The Comeback has proven to be a sleeper cult hit since it first launched in 2005, and it’s all down to one woman… Valerie Cherish.

In the first season, Valerie thinks she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime when she’s offered a new role on sitcom, Room and Bored, starring as the older roommate of a group of twentysomethings.

Having not had a major break since the early 90s, Valerie jumps at the chance, although there’s something new to tackle: a documentary film crew, who intend to document her life every step of the way through creating the series.

Craving the recognition she once had as a star, and with husband Mark backing her up, Valerie agrees – but soon discovers reality TV is a whole different kind of beast.

With cameras now tracking her every move as she tackles cruel execs, young castmates and the industry standard, Valerie is intent on keeping a smile on her face and put her best foot forward no matter what – with mixed results.

Here’s how season one played out…

The cast of The Comeback’s first season is:

• Lisa Kudrow (Friends, Space Force) as Valerie Cherish

• Damian Young (Ozark, Law & Order) as Mark Berman

• Laura Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program, Bob’s Burgers) as Jane Benson

• Malin Åkerman (The Hunting Wives, Billions) as Juna Millken

• Lance Barber (Young Sheldon, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Paulie G

• Robert Bagnell (Your Friends and Neighbours, Fetching) as Tom Peterman

• Dan Bucatinsky (Hacks, Scandal) as Billy Stanton

• Kellan Lutz (The Twilight Saga, FBI: Most Wanted) as Chris MacNess

• Robert Michael Morris (How I Met Your Mother, Running Wilde) as Mickey Deane

The Comeback’s first season is 13 episodes long, each around 30 minutes in length. It starts with us being introduced to Valerie Cherish via raw footage of recording her reality series, as she plans her return to the sitcom world.

Valerie Cherish, former star of 90s hit show I’m It! welcomes cameras into her home as she starts filming The Comeback. Valerie struggles with Jane, her reality producer, and how she’s portrayed on camera.

As she heads to shoot the pilot of new sitcom Room and Bored, Valerie quickly feels out of her depth in a bid to match the energy of the younger, sexier cast, especially given her role as the eccentric “Aunt Sassy” in a show about roommates.

When attempting to bond with executive producer and showrunner Paulie G also falls flat, she realises she needs to keep her wits about her if she’s to make this job work.

The cast of Room and Bored head to New York to sell the show to advertisers at the annual “upfront” events. Valerie sees this as a chance to relaunch herself into the public eye as a face to be recognised, so wants everything to be perfect, practicing her networking skills and making sure she looks the part.

However, Valerie realises she’s being overlooked in favour of her more youthful co-stars and appeals to Paulie G to make her role more prominent.

Will the upfronts be the relaunch back into entertainment like she hoped?

With her younger co-stars getting all the attention, Valerie organises a bonding lunch with them in order to feel more connected to the project.

But the generational gap between her and the young twentysomethings is hard to ignore – with Jane’s cameras there to capture all of it.

When Juna doesn’t turn up, she tries hard not to feel snubbed before trying to make up for it.

Meanwhile, Paulie G pushes Valerie to her limit by making Aunt Sassy even more outlandish than ever, and Valerie’s attempts at a first-show gifts leads to an embarrassing discovery.

As production continues on Room and Bored, Valerie worries that her character, Aunt Sassy, is being written poorly – with a potentially offensive joke giving her pause.

Finally deciding to push back against Pauly G, she hires a writer named Gigi that she hopes could bring more for Aunt Sassy to the table and so the audience don’t dislike her.

Away from set, she decides to adopt a puppy to care for.

Worried that she’s not bringing enough to the table on her reality show, Valerie and the network try to add life to The Comeback documentary with a crossover.

However, a highway prank comes dangerously close to disaster for Valerie's career.

Meanwhile, Mark is beginning to lose his patience with the cameras constantly in his home, especially when it comes to spending some one-on-one time with Valerie and them digging up something from his past.

When Room and Bored premieres and bombs in the ratings, Val tries to keep things positive and cheer up the group by baking cookies.

Her attempts at delivering them to the writers’ room lead to a shocking discovery, with the team now having to play nice to keep everyone on side for the sake of the show.

Valerie is delighted when the writing team decide to give Aunt Sassy an episode dedicated around her, thinking this could be her first major mark on the show.

With her character getting a boyfriend named Big Dick Perkins, Valerie decides to try and pull some strings to get a famous face in as a guest star for the spot.

But there’s trouble ahead in more ways than one as some choice decisions are made.

As Room and Bored hits a bump in the road, Valerie and Mark (as well as the documentary crew needing some product placement) decide to get out of LA and head to Palm Springs for a weekend away.

But with cameras still following them, product placement reps on site and the resort filled with hipsters, it’s not quite the romantic getaway they hoped it would be. Calling in reinforcements in the shape of their local pals Don and Donna, Valerie is given a surprise pep talk that gives her a new pep in her life.

Room and Bored is back in action, but in a bid to turn things around has been given a spruce up – including two new cast members that don’t sit well with the original gang, prompting Valerie to share her wisdom with the group as best she can.

However, it quickly backfires as the cast take matters into their own hands and need Valerie’s support to make an impact.

Valerie earns some cool points with stepdaughter Francesca by taking her and a friend to Juna’s CD signing.

When Juna starts getting more attention than Valerie, she hires a new publicist with a demand to land a magazine cover.

He succeeds, but now Valerie has to race against the clock to renovate one of the rooms in her house… and learn how to do yoga.

Following the success of the TV series, Valerie is planning to dress to impress as she attends the People’s Choice Awards and hits the red carpet.

However, when it comes to finding an outfit, she’s finding it hard to balance her own tastes while also finding something that will get her the attention Juna gets.

But when Gigi reveals that she was not invited to the event by the producers, Valerie takes things into her own hands.

As Room and Bored continues filming, documentary producer Jane intervenes when it’s discovered Tom and Paulie G are cutting down Valerie’s lines.

However, the resulting stunt proves to be an issue for Valerie, whose past back problems come back to haunt her.

The studio is put on high alert when Juna receives a death threat.

Paulie G and Valerie’s working relationship reaches a breaking point with a shocking outcome.

A final interview prompts Valerie to finally unleash her anger at one very specific target that could ruin her chances at re-establishing her career.

As she excitedly prepares a watch party at her house to celebrate the premiere of The Comeback, Valerie realises Jane is missing.

When the episode isn’t quite what she’s expecting, she finds herself having to reckon with what lies ahead for her.

The next day, Valerie’s scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno – and she has a big announcement to make.

But when she sees the reaction to the series so far, will she go through with it?