Hacks gets a season 3 after fears the series had taken its final bow

Deborah Vance is getting the last laugh.

Hacks has been called back to perform another set after the showrunners of the Emmy-winning series shared their uncertainty over its fate at HBO.

The comedy stars Jean Smart as a fading Las Vegas comedian, Deborah Vance, who is forced to team up with a disgraced writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder), to punch up her jokes in a fight to stay relevant in an industry that devalues women, particularly those of a certain age.

Season 2, which concluded its run with a neatly tied-up finale earlier this month, followed the pair and Deborah's colorful entourage as they left Sin City behind and embarked on a cross-country tour.

Despite its thunderous critical acclaim and its growing status as a fan favorite, the fate of Hacks was murky, with the satisfying season 2 finale feeling alarmingly… final. Paul W. Downs — who cowrote the series with creator (and his real-life partner) Lucia Aniello and who portrays Deborah and Ava's manager Jimmy — revealed the show's up-in-the-air season closer was motivated by the story possibly coming to an early end.

"We wanted to feel like there was resolution and it was really satisfying," Downs told EW. "And I think when you feel really satisfied at the end, it can often feel like something final. But Lucia said this, so I'm going to steal her quote. We feel like this is only the second chapter in a larger story that we want to tell. And when we pitched the show, we actually pitched where the series would end, which is not what you saw in episode 8 of season 2."

Aniello added that while it was unclear if she and the writers would have the chance to share the full story they set out to tell, they were enjoying the process of plotting the next chapter.

Until we get that next chapter, you can stream Hacks on HBO Max.

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