After 40 years in showbiz, Lisa Kudrow is making a “comeback.” Her HBO series, “The Comeback,” is the story of a faded sitcom star, Valerie Cherish, who signs on to a reality show about her attempts to stage a comeback.

It’s equal parts funny and cringey, and so is the show’s back-story.

Created by Emmy-winner Kudrow and former “Sex and the City” boss Michael Patrick King, “The Comeback” premiered in 2005. It was canceled after one season, but became a cult favorite, and so the show was revived for a second season in 2014.

After that, it was shelved again. But now, a dozen years later, it’s back for season three, starting on HBO tonight.

To watch a trailer for “The Comeback” click on the video player below:

We went to a taping at Warner Brothers in November, and it was clear that even after a decade away from Valerie Cherish, Kudrow hadn’t missed a step.

Asked how it feels to be back in Valerie’s shoes, Kudrow described it as “unsettlingly comfortable.”

Some things were missing. Actor Robert Michael Morris, who played Valerie’s loyal hairdresser, Mickey, died of cancer in 2017. And after that, Kudrow thought “The Comeback” was over. “It was a no for me,” she said. “I don’t know how to do it without Mickey. Unh-uh. Don’t know how to do it without Mickey. No. No, no, no. No, no, no.”

But eventually she and King figured out a way to do a third season and honor Mickey, all while tackling issues like AI and a rapidly changing TV world. Among the new faces on the set: a tech guy played by Kudrow’s real-life son, Julian Stern.

What was it like to have her son on set? “Oh, it was heaven,” Kudrow said. “It’s my baby! But he’s a grown man and beard, you know? Yeah. I was nervous for him, his first, like, table read. But he was great.”

Julian’s been on a TV set before. When her “Friends” character Phoebe was pregnant, Kudrow was actually pregnant with Julian. What’s more, “The Comeback” is being shot on Warner Brothers’ Soundstage 24 – the very same set where most of the 236 episodes of “Friends” were filmed. 

Was it special being back in the same place? “Yeah,” Kudrow said. “On different levels, it definitely is. We finished up ‘Friends,’ which was one of the biggest things in my professional life, and life, period. And now I’m finishing up ‘The Comeback’ trilogy, same place where I finished the other most important thing. So, yeah, that made me a little emotional. “

Maybe more than a little? “Maybe more emotional. It did, yeah. And my nose is running now. I don’t cry, but my nose runs.

“I never went through that period of, ‘No, no, I don’t want to talk about “Friends.” I have to move on, and I want to play other characters. And no, you have to know me from …’ No, no, that’s fine,” she said. 

And why is that? “Because ‘Friends’ gave me everything. It just did. And I loved being Phoebe. I loved the whole experience. And it’s fine if all you know that I’ve ever done is ‘Friends.’ How could I not be okay with that?”

Of course, some of the memories are bittersweet. Castmate Matthew Perry died in 2023 from a drug overdose at age 54. During the 2021 “Friends” reunion special, Kudrow admitted she rarely watched the series. But after Perry’s death, she says she found solace in old episodes.

“I think I was self-conscious if anyone walked by and saw me watching my own show; it embarrassed me,” she said. “But then, when Matthew passed away, there were marathons, and I watched it. And it really, it did comfort me. So, I very recently just started watching ‘Friends’ before going to bed. ‘Cause I didn’t see all of ’em.”

She says she’s even surprised by some of what happens. “And it’s funny!”

Asked if she thinks there’ll be another reunion of the cast, Kudrow said, “I don’t know. I don’t think so. You never know, like, why or how. Maybe it would make sense. I don’t know. Right now, I don’t think it does.”

Right now, Kudrow is focused on “The Comeback,” and Valerie Cherish, yet another iconic character that audiences just can’t seem to let go. 

Is it possible she would revisit Phoebe Buffay? “I don’t know; that’s a good question,” she said. “It’s not out of the realm. I’ll just do things I did before!”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Lisa Kudrow (Video)

     
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Story produced by John D’Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.