that humorously dissects reality TV and the entertainment world, first aired on June 5, 2005. Initially, it perplexed viewers, but has since gained cult-classic status. The show was jointly created by Lisa Kudrow, known for her role in “Friends,” and Michael Patrick King, who previously helmed “Sex and the City.” The heartwarming endings of both these shows, which had aired the year prior, were still fresh in people’s minds at that time.

In a different take, “The Comeback” portrays Valerie, a former television star, who is given a chance to be in a new sitcom, but only if she’s willing to participate in a reality show chronicling her struggle to regain relevance in Hollywood. Throughout its initial season, “The Comeback” transformed into both an astute examination of an evolving industry and a character exploration that seamlessly merged genres. Valerie’s arrogance and illusions frequently hindered her progress, yet she retained an authentic yearning for mainstream recognition. As viewers, we found ourselves squirming, laughing, and empathizing deeply with her within mere minutes.

Following the end of its initial season, during which Valerie gained celebrity through a humiliating stint on reality TV, the series temporarily halted production, ultimately being canceled after both Kudrow and King failed to win Emmys for acting and directing. Over time, however, the show’s reputation improved as more people watched it on DVD and streaming platforms, and early, mixed reviews began to fade away. In 2014, “The Comeback” made a comeback with a new season, in which Valerie, still yearning for fame, endeavors to pitch a pilot to Andy Cohen but finds herself embroiled in the world of prestige cable shows, a realm where she struggles to fit in even more than she did on reality TV.

In an interview commemorating the 20th anniversary of “The Comeback,” King and Kudrow express to EbMaster their ongoing search for an excellent concept for Season 3. According to King, Valerie’s character is perpetually rejuvenated due to her constant frustration in her pursuit of fame and recognition. King explains, “Valerie will never achieve everything she desires.” Nevertheless, over the past two decades, viewers have become increasingly fond of following her ongoing attempts.

We’re now further away from Season 1 of “The Comeback” than Valerie is from “I’m It.”

Michael Patrick King: That’s some complicated “Comeback” math.

That’s just to say that the TV landscape has changed a lot since the first season. Do you think a show like this could get made today?

King: A few years back, we conducted a seminar at SXSW, and everyone seemed to be aggressively promoting their shows – even free waters bore the names of different programs. I thought, Wow, everyone in television is as desperate as Valerie was. Everyone had to struggle so much to gain visibility. Is it possible now? It was barely feasible back then.

Lisa Kudrow: It barely happened.

And you pulled it over the line by force of will?

King: We were overpowered by the preconceived notions about what TV ought to encompass in terms of audience size, visual appeal, and emotional impact. It seemed nearly impossible to achieve.

Kudrow: Because it was, at the time — and maybe still now, I can’t tell — so “cringe” for people.

King: If “uncomfortable TV” hadn’t been a thing, the response to “The Comeback” would have been “turning off the TV.” People really didn’t want to watch it.

“The Comeback” debuted the same year as the American version of “The Office,” with Steve Carell. That didn’t push as hard, but had elements of cringe comedy. Was the reaction somewhat gendered — people not wanting to see a woman in these situations?

During the filming of the first season, Michael commented, “The issue is, there’s no precedent for this character as a female.” We have one for male characters, but not for females. I can’t see the relevance — I’m so oblivious to gender differences. Women are just as eager and driven as men, they’re just as focused as men. However, looking back, I realized that women are still often victims…

Female characters can portray desperation and ambition on television in shows that aren’t intended to be comedies, such as the character Alexis Carrington from “Dynasty.” However, these roles are typically found in dramas or soap operas. The intriguing aspect of this phenomenon, and why it continues to be discussed, is due to Lisa’s nuanced, multifaceted portrayal that made the character so unpredictable. She didn’t embody a one-dimensional comic character; instead, she played a complex dramatic role.

Before “The Real Housewives” series, nobody had witnessed a Real Housewife compromising her dignity in the name of branding. We found it amusing, while others were perplexed.

In this rephrased version, I tried to maintain the original meaning while using simpler and more conversational language that is easier for a wider audience to understand.

This show came the year after “Sex and the City” and “Friends” ended. Did you both feel as though you needed a hard reboot after ending those long-running projects?

King: We weren’t cast because we were more focused on our shared amusement towards Valerie. The public, or perhaps the production team, were anticipating Phoebe in “Sex and the City”; even the poster read “From the executive producer of ‘Sex and the City.'” So they would say, “Don’t you remember? This isn’t that.

People had never witnessed a bare, utterly exposed act like Lisa’s. It was a soul they beheld, and it left them feeling unsettled – but we found it hysterical. We would burst out laughing at Val, and when her performance came to light, people reacted with, “This is too intense. I can’t bear to watch.” Our response was, What?

Kudrow: But for the people who got it, they got it.

King: [in Valerie Cherish voice] Well, they got it!

Indeed, they succeeded! Yet, it’s a struggle to endure being overlooked without surrendering. Persistently pushing forward, even when you feel that dignity is beyond your reach…

They achieved it! Continuing in the face of being ignored and feeling like you can’t have dignity… you keep going, despite the odds.

King: The situation resembled early Christianity – a compact, sophisticated band who grasped a novelty. New York embraced this, more so than L.A. – New York eagerly devoured it.

Going into the series launch, did you expect people to embrace it?

King: We believed it would be a humorous, unique concept. The moment I felt a knot in my throat was during our appearance on “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross. She began by saying, “This is quite different.” I was taken aback, thinking, “What?” I hadn’t expected her to view the show as something unusual or noteworthy. I also recall distinctly what the New York Times wrote. They compared our series to “Entourage,” since both shows premiered on the same night. Their opinion was that it’s more engaging to watch four men climbing up the ladder than a woman falling from grace. That was the critics’ take.

Kudrow: And then they came around.

King: At what point can we discuss the moment when they changed their perspective, because that’s truly amazing – when they finally came around!

When did they come around?

Kudrow: By the end of the season!

King: Since people were reacting strangely to it, David Bowie contacted us and requested the episodes because he needed to go on tour and didn’t want to miss any more of Valerie. Could we provide him with the unbroadcasted copies of the episodes? We all said, Oh, David Bowie seems to like it.

Kudrow expressed that they needed to be recognized: “We need some attention!” He wasn’t bothered by Terry Gross – I can’t even recall what she discussed – because I didn’t anticipate anyone would grasp it right away. It was unedited footage from a reality series, after all, something new and unfamiliar. And in an anxious industry, the context was significant.

King: However, looking back now, there was a point where we felt, “Ah yes…” We were the third show after “Entourage” and George Clooney’s series about actors (HBO’s “Unscripted,” which debuted in January 2005). It seemed like the third spot was always the one that faced challenges. That’s when I had to endure all those tough times. Lisa, though, was like Teflon, seemingly unaffected by any difficulties.

Kudrow: We were really pleased with its performance – not just the debut episode, but also the second and third ones. It performed as well as “Entourage” did in its first season. Back in 2004 and 2005, HBO would say, “You’re going to see something completely different on HBO.” They wanted to keep the new series running so that viewers could get used to this fresh style of storytelling. And at that point, HBO started deviating from its usual programming.

What do you mean by that?

Kudrow: Essentially, they’ve been saying that it’s not a repeat of the past. In other words, we can’t just keep doing things as we used to. Instead, people should grasp it quickly and take an immediate liking to it.

King: Instead of keeping us on Sunday nights where huge audiences are expected, we proposed moving our show to Monday, reducing the expectations. We even suggested a promotional campaign with “Monday, Monday,” the song by the Mamas and the Papas, and the tagline “If you think you hate your job, wait until you see Valerie!” However, they were unwilling to move us off the main stage and insisted on maintaining the original audience numbers.

It came as a shock, given my involvement in generating large figures, to find ourselves among the exceptionally few cases – a series on HBO that failed to secure a second season, considering “Arliss” ran for nearly nine seasons.

Was it a disappointment that the show didn’t get renewed for a second season back in 2005? Obviously, it would eventually get one, but not for a while.

King: The renewal didn’t happen when the first season was airing. Lisa and I were even nominated for Emmys during that time, but it was stuck in limbo. Despite my pleas, they contacted us the day after we didn’t win the Emmys, saying they couldn’t continue with the show anymore. It then disappeared for a long period, only to resurface when HBO called us – Mike Lombardo, Casey and others – saying they made a mistake and asking if we’d be willing to do another season, which was ten years later.

Were you thinking, in that intervening time, about what Valerie would have been up to? Do you think about that still?

King: Occasionally, we gather to brainstorm ideas that could potentially amaze us. It’s a delicate balance of elements that makes us exclaim, “Wow!” We find humor in various situations, even Valerie can be amusing anywhere. However, our goal is always to create something so exceptional that it would entice Valerie to return. As a result, we frequently meet up and discuss possibilities like, “What if we do this?

Originally, we had an entire second season mapped out when our first season was abruptly halted. However, when we eventually produced the second season, it turned out quite differently due to changes in the TV industry. Consequently, we chose to depict Valerie’s transition to HBO as a character in a gritty cable series, mirroring the current television landscape.

It was that moment of “Breaking Bad” and shows like it, and she didn’t fit in. What would have been your plan for a 2006 Season 2?

King: At the end of the first series, Valerie had achieved success. Throughout the early episodes, we saw her yearning for success and craving recognition. Imagine if she finally got noticed. We discussed how this situation might alter things.

Kudrow is saying: She’s appearing again on “The Comeback” [the fictional reality series] as well as another season of “Room and Bored.” Paulie G and Tom Peterman have been let go, with Gigi now in charge.

King: She chose the female author, but does unchecked power necessarily lead to corruption? Does being in control always transform you into Paulie G? Is there a Paulie G hiding within every writer, and how does Valerie handle her choice of essentially selecting her next tormentor?

I have always found the ending of Season 1 — in which Valerie is finally surrounded by adoring fans, after basically having torched her dignity on the reality show — fairly thrilling in its darkness.

King: At one point, it hints at our direction for the second season; the camera moves from Valerie to focus on Mark, who appears bewildered by the sudden change in this woman’s actions.

Kudrow: Valerie is too single-minded — the things that don’t serve her don’t exist.

Do you think some of the reasons the show struggled in 2005 make it far more legible in 2025? In a world of front-facing phone cameras, a media-hound reality-show protagonist seems far less foreign.

It’s easier for us to recognize it. Shows like “Housewives” provide a familiar context for understanding women’s actions. Each of these ‘Housewives’ is strategically portraying a role to boost their personal brand, and this is just a tool they use to achieve their goals.

King: Opting for an easier approach might lessen the impact significantly. I’m skeptical we’d still be discussing this series two decades later. What truly resonated with us, and perhaps influenced ratings negatively, was our progressive nature. Valerie could return today, but audiences might respond with, “She seems like a Real Housewife, doesn’t she?” However, when Valerie first appeared, viewers were unsure if it was a horror movie, a comedy, or even a snuff film. The uncertainty of the genre kept everyone hooked. Unfortunately, television often falters by replicating what has already been done.

It must be gratifying to have been so ahead of the curve.

Kudrow: I mean, yeah, sort of.

King: That’s so Lisa. Sort of.

Kudrow: I must admit, it wasn’t satisfying that everyone began to live their lives publicly through cameras. However, we could see it coming. At the time, it didn’t seem like we were ahead of the trend. The entire industry was alarmed by the demise of scripted television. We were simply experiencing the alarm caused by the changing times.

King: Carolyn Strauss, the ex-HBO boss, asked, “Will it be humorous?” Given her exceptional script understanding, her question carried weight. When Lisa performed Valerie’s first line for the first time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They agreed to take us on for the initial 12 episodes even before fully grasping the concept. They were swayed by some mysterious vibe that Lisa and I exuded, as we were deeply connected with the project. Throughout the process, they never made us prove ourselves.

While shooting the pivotal Palm Springs episode, I found myself grappling after watching the cut of the third episode. In this scene, Valerie is left waiting for a valet who never arrives. Seeing her standing there, so patiently, filled me with a chill. It was at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs where Lisa, with a towel-wrapped hairdo on her way to set, heard my concern. I blurted out, “What’s going on here? After seeing the third episode, it just feels so… awkward!” Lisa, still under her towel, looked at me and simply said, “Precisely what we intended. Uncomfortable.

Kudrow: And then HBO wrote back: “This is our favorite episode so far!”

Can we talk about how you two developed Valerie? I know she emerged from a character Lisa had done with the Groundlings.

I didn’t create her from scratch; instead, I played a comedic character on a TV show who spoke in a particular manner, suggesting she was from Van Nuys. The character had an insincere tone, such as “Let’s all try to save the planet—please, it would be a favor to me. I’ll really appreciate it if you do!” This is just one interpretation of the character I portrayed.

King: We crossed paths post-performance, and our agencies were curious if we’d like to collaborate. We hit it off, and as Lisa put it, she found the character appealing. She expressed her fondness for the role, saying, “I’ll adore you for it,” which made me chuckle. There was something about Lisa that resonated with the role, and we decided that Valerie would have red hair, perhaps because Lucy is a redhead too.

Speaking of the hair, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Robert Michael Morris, who played Mickey, Valerie’s beloved hairdresser. I wanted to give you both the opportunity to talk about him, because he was such a big part of the show before his death in 2017. Michael, I know he’d been your theater teacher.

King: Mickey had to come across as genuine. He needed to seem like someone who just showed up on a reality show, not an actor. I had a friend, and Lisa said, “I trust you.” During the second season, we knew he was ill, and after the first day, which was unsteady, it felt like playing Mickey helped him become more and more himself, and stronger. The best way to avoid sadness is that when he passed away, I read an article saying “Robert Michael Morris, television personality, deceased.” There’s nothing Mickey would have appreciated more than seeing “television personality” in his obituary.

He’d buy me jewelry from QVC and I wore it during our Actors on Actors shoot with Parker Posey – a linked silver piece adorned with what appeared to be “diamonds”.

During his audition, he gave the item to Lisa. She wore it from that point until we started filming. (The word “put on” is replaced with “wore”, and “after” is replaced with “until we started filming” for a more natural flow of the sentence.)

We’ve circled around the idea, so I’ll ask it plainly: Would “The Comeback” ever return for a Season 3?

King: It’s really about whether we can find an idea worth going beyond one joke.

Kudrow: We’re always talking about it and looking for it.

King: At one of those gatherings, she’ll appear, and my laughter will be just as hearty as it was two decades ago. It’s the same exhilaration. The charm of Valerie – the key to a potentially spectacular event – lies in the fact that she never manages to secure all her desires. It’s exhilarating having someone who is almost a mythical figure, journeying through trials to obtain the coveted prize and returning with it, saying, “I succeeded!

This interview has been edited and condensed.

2025-06-05 20:22