Andrew Scott, the celebrated actor known for his role as the ‘Hot Priest’ in Fleabag, is joining the cast of The Comeback for its third and final season. The news was announced at a major HBO event in London, where it was also confirmed that Lisa Kudrow will return as the desperate actress Valerie Cherish. After more than a decade since the last season, the cult favorite comedy will premiere on HBO in March 2026.
The new season will place Valerie in a cutting-edge Hollywood predicament: she is cast in the first-ever sitcom written entirely by artificial intelligence. Andrew Scott will play a key role as the head of the studio behind this risky project. This final chapter aims to bring Valerie Cherish’s long journey through the absurdities of fame to a memorable close.
Who Is Joining The Comeback for Season 3?
The final season brings back the core cast that fans know, led by Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish. Also returning are Dan Bucatinsky as her publicist, Billy; Laura Silverman as the reality show producer, Jane; and Damian Young as Valerie’s husband, Mark.
The major new addition is Andrew Scott. The Irish actor has earned widespread acclaim for his recent performances. His role as a mysterious, charming priest in Fleabag made him a global star. He also starred in the romantic drama All of Us Strangers and led the Netflix psychological thriller series Ripley. On stage at the HBO announcement, co-creator Michael Patrick King introduced Scott’s character as a studio head that Valerie will come up against, describing him as “a very important character”.
Lisa Kudrow could not contain her excitement about working with Scott. When the audience reacted to the news, she exclaimed, “I know, I almost cried!“
The season will also feature an expanded ensemble, including returning actors like Tim Bagley and Matt Cook, and new faces such as Abbi Jacobson, John Early, Brittany O’Grady, and Zane Phillips. In a personal touch, Kudrow’s real-life son, Julian Stern, will make his television acting debut in the season.
What Is The Comeback About?
For new viewers, The Comeback is a satirical comedy that first aired on HBO in 2005. It follows the life of Valerie Cherish, a former 1990s sitcom star who is desperately trying to revive her fading career. To do this, she agrees to let a camera crew film her every move for a reality TV show, also called The Comeback, as she takes a supporting role on a new network sitcom. The show is famous for its painfully awkward, “cringe” humor as it exposes the vanity and emptiness of Hollywood.
The series was canceled after its first season due to low ratings but developed a passionate cult following over time. Its sharp critique of fame and reality television felt ahead of its time. Nearly ten years later, HBO surprised fans by reviving the show for a second season in 2014. That season found Valerie cast in an HBO drama about her own life, further blurring the lines between reality and performance.
The show’s unique style is presented as “found footage,” looking as if it was edited from the reality show’s raw camera tapes, which adds to its authentic and uncomfortable feel. Co-creator Michael Patrick King recently noted that the world has finally caught up to Valerie Cherish’s mindset. “Twenty years later everybody is Valerie,” he said. “Everybody is curating their lives on social media, worrying and projecting. Valerie now seems saner now”.
What Will Happen in the Final Season?
The plot for the final season throws Valerie Cherish directly into one of Hollywood’s most current and controversial debates. She lands a role in a new sitcom that has a major twist: it is written entirely by AI.
During the announcement, Michael Patrick King explained the creative choice. “The joke that’s already played out is that AI is bad,” King said. “I mean, that was two awards shows ago — everybody said, ‘My speech was written by ChatGPT.’ So we had to go deeper and figure out what would be the issue if AI was actually learning fast and that people were trying to stay ahead of it”.
This premise sets the stage for Valerie to navigate a whole new world of industry anxieties. Andrew Scott’s character, as the studio head, will likely represent the corporate forces pushing this technological boundary. The dynamic promises to explore the clash between human creativity and machine-generated content, with Valerie caught in the middle.
A brief teaser for the season gives a hint of Valerie’s exhausted but persistent spirit. “This is the last one, all right? Last time. Never doing this again,” she tells a director before a scene.
The production also has a special connection to Lisa Kudrow’s past. Some scenes for Season 3 were filmed on the famous Stage 24 at Warner Bros., which is known as the “Friends stage” where the iconic sitcom was filmed. Kudrow shared that being back there was an emotional experience. “I had to guard myself every day that we were on that stage, otherwise I would cry,” she said. “Just because … this trilogy, this character and this show means so much to me, and then ‘Friends’ obviously meant a lot to me too”.
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When and Where to Watch The Comeback Season 3
The Comeback Season 3 will premiere on HBO and stream on Max in March 2026. An exact premiere date is expected to be announced closer to that time.
For fans wanting to catch up or revisit Valerie’s earlier adventures, the first two seasons of The Comeback are available to stream now on Max. The third season will be the show’s last, providing a finale to Valerie Cherish’s unique and enduring story.
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