‘Hacks’ Is Back: Why Jean Smart’s Health Crisis and a 10-Month Delay Couldn’t Slow Down TV’s Edgiest Comedy
04.04.2024 - 17:05
/ variety.com
Hacks,” it appeared that Deborah Vance and her protégé Ava Daniels had reached the end of the road. Deborah (Jean Smart), a jaded Las Vegas comic, and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), the young and eager joke writer she’d hired, had together crafted a TV special that showcased Deborah’s wit and her willingness to change with the times. It was a perfect merging of what Deborah brought to the table and what she’d learned, at times unwillingly, from her young partner — and, having decided they’d done all they could together, Deborah fired Ava.
What a surprising place to arrive, after the rollicking two-year journey these characters had undergone! But there was a problem with a finale this satisfying. “People are like, ‘It felt like it could have been the end,’” recalls co-creator Jen Statsky. “And you’re like, ‘No! No!’” “Hacks” has had no shortage of fan love and industry attention — among 32 total Emmy nominations, it’s been a winner for its writing and directing, as well as garnering two trophies for Smart, a beloved character actress who in Deborah has finally been given the opportunity to play the lead.
But its third season, premiering on Max on May 2, is the show’s biggest swing yet. Creators Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs always had a plan for where Deborah, a shark who must keep moving, would go next.
To get there, though, “Hacks” would have to navigate challenging real-world events, losing nearly a year as a result: first as Smart, now 72, underwent heart surgery, and then as both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike. The final product, at long last, depicts a Deborah who’s as dissatisfied with wild success as she was with mid-tier striving; the time has come for her to pursue a new goal. She decides to campaign,
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