The Comeback’s Final Season Tackles AI, Reflects Hollywood’s Existential Fears
Valerie Cherish, the perpetually optimistic yet perpetually struggling sitcom actress played by Lisa Kudrow, is returning to screens for a third and final season of HBO’s The Comeback. This time, the satirical comedy is confronting a new Hollywood crisis: the rise of artificial intelligence. The new season finds Cherish starring in what’s billed as the first multi-camera sitcom written entirely by AI.
A Present Born from Satire and Reality
Created by Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King, The Comeback first premiered in 2005, offering a cringe-worthy and often painfully accurate look behind the scenes of the entertainment industry. The show initially ran for one season before being revived in 2014. The series gained a cult following for its mockumentary style and Kudrow’s portrayal of Cherish, a character who embodies the anxieties and insecurities of those striving for success in Hollywood.
AI as the New Extinction-Level Event
According to Kudrow, the decision to bring back the show hinged on the emergence of AI as a significant threat to creative jobs. “When we realized this is about her confronting—in her way not confronting—AI writing a sitcom that she’s on, we realized, oh this is like the very beginning, Valerie on a reality show before there were Housewives anywhere,” Kudrow explained at the show’s Los Angeles premiere. King added that the topic resonated because it extended beyond Hollywood, impacting all industries and professions. “What I like particularly about it as a subject is it’s not just Hollywood, it’s everywhere,” he said. “Way back in the beginning of The Comeback people said, ‘Oh it’s a show about Hollywood and an actress.’ Now it’s a show about humans and jobs.”
A Mirror to Industry Anxieties
The show’s premise isn’t far removed from current anxieties within the entertainment industry. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in September 2023, ending a 148-day strike largely focused on issues surrounding the use of AI in scriptwriting The Guardian. The Comeback, it seems, is tapping into a very real and present fear.
A Bittersweet Farewell to Mickey Deane
The third season will also be marked by the absence of Robert Michael Morris, who played Valerie’s hairstylist and confidant, Mickey Deane. Morris passed away in 2017. Kudrow admitted that his death initially made her hesitant to continue the series. “It definitely made me not even consider doing any more after season two for a while,” she said. “Aside from just missing Robert Michael Morris, Mickey is such a crucial character.” The show will address the loss, with the narrative suggesting Valerie has also struggled to cope with Mickey’s passing.
A Trilogy Concluding
Kudrow and King view this season as the culmination of a trilogy, capturing a specific moment in the industry’s evolution. “It felt like this is now a trilogy and now it looks like the point of this whole thing is we were taking a snapshot of this industry at what was thought to be an extinction event,” Kudrow stated. The Comeback season three premieres on Sunday, March 22, on HBO.