#87 Life is Worth Living as Long as There’s a Laugh in It
11/10/22 08:37
You know when you get really into a series, spend all day looking forward to hunkering down on the sofa to gorge on the latest instalment, and then you end up binge-watching a cheeky extra ep, and you’re so engrossed that the puppy wanders into the kitchen and wees on the rug because there’s no one to let her out?
Let me tell you about Hacks.
I’ve had this on my TBW list for a while and wish I’d got round to it sooner so I could be all cutting edge, but on the other hand, two series have been banked while I’ve been arsing about with season 6 of Modern Family (also excellent, particularly episode 16) so I’ve got plenty to binge. This show is just so goddamn good I could roll it up in a burrito, snarf it and suck my fingers after.
Hacks stars the sensational Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, an ageing superstar comic who’s resting on her laurels and in danger of losing her lucrative Las Vegas gig. The excellent Hannah Einbinder plays Ava Daniels, a young comedy writer recently cancelled due to an insensitive tweet. On her uppers and out of options, Ava moves to Vegas to work as a gag writer for Deborah. It’s pretty much hate at first sight as these two prickly, forthright, complicated women lock horns. Deborah is a demanding diva, old-school and stuck in her ways, while Ava is an arrogant, entitled and self-obsessed Gen-Z. I LOVE THEM. When they’re on screen together the chemistry is electric.
Of course, as they get to know each other, a productive working relationship (and tentative personal one) develops, and it’s just glorious watching them find their way there. Deborah has the experience and wisdom, Ava the drive and freshness, and when they finally join forces you know they’ll be unstoppable. Jean Smart is, obviously, absolute dynamite as Deborah, her grand ways and peremptory manner disguising the thoughtful, big-hearted woman beneath. But Hannah Einbinder is a revelation – she owns her part so completely that I assumed the whole show was her vehicle, in the same way that Feel Good belongs to Mae Martin. In fact, it’s the product of a team of off-screen writers, but it’s a testament to Einbinder’s verve and confidence in the role that it seems like her baby. This is going to sound weird, but she’s giving off serious Anne of Green Gables vibes – imagine Ms Shirley transported from Prince Edward Island to 21st century, party-hard Vegas…. She’s Anne with a different type of E. OH MY GOD, and Deborah is Marilla! It’s too, too much. I can’t even.
Everyone in the cast is great. I adore Kaitlin Olson, who plays Deborah’s semi-estranged daughter DJ. She’s absolutely demented, a manic light in her eye that screams ‘spoilt-and-damaged’ - plus ‘also on drugs’. I’m also a huge fan of Marcus, Deborah’s quietly dismissive COO and advisor who just needs the love of a good man. Every character, however minor, has a Thing that makes them instantly recognisable/relatable/repulsive and that kind of writerly care across the board is immensely satisfying.
These clever scribes don’t pull any punches. Hacks can be brutal, mean, snort-in-shock funny. They’re not scared of making their characters do awful, stupid, nasty things. But Deborah and Ava keep it together, keep us laughing, their thorny bond keeping us on side. Add the absurdly glamorous, horrendously vulgar Sin City backdrop and this is a wonderfully escapist, rollicking series with proper comedy chops, heft and heart.
Honestly, it’s so good I’m letting the latest series of Grand Designs slide. You know it’s serious when I leave Kevin hanging.
Let me tell you about Hacks.
I’ve had this on my TBW list for a while and wish I’d got round to it sooner so I could be all cutting edge, but on the other hand, two series have been banked while I’ve been arsing about with season 6 of Modern Family (also excellent, particularly episode 16) so I’ve got plenty to binge. This show is just so goddamn good I could roll it up in a burrito, snarf it and suck my fingers after.
Hacks stars the sensational Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, an ageing superstar comic who’s resting on her laurels and in danger of losing her lucrative Las Vegas gig. The excellent Hannah Einbinder plays Ava Daniels, a young comedy writer recently cancelled due to an insensitive tweet. On her uppers and out of options, Ava moves to Vegas to work as a gag writer for Deborah. It’s pretty much hate at first sight as these two prickly, forthright, complicated women lock horns. Deborah is a demanding diva, old-school and stuck in her ways, while Ava is an arrogant, entitled and self-obsessed Gen-Z. I LOVE THEM. When they’re on screen together the chemistry is electric.
Of course, as they get to know each other, a productive working relationship (and tentative personal one) develops, and it’s just glorious watching them find their way there. Deborah has the experience and wisdom, Ava the drive and freshness, and when they finally join forces you know they’ll be unstoppable. Jean Smart is, obviously, absolute dynamite as Deborah, her grand ways and peremptory manner disguising the thoughtful, big-hearted woman beneath. But Hannah Einbinder is a revelation – she owns her part so completely that I assumed the whole show was her vehicle, in the same way that Feel Good belongs to Mae Martin. In fact, it’s the product of a team of off-screen writers, but it’s a testament to Einbinder’s verve and confidence in the role that it seems like her baby. This is going to sound weird, but she’s giving off serious Anne of Green Gables vibes – imagine Ms Shirley transported from Prince Edward Island to 21st century, party-hard Vegas…. She’s Anne with a different type of E. OH MY GOD, and Deborah is Marilla! It’s too, too much. I can’t even.
Everyone in the cast is great. I adore Kaitlin Olson, who plays Deborah’s semi-estranged daughter DJ. She’s absolutely demented, a manic light in her eye that screams ‘spoilt-and-damaged’ - plus ‘also on drugs’. I’m also a huge fan of Marcus, Deborah’s quietly dismissive COO and advisor who just needs the love of a good man. Every character, however minor, has a Thing that makes them instantly recognisable/relatable/repulsive and that kind of writerly care across the board is immensely satisfying.
These clever scribes don’t pull any punches. Hacks can be brutal, mean, snort-in-shock funny. They’re not scared of making their characters do awful, stupid, nasty things. But Deborah and Ava keep it together, keep us laughing, their thorny bond keeping us on side. Add the absurdly glamorous, horrendously vulgar Sin City backdrop and this is a wonderfully escapist, rollicking series with proper comedy chops, heft and heart.
Honestly, it’s so good I’m letting the latest series of Grand Designs slide. You know it’s serious when I leave Kevin hanging.
- Hacks, two series, HBO
