WASHINGTON POST: How Hacks became a hit as unforgettable TV icon Deborah Vance has the last laugh

On an episode of Hacks earlier this season, legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) goes to an autograph convention and grows increasingly frustrated by the demands of her fans.

The mood changes, however, when a woman shows up with a colourful portrait of Deborah that she and her mother constructed out of natural seeds and grains.

The image is hideous, but after the woman explains the backstory before her mother died, they bonded over Deborah’s comedy and wanted to make her a special gift — Deborah is so moved that she leaves the room in tears.

The scene was classic Hacks, a moment initially played for laughs that ends with an emotional wallop about art and life — but also because of what happened to the portrait afterward, which the show’s three co-creators and showrunners explained to The Washington Post.

“It got eaten by rodents,” Lucia Aniello said.

“It’s so sad,” Jen Statsky added.

“They wouldn’t let our prop department go back into their storage,” Paul W. Downs said. “Because it was so ...”

“Disgusting,” Aniello concluded.

It seemed like a fitting bit of lore for a show that has never shied away from the often gross reality of the entertainment industry.

Over the last five seasons, HBO Max’s Hacks has followed Deborah’s journey as a Hollywood outsider turned triumphant superstar, mostly through her complex relationship with her Gen Z comedy-writing soulmate, Ava (Hannah Einbinder).

Deborah’s victories and misadventures illuminated that show business can be superficial and demeaning, but also that pop culture continues to be essential by reflecting and explaining who we are as humans.

Now, “Hacks” concludes with its series finale Thursday night after years of critical acclaim and Emmy nominations and trophies (Smart has won the lead comedy actress prize for every season so far), as well as to the devastation of its devoted fans, whom Aniello, Statsky and Downs refer to as “Hacksanistas.”

The series, which debuted in 2021, benefited greatly from word of mouth, and became a hot spot for celebrities making cameos as themselves.

This season included pop singer Jesse McCartney, who sang to a starstruck Ava at her 30th birthday party; Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, on an episode where Deborah and her daughter DJ (Kaitlin Olson) competed on the trek around the world; radio host Charlamagne tha God, who is revealed to co-own a racehorse with Deborah named Wheat Thin; Renée O’Connor, the Xena: Warrior Princess star who played a small yet critical role; and Joy Behar, who finally settled her long-running feud with Deborah.

These days, the creators said, they frequently hear from viewers who recently binge-watched the show and caught up to watch Season 5 live every week. So they know the stakes are high heading into the last episode.

“The show is our baby, and so every year, it’s almost like you drop your kid off at school and you’re like, ‘Oh, I hope people are kind to my baby and like my baby!’” Downs said. “Then this year, it’s the very last time, it’s like they’re going to college or something and they’re not going to be moving back home. And so it’s even more vulnerable for us, I think.”

In typical Hacks fashion, the penultimate episode last week seemed like it could have closed out the show.

This season centred on Deborah scrambling to save her career after she abruptly quit her dream job as a late-night talk-show host when she clashed with the villainous studio executive, Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn).

Her non-compete clause meant that she couldn’t perform comedy or speak publicly for 18 months, so she had to remain quiet as Bob trashed her to the press and made her sound crazy — a label she had been fighting against for decades, ever since her husband very publicly left her for her younger sister.

This all led to Deborah’s first chance to share her side of the late-night story at a historic stand-up show at Madison Square Garden, which sold out in 10 minutes . . . at least, until it was revealed that Bob actually bought out the entire venue to humiliate and silence Deborah again. (The creators thought this plot was a stretch until they asked the writers’ room and comedian Joe Mande noted that 50 Cent once said he pulled a similar stunt on Ja Rule.)

So Deborah and her team worked their magic to quickly transform her set into a free event in Central Park, where Deborah broke an attendance record.

In the end, that move felt even more on-brand for Deborah, who carved out her identity with a stand-up residency in Las Vegas and had to operate outside of the traditional industry.

“In relinquishing the idea that, ‘Oh, I’m going to be one of the only women who have sold out MSG’... she actually does even better,” Downs said.

“In a way, just wanting to connect with her fans allows her to achieve that thing which she starts the season trying to do, which is rewrite her legacy with her biggest win.”

Ava, who has had quite a few career challenges, scored a major victory in the second-to-last episode when she sold a TV pilot based on her and Deborah’s intergenerational friendship. Now Ava, who previously would barely prepare for job interviews, gets to write her own show.

“Her work with Deborah has really been the perfect boot camp to become a boss. As we’ve seen over the five seasons, she really got a work ethic from Deborah,” Statsky said.

“She and Deborah have had their ups and downs for sure - and so I think she, in the end, has come out of it a better communicator, and a better person to be able to navigate the difficult thing when you’re dealing with the creative and business side of things.”

The first goal of Hacks was to make viewers laugh, the creators said, but they wanted all the characters to grow.

Downs played Deborah’s kindhearted manager, Jimmy, who grew a tough spine as he started his management firm with the wacky but sharply business-minded Kayla (Megan Stalter); Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), the occasionally overlooked chief executive of Deborah’s company, is currently helping her open a fancy new casino. And the writers kept finding new layers to Deborah, who broke out of her comfort zone with Ava as a collaborator.

“It’s so fun. I think for us, it’s like, this is a person who has changed so much since Season 1,” Aniello said. “She’s opened herself up to more options and different ways of thinking through her relationship with Ava, and also just evolving as a person so that she is now kind of open to different experiences.”

Obviously, there will be no spoilers here about the finale. But a big theme of the series boils down to a quote uttered by Jimmy and Kayla’s loyal assistant Randi (Robby Hoffman) as the gang tries to wrangle the Central Park show: “God, I love this business. It’s 90 per cent the most delusional, lazy people you’ve ever seen in your life and 10 percent the most delusional workaholics.”

Statsky maintained that is a correct assessment, and Aniello added that the three showrunners may fall into the latter category. And it does sum up what it’s like to create art for a living.

“I think you have to be a little mad to do the job, to be in the industry,” Downs said. With all the ups and downs, ultimately, “it has to be a calling for you.”

© 2026 , The Washington Post