AceShowbiz - As Lisa Kudrow and co-creator Michael Patrick King bring The Comeback back for its third and final season, they dive headfirst into one of Hollywood’s most pressing issues: the rise of artificial intelligence. This season, the HBO comedy series features Kudrow’s iconic character Valerie Cherish confronting the unsettling reality of AI within the entertainment industry.

In this new installment, Valerie—often delusional but endlessly charming—stars in a fresh sitcom crafted not by human writers but by AI technology. This twist allows the show to explore the evolving landscape of Hollywood through a satirical lens, placing Valerie in a battle against an automated creative force.

Speaking at the series’ Los Angeles premiere, King revealed that the decision to revive the cult favorite after more than a decade was motivated by the timely relevance of AI as a looming threat. “When we did the very first ‘Comeback,’ way back 20 years ago, it was about the threat of reality TV; and then the next time, it was about streaming and dark prestige cable shows, and how would Valerie fit into that?” he explained. “The minute Lisa and I realized, Oh, we have another giant threat—maybe the biggest threat yet—we thought, what would Valerie do with that?”

Despite the AI-driven premise of Valerie’s new sitcom within the show, Kudrow assured TheWrap that no actual AI was used in the writing process. Instead, the fictional series “How’s That?” utilizes an AI assistant in place of writers, challenging Valerie as a seasoned TV star to navigate a world where creativity is machine-assisted.

King emphasized that the season is ultimately a cautionary tale rather than a dystopian prophecy. “What we tried to say was that it is really no match for humans. There’s always going to be a spark that AI can’t do,” he said. “It’s all a cautionary tale. It’s a fantasy that we’re doing about AI. We know enough to know that it’s coming. We know enough to know that it will impact Hollywood the way other trends have impacted Hollywood. Hopefully it will not be as detrimental.”

Echoing this hopeful perspective, Kudrow reflected on the future of AI in the creative industries. “There’s going to be a lot of corrections,” she shared. “Use of AI, and then a lot of corrections, and then we’ll need people. I think you just do.”

Returning to the role of Valerie Cherish after more than 11 years, Kudrow found it surprisingly effortless to slip back into the character’s unique persona. Valerie, who is once again under constant scrutiny, no longer faces reality cameras shadowing her daily life but instead has a social media manager named Patience (played by Ella Stiller) following her every move.

“The most fun thing about that character is her name, to start,” King joked. “Her name is Patience, and we gave Valerie Patience because she didn’t have any.”

Kudrow added, “We’re used to Valerie with reality cameras following her around, and you don’t need that now. It’s a social media person, who only Valerie has every single day for no reason. She’s not doing anything. It’s really not required, but she’s Valerie.”

The season premiere finds Valerie and Patience caught up in the midst of the SAG-AFTRA strike, a current and relevant backdrop for the storyline. Valerie even asks the union’s then-president, Fran Drescher, for a photo “for her socials.”

King shared that the idea to include the strike came from a lunch conversation with Kudrow during the actual event. They wished they could have placed Valerie in that world at the time. When they revived the series three years later, they seized the opportunity to revisit that moment.

“Fran was so gracious and generous, I really wanted her to do that moment, because it’s such a time capsule, and it would bring people legitimately to that moment,” King said. “The thing that I remember most about the end of the strike is Fran Drescher saying, ‘in three years, we’re going to have to renegotiate this, because AI is coming for all of us.’ So here we are, 2026 and it’s coming for all of us.”

The Comeback returns to HBO and HBO Max this Sunday, with new episodes airing weekly through May 10. The season promises to blend sharp satire with heartfelt moments as Valerie Cherish confronts the future of entertainment in an AI-driven age.