'Hacks' Knows Exactly What It’s Doing — And That’s What Makes It Great
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The Emmy-winning comedy series, starring Jean Smart, returns for its third season.
On paper, “Hacks” could have been — excuse the pun — a hacky premise: a generational clash between a boomer comedian and a Gen Z comedy writer forced to work together. Insert some low-hanging jokes about their differences, and call it a day.
But the Max comedy series has always been richer and deeper than that, thanks to creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky — veterans of great TV comedies like “Broad City” and “The Good Place” — and an ensemble of extremely funny actors led by television icon Jean Smart. In 2021, the show’s first season mined real-world parallels to create a perfect tonal alchemy, uproarious one minute, poignant the next. Smart’s character, fictional comedy legend Deborah Vance, evoked lots of real-life women in entertainment who have been unfairly maligned, misunderstood and written off. And Deborah’s relationship with her writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) was always much more complex than a simple pairing of two mismatched people or a toxic boss managing an entitled new employee.
Add in a rich tapestry of supporting characters, including Deborah and Ava’s long-suffering manager Jimmy (played by Downs), his inept assistant Kayla (Meg Stalter), Deborah’s devoted but perpetually overworked CEO Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) and striving assistant Damian (Mark Indelicato). Seamlessly weave in some mordantly funny meta-commentary on the entertainment industry, and you’ve got comedy gold.
Season 2 found new ways to do the same things that made the first season great, taking the characters on the road as Deborah tests out new material for what becomes a career-defining comedy special. It ends with one of the show’s best scenes, where Deborah fires Ava — but does so out of respect and love, so Ava can go find her own comedic voice. Ava tearfully tells Deborah: “I want to be wherever you are.” It was a reminder of yet another clever and sneakily brilliant trick the show had been pulling all along: making a rom-com about work.
So it should come as no surprise that the third season of “Hacks,” premiering Thursday, is once again funny as hell, while also warm and poignant. Over nine sharp and succinct episodes, just when you think the show’s central dynamics might get repetitive, “Hacks” keeps finding new ways to push things forward.
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