All About “Hacks” Season 4

The Hacks season three finale left us with our jaws on the ground. The frosty ending (warning: spoilers ahead) saw Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) change her friendship with stand-up legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) forever. With a bit of manipulation (or rather, blackmail), Ava clinched the role of head writer on Deborah’s Late Night show, much to her boss’s chagrin.

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But you can’t say Deborah didn’t have it coming, after she crushed Ava’s trust by pushing her aside for another head writer (and lying to her about it). As they glare each other down during the end of season three, it’s clear their often-contentious relationship has entered hostile territory. Now, they’ll be forced to work together after betraying each other.

What comes next for the comedy duo? Read on for everything we know about Hacks season 4.


Was Hacks renewed for season four?

There will be another season, as Max announced on the day of the season three finale. The renewal aligns with the showrunners’ original plan for a five-season arc.

“That’s still our plan,” Lucia Aniello, who created and co-showruns the series with Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs, told Deadline. “We started pitching the show in 2019, but we’ve been thinking about it since 2015, so we’ve had a great time to plot out and talk about where we wanted the show to go.”

When will the next season come out?

While an official date has yet to be announced, we can get a clue about the next season’s release by looking back on older premieres. Seasons one and two both came out in May, although season three met several delays due to Hollywood strikes and a brief pause as star Jean Smart recovered from a heart procedure.

Series co-creator Lucia Aniello better explained the release process in a May 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “To give you an idea of how long we’ve been working on this season, we started writing it in May 2022 and filming it that November,” she told the outlet. “We didn’t finish shooting until January 2024.” Hopefully, that means the series will return to our screens in May 2025.

jean smart and hannah einbinder are a dynamic duo hacks season 3

Jake Giles Netter / Max

What is Hacks season four about?

As the finale of season three sets up, season four will likely focus on the rivalry between Deborah and Ava behind the scenes of their late-night show. You might recall that Ava is blackmailing Deborah for sleeping with network executive Bob Lipka before getting hired to host the talk show. This secret could come to light in the upcoming season, becoming a publicity nightmare for all involved.

“What we’re setting up is that Deborah is now on the biggest stage of her career,” co-showrunner Statsky told Deadline. “She’s got this huge gig that she now has to make work, because it’s what she’s wanted more than anything. But now she’s at odds with her closest collaborator—and closest friend, to be honest—because she has betrayed her.”

There are other loose ends to tie up. Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) seems to be leaving his position on Deborah’s team for a role at QVC, though no one except Damien (Mark Indelicato) seems to know yet. Jimmy (Downs) also begs Kayla (Meg Stalter) not to leave the business by chasing her onto a plane and promoting her to manager. On the family side, DJ is set to have her baby, and that’s bound to rile up some drama.