Item: Hacks
Rating: 8.9
Author: NextFlicks

Hacks follows legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance who is on the verge of losing her historic residency. Can emerging comedy writer Ava Daniels help freshen up her act? Maybe, if they didn't hate each other so much, in this brilliant comedy series.

From HBO Max and Amazon Prime comes Hacks, the award winning comedy starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.

As two women from very different walks of life, they are thrown together in a professional relationship that must work if either of them wants to succeed in their careers.

Hacks is brilliantly sharp, has won Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes and a Peabody but what is it all about?

What Is Hacks About?

Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is a legendary Las Vegas comedian with a residency at the Palmetto casino.

Edging towards her 2,500th performance, it quickly becomes clear to Deborah that the owners want to move her on. Her act is tired, a little outdated, and even though she brings in the crowds, they're looking to engage with a younger audience.

In LA, emerging comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) has just suffered her first major setback. Having written a tweet meant as a joke, she has found herself all but cancelled and unable to find any work.

What Deborah and Ava have in common is their agent, Jimmy LuSaque at the Latitude agency. He decides to pair them up, believing that Ava can bring a fresh perspective to Deborah's stand-up act.

There's just one tiny problem. Minutes after meeting, Deborah and Ava clash and instantly dislike each other. In fact, they hate each other. Unfortunately for them, they also need each other.

And so begins a tumultuous relationship between an older woman who won't be budged and a young woman who simply can't identify with the world that her new boss lives in.

Hacks Official Trailer

Is Hacks Worth Watching?

Have you ever stumbled across a show that is so good that you binge two seasons in a weekend? That's Hacks.

From the first minute of the first season, it is instantly brilliant. Deborah Vance is an incredible character whose acerbic wit and sharp mind has gotten her through decades of hard work and even harder knocks.

Having built an empire with Marcus, her closest advisor and the COO of her management company, she is a savvy businesswoman but one who has sacrificed everything for her career.

Ava, on the other hand, having had little experience beyond the shallow world of LA, has a well-deserved reputation for being self-centred and arrogant.

While the two initially clash, over the course of the first season, they do begin to understand each other a little better and form a hint of mutual respect for one another.

There is so much to love about Hacks. The comedic timing, the one-liners, the plot and the characters are all so incredibly on point that you cannot help but root for Deborah and Ava.

Who knew that a comedy series about two polar opposite women who bond when a dark mentorship forms, could be so darn good? A lot of people, as it turns out.

So much so that Jean Smart has won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Thoroughly deserved.