# The Comeback (2005)

> A washed-up sitcom actress agrees to let cameras document her desperate bid for a comeback in a satirical mockumentary about fame and vanity.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1890

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 29
- Episode runtime: 29 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Created by: Michael Patrick King, Lisa Kudrow
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Malin Akerman, Robert Bagnell, Lance Barber, Robert Michael Morris, Laura Silverman, Damian Young, Kellan Lutz
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434672/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: cringe, sardonic, painful, self-aware, bittersweet

## What critics say

Viewers broadly rate The Comeback as a sharp, uncomfortable satire of fame and aging, with its mockumentary form and Lisa Kudrow's performance drawing the most praise.

## Synopsis

The Comeback (2005-2026) is an American HBO mockumentary sitcom satire created by Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow. Lisa Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish, a former sitcom star desperate to revive her career, who agrees to let cameras follow her every move as she lands a part on a new network sitcom. Her efforts are shadowed by her manager Paulie G. (Lance Barber) and the younger co-star Juna Millken (Malin Akerman), whose easy success sharpens Valerie's insecurity. The engine of the series is the gap between Valerie's relentless hunger for relevance and the indifference of an industry that treats her as a punchline. Each season is built from behind-the-scenes footage, awkward network meetings, staged reality segments and humiliating auditions, so the cringe builds episode by episode. Across three seasons spanning twenty-nine episodes, the story stays rooted in Los Angeles television production and the mechanics of a fictional reality show. The tone is dry, sardonic and painfully uncomfortable, with moments of genuine pathos beneath the vanity. Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras and The Larry Sanders Show will find resonance in its satire of fame, aging and the ways reality television feeds on public humiliation.

## Shows like The Comeback

- [Far from Las Vegas (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/1537)
- [Party Down (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/16026)
- [Enlightened (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/31834)
- [Difficult People (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56256)
- [The Trial (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/1105206)
- [Episodes (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/29313)
- [Extras (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/2558)
- [Life's Too Short (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/35190)
- [The Franchise (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/136964)
- [Untitled Rachel Sennott Comedy Series (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/178141)

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