I read someone saying on social media that “Hacks” is the best show on current television. Had to simply nod yes in agreement.
The reasons the Max series that recently finished its third season beats out any and all of the competition are many and myriad. It’s a show about a comedian, and hell yeah, it’s damned funny. But the chuckles and yuks dance hand in hand with drama. It’s also a show that captures truths about show business, while at the same time serves as a sharp parody of the entertainment game. It also rests on the fulcrum at the center of the generation gap between seniors and today’s twentysomethings. To name some of its many fine qualities.
Award-winning veteran actress Jean Smart plays standup comic Deborah Vance, whose longtime residency on the Las Vegas Strip has made her a show business legend. But when she is in danger of losing her sinecure, Vance is forced to confront the cold hard fact that she’s become a hack – an entertainer riding on the tailwind of her reputation. It’s time for a brush-up and reboot.
Her agent convinces a reluctant Vance to hire a young Hollywood comedy writer, Ava Daniels, whose budding career had been stunted by her self-entitled attitude and a social media gaffe. She’s played by newcomer Hannah Einbinder, the daughter of original Saturday Night Live original cast member Laraine Newman.
As you can likely imagine, the two of them are initially like oil and water. As one can also surmise from the fact that the show has now run for three seasons, they find a middle ground.
The show is a tour de force for Smart, who is best known for her five seasons on the comedy series Designing Women. She is an actress whose work spans the spectrum from TV to film to on and off Broadway and regional theater. Vance is a role she can not just sink her teeth into; it allows Smart to initially brand the comedienne as a grand dame with a wicked wit and imperious way and then allow her true self – a wounded soul in need of love – to emerge in time. No doubt her long years on show biz feed into her portrayal of Vance that is also a telling commentary about her profession and the context around it.
Interestingly, Einbinder brings just as much to Ava’s character even if it’s only her first role, indicating that a new star is born and on the rise in Hacks. In her hands, Ava exudes callow youth that’s both timeless and utterly contemporary, a certain yin/yang mix of arrogance and naivete.
The key dynamic here is the eternal schism between youthfulness and maturity, the confidence of someone who has lived, learned and earned her stature and the hurly-burly determination of a young person with something to prove. It provides a ripe field of play for this brilliantly conceived and written show to build, grow and reveal amidst a riot of comedic delight. Their working relationship between Deborah and Ava blossoms from a cautious and sometimes out-of-sync minuet to a lively creative tango.
A veritable murderers’ row of supporting cast bring further rich humanity and subtly delicious wit to the show. As Marcus, who runs Vance’s business, Carl Clemons-Hopkins is the seeming calm in the eye of the storm. Jane Adams showers sparks as Ava’s loopy midwestern mom.
Among the many themes beneath the show biz surface in this captivating series is family: both those we are born into and form later in life. It’s one of the many reasons to welcome “Hacks” into your home. Plus its 11 Emmy nominations and four wins over the first two seasons attest to the show’s quality and appeal.
The announced fourth season whets my appetite for what’s to come. So if you haven’t yet seen the show, time to catch up with the rest of us who are enthralled with Hacks.
Populist Picks
Feature Film: “Hitman” – Few filmmakers come up with cinematic gems in as wide a range of genres and styles as Rick Linklater. His latest and among his best follows a college psychology prof who plays a killer for hire for police stings, and then falls for one of his target, is a wacky delight.
Album: Ohio Players by The Black Keys – From their days as a raw underground blues-rock duo to their current top rock band stature, the Keys have explored many stylistic variations. This is their winning take on soul music.
Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email robpatterson054@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, August 15, 2024
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