{"id":583469,"date":"2026-04-03T19:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583469\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T19:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:38:10","slug":"hbo-maxs-iconic-5-part-sitcom-returns-in-exactly-7-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583469\/","title":{"rendered":"HBO Max’s Iconic 5-Part Sitcom Returns in Exactly 7 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

There aren\u2019t many comedies that have managed to feel this sharp, this funny, and this emotionally messy for this long without losing their edge. That\u2019s a huge part of why Hacks<\/a> has stayed so beloved. Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels have spent four seasons pushing each other to the edge, dragging each other back, and somehow making every fight feel like both a breakup and a creative breakthrough. Now the end is finally close<\/a>, and HBO Max\u2019s biggest comedy hit<\/a> is about to make its last entrance.<\/p>\n

Hacks returns to HBO Max on Thursday, April 9, 2026, which means the fifth and final season premieres in exactly seven days. HBO Max has confirmed that the season will launch at 9:00 p.m. ET, with new episodes dropping weekly. The 10-episode final season will also include two-episode drops on April 30 and May 7, before the series finale on May 28.<\/p>\n

That rollout makes it clear HBO knows exactly what it has here. Hacks isn\u2019t just another returning comedy. It\u2019s one of the streamer\u2019s defining shows, and one of the most acclaimed comedies of the past few years<\/a>. The series has been a constant awards player, and HBO Max officially confirmed in March that Season 5 will be the final chapter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The full main cast of Hacks includes Jean Smart<\/a> as Deborah Vance, Hannah Einbinder<\/a> as Ava Daniels, Paul W. Downs as Jimmy LuSaque Jr., Megan Stalter as Kayla Schaefer, Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus, Mark Indelicato as Damien, Rose Abdoo as Josefina, Kaitlin Olson<\/a> as Deborah \u201cDJ\u201d Vance Jr., Christopher McDonald as Marty Ghilain, and Poppy Liu as Kiki.<\/p>\n

\"my-so-called-life-claire-danes\"<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tDon’t Give Up on These Shows That Got Off to Rocky Starts \u2014 The Collider TV Quiz!
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the most beloved shows got off to a rough start. Here are eight that either had trouble finding an audience or were axed before they could.<\/p>\n

How Good Is ‘Hacks’?<\/p>\n

Collider\u2019s review of the fourth season<\/a> said that it got off to a fantastic start by diving straight into the fallout of Ava blackmailing Deborah for the head writer job. That power shift gives the season a fresh spark right away, and the move into the late-night TV world helps the show feel new without losing what made it work in the first place.<\/p>\n

“Hacks can\u2019t quite manage to stick the landing, but that doesn\u2019t diminish the fact that it\u2019s still undeniably one of the best things on television. The relationship between Deborah and Ava has never been more intriguing, and Smart and Einbinder have never been better. It\u2019s also notable that this is a show that\u2019s not afraid to take risks<\/a>, having blown up their established central dynamic<\/a> more than once and switched settings entirely. Even if these big swings occasionally don\u2019t pay off, as in the instance of the Season 4 finale, I, for one, am still glad it\u2019s taking them.”<\/p>\n

Hacks returns to HBO on April 9.<\/p>\n

\"hacks-tv-show-season-5-poster.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t2021 – 2026-00-00<\/p>\n

Network<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHBO Max<\/p>\n

Showrunner<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There aren\u2019t many comedies that have managed to feel this sharp, this funny, and this emotionally messy for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-583469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}