Since its 2021 premiere, Hacks has been a major awards and critical darling, if not ratings giant, due to its sharp writing, superb performances and industry skewering. So it’s no surprise that no one — not the least of which co-creators Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs — want the series to end.
When asked by Deadline at tonight’s DGA Awards carpet if Season 5, which will bow on HBO Max sometime this year, is truly its curtain call, Downs responded: “Nobody wants it to be, I’ll tell you that, including [lead] Jean Smart. A lot of people are making it hard to be the final season. We cannot confirm or deny at this time.”
While the Broad City alums (who conceived the show alongside Jen Statsky) were reticent to share plot details, Downs teased that “a lot of things are full-circle” as Deborah (Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) head back to Las Vegas for what seems poised to be a triumphant comedic comeback.
“We pitched this show initially with the last scene in the pitch,” Aniello explained. “Like, ‘It’s five seasons, this is what the last scene is.’ It is still the same, so for us, it’s something we’ve been building toward for a long time, so I really do hope people find the end of the season as satisfying as we do.”
Downs added that the only element of their ideation that’s changed is the “runway” allotted for the show to reach its conclusion by “stretching” the storyline. “Five and a half at least?” he quipped about the number of seasons.
The Emmy-winning couple also joked about having written a feature-length conclusion to Ava and Deborah’s stories, saying they brought along a preliminary script to the DGA Awards to get feedback. Taking a page out of the Community playbook, Downs and Aniello joked about doing “five seasons and a movie” and drew parallels to Sex and the City‘s finale movies, with the former adding they would be “open to” such a plan as “we love living with these characters.”
HBO Max renewed Hacks for a fifth season ahead of the series’ Season 4 conclusion, after which executive producers and co-showrunners Aniello and Downs inked a new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television and the streamer.
Last year, Einbinder hinted that the show would come to an end with Season 5, saying, “Paul, Jen and Lucia are the true arbiters of that being true, ultimately, but I think the original plan was that they saw a five-season arc in their initial pitch for the show.”
HBO chief Casey Bloys echoed that sentiment, telling Deadline in a recent interview that “it certainly seems that way [that Hacks is concluding with Season 5], but on decisions like that, we will defer to the showrunners. So you can ask them.”
What is known for a fact is that Hacks will pick up with Deborah reclaiming her legacy after being blamed for killing late-night. Returning alongside Smart and Einbinder are cast members Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Mark Indelicato and Rose Abdoo, who will be joined by new addition Christopher Briney.