Some television comedies take a few episodes to find their rhythm. Hacks quickly establishes its central characters and then keeps finding new layers beneath them.
The series stars Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, a successful veteran comedian whose long-running Las Vegas career faces changing expectations. Hannah Einbinder plays Ava, a younger comedy writer whose own career has hit a rough patch. Circumstances bring the two together despite differences in age, personality, and ideas about what makes something funny.
Smart is outstanding. Deborah could easily have become a caricature of an aging celebrity, but the performance gives her ambition, insecurity, toughness, and vulnerability. Einbinder proves a strong counterpart, and the sometimes uncomfortable chemistry between the two provides much of the show’s humor.
One of Hacks’ greatest strengths is that it doesn’t simply portray one generation as right and the other as hopelessly out of touch. Instead, it explores how experience and changing cultural expectations can collide—and how people can learn from one another without suddenly agreeing about everything.
The comedy can be biting, and some of the characters are intentionally difficult. Viewers looking for an uncomplicated feel-good sitcom may find the show’s sharper edges surprising. There are also moments when the characters’ poor decisions can be frustrating, although that messiness is part of what makes them believable.
Ultimately, Hacks succeeds because there is genuine warmth underneath all the sarcasm. It’s smart, funny, exceptionally well acted, and surprisingly thoughtful about aging, ambition, friendship, and the difficult business of figuring out what comes next.
This week’s Do You Know Bedford? answer: The Mahoning Indian Trail.
