Though its seasons have been spread across 21 years, The Comeback is definitely ending with its third. And with the latest chapter premiering over the weekend, lead star and co-creator Lisa Kudrow has explained why.
The mockumentary series sees the Friends star portray Valerie Cherish, an actor based in Los Angeles who is yearning for a mega-hit. In the latest season, Valerie gets a major role in a new sitcom, but finds out it’s been written by artificial intelligence.
After the first two seasons aired in 2005 and 2014 respectively, the comedy series returned on Sunday (22 March) as its final season got underway, and Kudrow has reiterated that it will be the final part of Valerie’s journey.
“It’s been every 10 years, it’s been an event. So I don’t know how to make another event in a year,” she told Variety, with fellow co-creator Michael Patrick King adding that confirmation of the final season wasn’t a marketing “ploy”.
“I can sit here right now and tell you [that] Lisa and I could go write an episode [where] Valerie goes to a yoga camp,” he added. “That’s not what we became. We became kind of a satire of time and civilization moving forward in a weird way.”
Kudrow, who serves as an executive producer on the series, also spoke about some of the themes in the comedy’s final story, with the topic of AI being one that several films and series have approached in recent years.
“I’m not as worried for myself as I am for the younger people coming up who aren’t licensable yet. And for writers? It’s been shrinking and shrinking since we started this,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a popular, obvious career choice anymore.
“Then you step outside the entertainment industry, and yeah – it’s really worrisome. Even just on the administrative and business level of this industry, I think people are very afraid they’re going to be replaced.”
While some fans will be devastated that the mockumentary series is ending, the latest season seems to have struck a chord with critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting an impressive approval rating of 93% from 14 reviews.