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Hacks season 5: everything we know about the multi-Emmy winning HBO Max comedy’s final season
Laura Martin
20 September 2025
The comedy-duo series is expected to be the last ever season
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Deborah Vance is back, baby
(Image credit: Max)
Release date
Trailer speculation
Potential cast
Potential plot
Hacks season 5: key information
– Season 5 was confirmed by HBO on May 27, 2025
– At the Emmy awards in September 2025, Hannan Einbinder mentioned that it would be the final series ever of the show: “Knowing it’s the last season is really bittersweet”
– The series showrunners Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky haven’t confirmed it definitively, but have said they’re “writing towards it ending in the fifth series” but also added: “we shall see”
– HBO CEO Casey Bloys said of the show ending in season 5: “We’ve had conversations about it. Ultimately, it will be their [the showrunners’] decision.”
– Filming of season 5 is set to begin in September 2025
– Season 5 will see a defiant Deborah Vance and Ava return to America from Singapore, where she’ll try to “rewrite her legacy”
For the fourth year in a row, Hacks cleaned up at the annual Emmy awards – but this time, as well as Jean Smart (who plays sassy comedienne, Deborah Vance) winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fourth time, Hannah Einbinder (who plays Deborah’s awkward millennial co-writer) won her first ever Emmy for her role in the show.
Unlike controversial “comedy” category-mate The Bear, Hacks has proven consistently to be one of the funniest shows on TV. It first exploded onto our screens in 2021, and the storyline of Deborah and Ava as comedy’s odd-couple – with all the bust-ups, rows and psychological games that their relationship involves – has since expanded over four, pacy seasons. But just as season 5 was about to begin filming, Einbinder confirmed that the creators had said this fifth season would be the last.
However, it’s no doubt going to be a wild ride, no matter how the showrunners Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky choose to get there. While we wait to see if Deborah, Ava or both women will end up on top, here’s everything we know about Hacks season 5 so far; including release date, cast and potential plot:
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Hacks season 5: release date
Deborah and Ava are going to hit the road once more (Image credit: HBO Max)
With the news from Einbinder that season 5 will likely be the last ever season of Hacks, let’s wind back a bit to May 2025, when the season was officially given the green light. Co-stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder both celebrated in a video posted to Instagram:
A post shared by HBO Max (@hbomax)
A photo posted by on
“I’m so excited,” said Smart. “Hacks just got officially picked up for season 5. I’m thrilled! Congratulations to my cast and everybody in the production. And to all of our Hacks fans out there, please join us again for season 5. Yay!”
Einbinder added: “It’s official. We’re coming back for season 5, baby! And don’t worry, I will continue to pitch the lesbian arc.”
About the same time, speaking with Deadline, Paul W. Downs said that he thinks filming will start in fall 2025: “We have been writing, so behind the Zoom tab is another tab. We’re in process.”
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Then, on the 2025 Emmys red carpet, Einbinder referred to Hacks season 5 as “the last season” in an interview with E!. She also confirmed that filming would start towards the end of September 2025, adding: “I think it will feel different. We’re going to start next week, and knowing it’s the last season is really bittersweet. But I think it’s right, you know? It’s nice to do something as many times as it should be done. Not overstay your welcome. Rip it and do it and laugh and cry.”
Downs said previously that while season 5 would likely be the end of Hacks, it wasn’t completely nailed on: “Right now, we’re still writing towards it ending in the fifth season. But that being said, we have a lot of things we want to do this season…There’s always a world where it’s more than the amount that we can turn out in a year. Because we really like having the show out every year. But we are really in the middle of figuring it out. If it’s not done in five, it’s close to it. But we shall see.”
When asked about Einbinder’s comments, HBO Max’s CEO Casey Bloys said, “We usually leave that up to the creators, so I will wait to hear from them. But obviously, we’ve had conversations about it. Ultimately, it will be their decision.”
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There’s no official release date for Hacks season 5 as yet, but as every other series has been released in April/May, perhaps that might be the month the creators are aiming for, but it’s all still to be confirmed.
Hacks season 5: trailer
The odd-couple of Deborah and Ava will return with more high drama (Image credit: HBO)
There’s no official trailer as yet for the fifth season, but as soon as anything drops, it’ll be included on this page.
Hacks season 5: potential cast
Season 5 will see the fan favourites return (Image credit: HBO Max)
Smart and Einbinder will obviously return as Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels, respectively, and it’s likely that Paul W. Downs as agent Jimmy and Megan Stalter as his kooky colleague, Kayla.
We’re also likely to see the following cast members returning too:
Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus Vaughan
Rose Abdoo as Josefina, Deborah’s estate manager
Mark Indelicato as Damien, Deborah’s personal assistant
Kaitlin Olson as Deborah “DJ” Vance Jr., Deborah’s daughter
Christopher McDonald as Marty Ghilain, CEO of the Palmetto Casino
Poppy Liu as Kiki Loas, Deborah’s personal blackjack dealer
Tony Goldwyn as Bob Lipka, a top executive of the conglomerate that owns Late Night
Hacks season 5: potential plot
Deborah Vance will return to America to rewrite her legacy (Image credit: Anne Marie Fox/HBO Max)
The end of season 4 (spoilers ahead) saw Deborah, who quit her talk show, find a loophole in her contract that allowed to get back on stage – in Singapore, with her shows delivered by a translator – but then she was the victim of a death hoax. TMZ accidentally published an obituary that they had prepared in advance, and after giving Ava the shock of her life, she confirmed – in person – that Deborah was indeed still alive and kicking. And Deborah was mad: she wanted to head straight back to America to ensure that her legacy wasn’t the “demise of the late night TV”, as she vowed: “I’m no quitter. We have some rewriting to do.”
Downs hinted to Deadline where the next series could head to: “A lot of our season 5 is going to be about [Deborah] sort of reinventing herself and rewriting her legacy after she’s been blamed for the death of late-night.”
As for Deborah’s on-again, off-again affair with Marty, Smart told Deadline: “I don’t know if she’ll get back with Marty. He’s supposed to get married to somebody.”
Hacks: spin-offs
(Image credit: HBO)
Downs has hinted that there may be a spin off from Hacks, and a series that would focus on Kayla. Speaking with Deadline, he said: “We’re asked that a lot, and the truth is that we have so many funny scenes for Jimmy and Kayla that don’t end up in the show, and we’re like, “Well, that’s going to be for a different show.”…There’s certainly a lot of material there, and it would be a lot of fun. I think we would absolutely be open to it, but we haven’t been asked to do it. So, you know.”
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Laura Martin
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Freelance Writer
Laura Martin is an entertainment journalist who covers TV, film, and music. She’s written for numerous big publications, including TechRadar, Esquire, BBC Culture, The Guardian, and The i newspaper. Her favourite stories usually involve prestige TV drama, reality TV, or true-life documentaries. Basically, the more obscure, the better!
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