Hacks (2021)
Hacks is a 2021 comedy series created by Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs. It stars Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Carl Clemons-Hopkins.
Deborah Vance built an empire on jokes and refuses to be told she is done. A legendary Las Vegas comedian clinging to her casino residency gets paired with Ava, a brash, canceled twenty-five-year-old writer who needs the work as badly as Deborah needs new material. What starts as mutual contempt curdles into an unlikely partnership across the modern comedy grind of writers' rooms, tours and reinvention. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder trade barbs that draw real blood and occasional tenderness. Prickly, funny and generous about ambition, aging and the cost of being funny.
Quick answers
What is Hacks about?
Deborah Vance built an empire on jokes and refuses to be told she is done. A legendary Las Vegas comedian clinging to her casino residency gets paired with Ava, a brash, canceled twenty-five-year-old writer who needs the work as badly as Deborah needs new material. What starts as mutual contempt curdles into an unlikely partnership across the modern comedy grind of writers' rooms, tours and reinvention. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder trade barbs that draw real blood and occasional tenderness. Prickly, funny and generous about ambition, aging and the cost of being funny.
When was Hacks released?
Hacks was released on 13 May 2021.
How many episodes does Hacks have?
Hacks has 47 episodes across 5 seasons.
Who made Hacks?
Hacks was created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky.
Where can I watch Hacks?
Hacks is available on HBO (Via Hulu), HBO Max, MAX (Via Amazon Prime), TBS, YouTube TV and Amazon Freevee.
Where to watch Hacks
Stream: HBO (Via Hulu), HBO Max, MAX (Via Amazon Prime), TBS, YouTube TV
Watch free: Amazon Freevee, Fawesome
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home
Official site
https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GYIBToQrPdotpNQEAAAEa
Cast
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A few thoughts on Hacks
For more voices from the comedy trenches, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime turns a hard childhood into stand-up-sharp storytelling; Jane Wagner and Lily Tomlin's Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is a solo show about women reinventing themselves; and Bo Burnham's Inside (The Songs) mines the lonely art of being funny.
Behind-the-scenes comedies about making comedy
Hacks lives inside the grind of writing and performing comedy, from Deborah Vance's residency to the writers' room. These shows pull back the same curtain. The Larry Sanders Show, The Studio, Brockmire, Atlanta and Workaholics all mine the mess of making entertainment, where the jokes, egos and bad nights behind the scenes are the whole story.
Women reinventing their careers with a sharp tongue
Hacks watches Deborah refuse to be told her career is finished, chasing reinvention on her own terms. These shows follow women doing the same. Younger, The Bold Type, And Just Like That, Claws and Orange Is the New Black all put ambitious women through late pivots, sharp tongues and the work of building something new.
Comedians who turn their lives into material
Hacks cares deeply about the craft of standup, the years of bombing and the lines that finally land. These titles put comedy's makers front and center. Born a Crime, Inside, Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, How to Be Really Funny and Biloxi Blues each turn a life into material worked out loud on a stage.
Adversaries forced into a partnership
The engine of Hacks is two people who start in mutual contempt and slowly, grudgingly need each other. These stories run on the same friction. Beef, Better Call Saul, Togetherness and Red Oaks all trap sharp, stubborn characters in relationships they cannot walk away from, where every insult hides something closer to respect.