Lisa Kudrow on 2005 cancellation of The Comeback: 'They tried to make it extinct'

Lisa Kudrow has reflected on the initial cancellation of her TV show The Comeback in 2005.

The American sitcom, which starred the Friends actress, originally aired for one season before being axed, but it was revived nine years later with a second instalment in 2014.

Speaking to fellow actress Lily Tomlin for Interview Magazine, Kudrow admitted that she and the show's executives were taken aback by the decision to cancel it.

"The Comeback was a random mutation that some forces of nature didn't appreciate as being valuable," she said. "They tried to make it extinct."

The 62-year-old added that the debut season had received strong praise from her industry peers.

"Early on, we were confused because a lot of people we respected let us know they thought it was great - writers, actors, artists, creative people," the actress recalled. "Then executives would say, 'Yeah, so which was the reason it got cancelled?' I don't know the reason."

When Tomlin asked whether she ever blamed herself, Kudrow replied, "I'm not that insecure."

She went on to note that the series had attracted "great feedback while it was on".

"We heard David Bowie called HBO when he was going on tour, being like, 'I don't want to miss any,'" she shared. "Being cancelled was shocking, but I wasn't devastated because I thought, okay, this is beyond my control. What we did was good. I'm proud of it."

Twelve years after the second season, Kudrow reprised her role as sitcom actress Valerie Cherish for the long-awaited third and final chapter, which premiered on 22 March.