The fourth season of “Hacks,” went out with a bang on May 29, hot on the heels of HBO Max renewing the series for Season 5. Cast and creatives are already teasing what might be in store for Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and the gang for the next outing.
On Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Megan Stalter said that she has pitched a life-giving story for Kayla, who has risen from a confidently befuddled assistant to hilariously competent talent manager since the show launched in 2021.
“I really, really want Kayla to be pregnant,” Stalter said. “She doesn’t really know who the father is. It’s not Jimmy, but Jimmy steps up as the father.”
Jimmy, Kayla’s partner in the talent management sphere, happens to be played by “Hacks” co-creator Paul W. Downs.
“I love it,” Downs said of the idea. “I am a father figure.”
The writer-actor also told Deadline that Jimmy and Kayla were “like a bizarro version of Deborah and Ava.”
“What’s happening with their fledgling management firm is yet to be seen,” Downs said. “We have a lot to explore with them. I don’t even actually know all the answers.”
In the “Hacks” finale — which found the main characters in Singapore after a very L.A.-centric batch of episodes — Deborah was erroneously reported dead by TMZ following her dramatic exit from her late-night talk show. In a rousing cliffhanger, Ava finds a very much alive Deborah, who has suddenly been spurred to action to fight for her next chapter. Challenges lie ahead for the comedian, who will have to find a way to circumvent a non-compete clause in network TV contract.
Fellow co-creator Lucia Aniello told Deadline that the non-compete clause, “obviously” wasn’t “necessarily set in stone.”
“We’re really trying to put our characters in new situations you haven’t seen them in,” Aniello said. “That is what led us to the spirit of the finale, which is to see Deborah in an extremely, extremely low place, and a place which is very different than we’ve ever seen … in terms of where we left it, I think that’s the thing that we’ve found to be the most interesting, is when Deborah Vance has something she wants, she’s reinvigorated and she’s excited for life.”
The creative team, which also includes Jen Statsky, said they are already at work on the fifth season. Downs expected to be back on set in the fall.
“We have been writing,” he said. “We’re in process.”
