‘Hacks’ Co-Creators Tease New Talk Show Plot and Confirm 10 Episodes for Season 4

As they campaign for their Season 3 Emmy nominations, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, the co-creators behind “Hacks,” are busy working on what promises to be an explosive Season 4. The trio has found so much to explore that they will be back to producing a full ten episodes next year, up from nine in Season 3 and eight in Season 2.

“It feels like a season where we’re wanting to do even more episodes than we had planned on or agreed on,” Aniello tells Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “So we’re going to be doing ten episodes because we’re feeling like there’s just so much to say and do.”

Season 3 ended on a sharp note as Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) lands her holy grail, a late-night talk show, and then refuses to give her protégé Ava (Hannah Einbinder) the head writer job. Ava, however, makes a power move that forces Deborah to give her the gig anyway. This shift in their dynamic should be intriguing to watch, as well as the behind-the-scenes machinations of launching a new late-night show.

Aniello, Downs, and Statsky discussed what’s in store next for “Hacks” in Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, while also reflecting on their Emmy-nominated Season 3, widely regarded as the show’s strongest yet.

Nearly two years passed between the second and third seasons of “Hacks” due to the Hollywood strikes and other issues, including a health scare for star Smart. But when the show finally returned, it came back with a bang. Season 3 opened with Smart’s character, legendary comedian Deborah Vance, back on top.

However, a career resurgence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as she no longer feels challenged and finds herself slipping back into “hack” territory. When a talk show opportunity pops up, Deborah sees a new challenge. To pull it off, she needs Ava, and soon their estranged relationship is patched up.

“Hacks” earned 16 Emmy nominations this year, including for comedy series, comedy writing for co-creators Aniello, Downs, and Statsky, comedy directing for Aniello, comedy lead actress for Smart, supporting comedy actress for Einbinder, supporting comedy actor for Downs, and more.

Aniello, Downs, and Statsky, who previously won an Emmy for writing in 2021, with Aniello also winning for directing that year, say the nominations this year are particularly gratifying given the long hiatus.

“We took such a long break,” Downs says. “You never know, because things move so fast, and there are so many great shows, you don’t want to get lost in the shuffle. It felt so good to come back and have people watch and respond well. And our crew waited through two strikes for us, so, for many of them to get recognized is very gratifying.”

Looking ahead to Season 4, the group says picking up from the powerful Deborah vs. Ava standoff was the easy part. It was about figuring out the rest of the puzzle pieces.

“There’s such a propulsive element to the Deborah and Ava relationship where it’s at now that it’s like, that new dynamic kind of informs everything,” Statsky says. “You have that as the base for everything, and then the late-night show has been Deborah’s white whale for so long. There’s a lot of things we’ve been waiting to do that now we get to do.”

Statsky began her career writing for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” so she brings significant knowledge of how those shows work. The trio has also been watching old episodes of “Larry Sanders” for some inspiration on doing a show about a late-night show.

“I think the biggest challenge is, ‘Hacks’ is a comedy about comedy,” Downs says. “Now that we’re doing a season that deals with late night, there’s so much to wrap your arms around. There’s a lot we want to unpack about the changing landscape of comedy and the changing landscape of late night.”

Hence the decision to do ten episodes in Season 4. Statsky adds, “I think for better or worse, comedy has changed so much and is in a kind of precarious state right now. ‘Larry Sanders’ is amazing. We love it, but it feels so of a different time. And so, getting to write this show in 2024, it’s helpful to watch that and be like, ‘They did an amazing job with that, but it feels very different from what we’re doing.’”

Season 4 of “Hacks” will begin shooting in September, with an eye toward premiering in early May 2025.

Source: Variety