Lt;!– Intro: what happened and why it matters –>

Lisa Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish is back. The third — and billed final — season of The Comeback premieres Sunday, March 22 on HBO, and creators say its central story — a sitcom written by artificial intelligence — is meant to hit a nerve as the industry grapples with AI’s rapid rise.

What’s new in season 3

The Comeback returns with Valerie starring in a show-within-the-show as Beth, an innkeeper at a bed-and-breakfast — and that sitcom has been generated by AI. Co-creator Michael Patrick King says the AI idea broke open the creative conversation and set the season in motion after years of the pair meeting for lunch and trading ideas.

Kudrow and King moved quickly; King has said they wanted the season on air before a studio publicly admitted using AI. The show also addresses the changing shape of fame and image-making in the social-media era — territory the series first mined two decades ago when it presaged reality-TV culture.

Creative choices and legacy

After two previous seasons (2005 and 2014), the third installment is designed as a capstone. Both creators insist it is the final chapter for Valerie, but King and Kudrow have long joked that they revisit possibilities every few years.

The late Robert Michael Morris, who played Valerie’s hairstylist Mickey, died in 2017; both creators say his presence and spirit are felt deeply in this season.

Why this matters now

Beyond sitcom beats, The Comeback’s new season arrives amid real-world debates about AI and employment in entertainment. King frames Valerie as more relevant than ever — the need to manage image and career that once read as cringeworthy now looks familiar across social platforms. “Everyone’s Valerie Cherish now,” he has said, pointing to how people curate and control digital selves.

The season’s timing — released as studios and writers navigate AI’s implications — makes the show both satire and conversation starter about what creative labor looks like in the coming years.

Promotion, press and fan reaction

Kudrow has been promoting the series in interviews, including a conversation with NPR’s A Martinez and late-night appearances. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! she shared a lighter note: rewatching Friends helped her grieve and laugh after Matthew Perry’s death, and a particular Joey–Phoebe gag had her “crying from laughing” during recent re‑viewings.

Advance reviews for season 3 have been largely positive; King told HBO execs the season felt “prescient, fast,” a phrase he used to describe how quickly they had to work to keep pace with AI developments.

What to expect

  • Premiere: Sunday, March 22 on HBO (season billed as the third and final).
  • Theme: comedy about an actress confronting AI-written entertainment and the modern image economy.
  • Tone: satirical but rooted in the precariousness of careers in Hollywood — a throughline since the series began.

Whether viewers see the season as a farewell or a timely critique, Kudrow and King have built the new chapter to speak directly to an industry in flux — and to an audience that may well recognize a bit of Valerie in themselves.