Paul W.Downs Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Season 3 of HBO comedy series Hacks will have a surprising pause in the action, the shows’ creators revealed on the Emmys red carpet Monday.

Get ready for the return of Deborah Vance!

UPDATED, 8 AM: Max has unveiled the official trailer for Season 3 of Hacks. In it, we get a glimpse of a chance encounter in an elevator for Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and a friendly (yes, friendly) reunion between the pair. Hacks premieres its nine-episode third season on May 2. Watch the new trailer above and previous teaser trailer below.

Selena Kuznikov “Hacks” is back, and Max has revealed the official trailer and key art for the show’s long-awaited Season 3. The new installment of “Hacks,” which Variety chronicled in this recent feature, returns on Thursday, May 2, with two episodes on Max. The nine-episode season will continue with two episodes each week, up until the season finale on May 30.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter J. Smith-Cameron will appear in “Hacks” Season 3 in a recurring guest star role, Variety has learned exclusively. Smith-Cameron’s character is being kept under wraps.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s late January on the Las Vegas Strip, and a woman with a tall beehive hairdo, and dressed head to toe in a pink, sequined pantsuit, steps in front of the fountain outside Caesar’s Palace clutching multiple bags of high-end designer shopping. This is Jean Smart, in the guise of her Hacks headliner Deborah Vance, preparing to shoot among the last of her scenes for the much-delayed third season of the Max and Universal Television comedy series.

Selome Hailu SXSW can’t get enough of Jean Smart. The crowd at Austin’s Paramount theater erupted as Smart walked down the aisle to find her seat at the Saturday morning world premiere of “Hacks” Season 3, in which she plays aging comedian Deborah Vance. The Max comedy series has been off the air for two years, during which Smart suffered a health scare and underwent a heart procedure that delayed production.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Aristotle Athari is set to guest star in “Hacks” Season 3 at Max, Variety has learned exclusively. Athari is the latest guest star to be announced for the show. He joins previously announced guest stars like Helen Hunt, George Wallace, and Christopher Lloyd in Season 3.

Get ready for the return of Hacks!

Max has dropped the official trailer for season 3 of Hacks, which returns May 2 for nine episodes.

J. Kim Murphy “Hacks” is back. Max has released the first teaser for the Emmy-winning comedy series’ upcoming third season, along with an announcement that the first two episodes will debut on the streamer on May 2.

After a production delay so star Jean Smart could recover from an undisclosed heart procedure, Max’s Emmy-winning comedy series “Hacks” is set to return for a third season. Today, Max revealed that Oscar-winner Helen Hunt, six-time Emmy Award nominee Christina Hendricks, and the legendary Christopher Lloyd are among this year’s guest stars.

Hacks has released its all-star lineup of guest stars for season three of the Max drama.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Hacks” Season 3 has added six to its cast in guest star roles, Variety has learned. Helen Hunt (“Mad About You,” “As Good as It Gets”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men,” “Good Girls”), Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”), Dan Bucatinsky (“Scandal,” “Air”), George Wallace (“Clean Slate,” “The Ladykillers”), and Tony Goldwyn (“Scandal,” “Oppenheimer”) are all set to appear in the upcoming season of the Max comedy series. The official logline for Season 3 of “Hacks” states, “A year after parting, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is riding high off the success of her standup special while Ava (Hannah Einbinder) pursues new opportunities back in Los Angeles.” Hunt is repped by UTA and Dennis Ardi.

We’ll be seeing more of Kayla and Jimmy in the upcoming third season of Hacks. Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs, who have recurred as the characters since Season 1, have been promoted to series regulars for the upcoming season set for premiere this spring.

Hacks will soon be back.

Jaden Thompson Season 3 of the Max comedy series “Hacks” starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder is debuting soon. The third season of the critically-acclaimed series will premiere this spring. The news was announced on the official “Hacks” Instagram account on Thursday.

EXCLUSIVE (Updated with Jen Statsky’s comments): Filming on Season 3 of HBO Max/Universal TV hit comedy series Hacks, starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, has been halted due of the writers strike, Deadline has learned. According to sources, production will be on pause for the duration of the work stoppage.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming on Season 3 of HBO Max/Universal TV hit comedy series Hacks, starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, has been halted because of the writers strike, Deadline has learned. According to sources, production will be on pause for the duration of the work stoppage.

is a superhero, returning to the red carpet only a few short months since his terrifying accident. Meanwhile, at the TCM Classic Film Festival, Angie Dickinson proved that 91 is still young; and at the “Schmigadoon!” Season 2 Premiere, Jane Krakowski brought shock and awe (and squad goals) to everyone over 50.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Production on “Hacks” Season 3 will resume the week after next, series producers Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky revealed to Variety on Sunday. Downs, Aniello and Statsky were at the WGA Awards in Century City, where the trio picked up the win for episodic comedy (for the Season 2 finale “The One, The Only”). “She’s doing great,” Downs said. “She actually said to me recently that she’s better than ever, which I believe because she is Jean Smart. She’s at home. Obviously, not out on the town tonight. But she’s doing really well.” Production on Season 3 of the Emmy-winning HBO comedy was put on hold late last month after Smart revealed via Instagram that she had successfully undergone a heart procedure.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Jean Smart is “doing well” following a recent heart procedure. The “Hacks” star announced on Feb. 23 that she had undergone an unspecified procedure. Production on Season 3 of the HBO Max series has paused while she is on the mend. “She’s doing well,” co-star Hannah Einbinder told Variety on the red carpet at the SAG Awards. “She’s recovering. We just visited her.” Co-star Poppy Liu added, “She requested a lot of photos from all of us. We will be FaceTiming with her.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Production on Season 3 of HBO Max’s Emmy-winning comedy “Hacks” has paused as star Jean Smart recovers from a heart procedure. Smart revealed on Thursday that she had successfully undergone the procedure and was doing well. “February is American Heart Month — a time when the nation spotlights heart health, so it feels important to share with all of you that I am recovering from a recent, successful heart procedure,” Smart wrote on her Instagram account. “I am fortunate to have excellent professional care and support from family and friends while I continue to recuperate. Please listen to your body and talk to your doctor — I’m very glad I did!”

UPDATED: Hacks star Jean Smart has taken to social media to reveal she’s recovering from a recent successful heart procedure.

My guest this week is the SAG-nominated ‘Hacks’ co-creator, showrunner, director and star, Paul W. Downs.

EXCLUSIVE: Artists First has signed actor Brandon Micheal Hall for management.

“If that’s a joke, I love it. If not, can’t wait to unpack that with you later,” said Ted Lasso, perhaps accidentally highlighting two varying differences of comedy – the darker dramedy side and the laugh out loud variety.

The stars of Hacks are hitting the red carpet!

BreAnna Bell David E. Kelley urged his fellow showrunners and TV writers to be mindful of the privilege they have in the platform that television provides to reach millions of viewers as he accepted the 2022 Creative Conscience Award Thursday night at Variety’s Showrunners Dinner presented by A+E Studios. The kudo was presented to Kelley for his decades-long career of socially conscious work, which includes such series as “The Practice,” “Boston Public,” “Boston Legal,” “Ally McBeal,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Big Sky,” among others. “If our work matters, even a little, then that’s something,” Kelley said.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor The BAFTA TV Tea Party scheduled for Saturday in advance of the Emmys has been canceled in light of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday. “In light of today’s very sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the annual BAFTA TV Tea Party will no longer be taking place this weekend. We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen, whose close association with BAFTA spanned 50 years. Our thoughts are with BAFTA’s President HRH The Duke of Cambridge and the Royal Family, to whom we offer our deepest sympathy,” BAFTA’s statement said. The annual festivities were set for Saturday afternoon at the Maybourne Beverly Hills in the lead-up to Monday’s Primetime Emmys.

William Earl Variety’s annual Showrunners Dinner will return in-person on Sept. 8, to celebrate the year in television ahead of the 74th Emmy Awards. The event will be presented by A+E Studios and will feature opening remarks by Barry Jossen, president and head of A+E Studios.   The Creative Conscience Award will be given to writer and producer David E. Kelley for his prolific career in television. David remains one of the most influential figures in television – having created iconic roles for women in “Ally McBeal,” “Big Little Lies” and “Big Sky.” Kelley is a trailblazer for creating complex female characters on television, especially in his early career when such characters were unknown in primetime television.  

Hacks was first born on a road trip to a Monster Jam rally back in 2015. It was during the drive that couple Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello and their close friend Jen Statsky discussed the relative invisibility of female comedians compared to their male counterparts. Having bonded as co-writers, producers, and in the case of Aniello and Downs, directors and actors on the Comedy Central series Broad City, together the trio cooked up HBO Max’s Hacks. In its first season, which also stars Downs as agent Jimmy LuSaque, the show’s depiction of female comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her protégé Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) won Emmys for writing and directing, and acting for Smart. Now, its second season boasts 17 nominations, among them, Outstanding Comedy Series. It has also been renewed for a third season.

After a stellar first season that led to three Emmys wins, Hacks — starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder — had big expectations to meet in its second batch of episodes. It was a challenge not lost on its executive producers Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs.

Megan Stalter, one of the breakout stars of HBO Max’s Hacks, is fronting a new comedy in development by HBO Max and A24.

Selome Hailu HBO Max and A24 are developing “Church Girls,” a comedy pilot from Megan Stalter.“Church Girls” is a half-hour comedy follows Beth Parker (Stalter), a 20-year-old Christian closeted lesbian as she wrestles with her sexuality and faith in God, while entering adulthood in suburban Ohio. The series is inspired by Stalter’s own experiences.Stalter is best known for playing Kayla, Jimmy’s (Paul W.