This HBO Max show’s new season proves it’s one of the best comedies ever

Hacks has grown into an Emmy-winning smash hit as its fifth and final season airs, but you would hardly know it on these fair shores, where the comedy remains criminally overlooked.

When it first aired in 2021, Hacks was one of those infuriating shows that didn’t get a UK release date for another year, by which point I had already seen all the best bits online.

With the launch of HBO Max, we Brits have finally been freed from the cruel vortex denying us timely TV. (Even if the US did get this swansong season of Hacks a week before us…)

The grumbling is warranted because when the show is this good, you want to get your grubby hands on it as soon as possible. I inhaled the seven episodes (out of ten total) I was given.

If you’re among those who hear the title Hacks and assume it’s got something to do with a series of dire data breaches, allow me to enlighten you.

These are the kind of hacks on stage doing stand-up. Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is a veteran no-nonsense comedian in the mould of the late Joan Rivers, while Ava (Hannah Einbinder) is her bisexual, Gen Z writer trying to set her boss/bestie on the right path.

I can’t stress how brilliant these two are as this odd couple of co-worker frenemies, whose conversations are a barrage of witty barbs and long-running gags about things like the time Deborah sued Ava (yes, really).

In the fourth season, Deborah’s brief stint as a late night host imploded when she finally took a stand in the name of Ava’s ethics. A booze-addled trip to Singapore followed, during which TMZ accidentally reported Deborah’s death.

I know it doesn’t sound funny, but I promise! It is!

We return now from Singapore to this show’s spiritual home: the boulevard of neon lights that is the Las Vegas strip.

Deborah, as ever, will not go down without a fight. Despite an ironclad non-compete from her late night contract, she becomes hellbent on salvaging the first line of her obituary with something spectacular. 

She sets her sights on selling out Madison Square Garden, which is the equivalent of The O2 here, but that doesn’t feel quite as spectacular given that Jack Whitehall currently has a gig slated there. Joke! Just trying to emulate the comedy spirit. 

If you want to see the funnies distilled into their purest form, watch the scenes of Deborah’s managers Jimmy and Kayla, played by show co-creator Paul W Downs and Too Much star Meg Stalter.

I know I can’t keep writing ‘it’s so funny’, ‘they’re so funny’, but these two have made me weep with laughter. Even their interviews to promote this season have been a one-upmanship gag to behold. I want nothing more than to be their third best friend.

Kayla and Jimmy doing good cop, bad cop to an actor they need to fire is one highlight. The fallout from playing the ‘worst thing I’ve ever done’ game seen in The Drama is another.

It’s often just Ava’s facial expressions or the crack in Jimmy’s voice that will prompt me to replay scenes. Occasionally, the ‘message’ of episodes can be a bit ham-fisted, but those acting chops mean the themes of ageing, failure and being forgotten are always movingly played.

The season can be boiled down to a series of side quests in the pursuit of that MSG stage. Race Across the World fans will get a kick out of the episode crossover with the US equivalent, The Amazing Race, which features Trisha Paytas. The showbiz-y setting guarantees even more guest stars.

My favourite comes in the episode that follows, where Ava and Deborah are forced to pretend they’re lesbian lovers to Leslie Bibb and Cherry Jones, who are actual lesbian lovers. It gave me the same giggly joy that the Lovers Walk episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer did.

If this sounds a bit all over the place, it’s either because I’m so excited about Hacks I can’t contain myself or it’s an attempt to distract myself from the fact this will be the last time I get to hang out with these people. 

One scene references the iconic ending of Friends and it feels fitting because those are the all-time waters Hacks will forever be swimming in. I think it might already be time for a rewatch.

Hacks is available to stream on Sky and NOW.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.