It’s inevitable that Lisa Kudrow will always be known for her role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, but that doesn’t take away from “enormous magic” she’s creating as Valerie Cherish on the third and final season of The Comeback. Kudrow’s two worlds combined in the most recent episode “Valerie Faces Reality” (which can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription), with that meta moment following another almost-reference in Episode 2 that left me speechless.
The Comeback confirmed in the episode that aired April 5 on the 2026 TV schedule that Friends does exist in Valerie Cherish’s world. Valerie arrived at Warner Bros.’ Stage 24 — where Friends was famously shot — for her new show How’s That?! She gets excited looking at the plaque outside the stage, saying:
