As they campaign for their Season 3 Emmy nominations, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky — the co-creators behind “Hacks” — are already busy at work on what already promises to be an explosive Season 4. As a matter of fact, the trio have found so much to mine that they will be back to producing a full ten episodes (up from nine in Season 3 and eight in Season 2) next year.
“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.”
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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, has an ace up her sleeves and makes a power move that forces Deborah to give her the gig anyway. That shift in the dynamic between the two should be interesting to watch, as should the behind-the-scenes machinations of launching a new late night show.
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Aniello, Downs and Statsky met up with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast to talk all about what’s in store next for “Hacks,” while also looking back at their Emmy-nominated Season 3, which most critics agree was the Max comedy’s strongest yet. Listen below!
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 “Hacks” finally came back, wow, did it ever come back. 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. But 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 noms this year are particularly gratifying given that 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 that 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 quite a bit of knowledge of how those shows work. And the trio have also been catching old episodes of “Larry Sanders” to also get 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. Adds Statsky: “I think for better or worse, comedy has changed so much and is in 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.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.
