The series finale of Hacks is about to leave a Deborah Vance-sized hole in our hearts, with the upcoming 10th episode of season five marking the comedy show’s last-ever outing.
While Deborah (played by Jean Smart), Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and the rest of the absurd-yet-loveable gang will be sorely missed on TV screens, there’s thankfully no shortage of other Hacks-coded comedies for us to choose from.
It’s now been five years since Hacks premiered to Emmy-winning acclaim, and having followed Deborah and her gaggle of employees through the highs and lows of her comedy career, now feels like the right time to bid these characters farewell.
But what should we welcome in its absence? Read on for six TV shows to watch if you want to scratch that Hacks itch.
1. Broad City
Broad City might not be an immediately clear Hacks comparison, but when you learn that the beloved sitcom was produced, co-written and co-directed by Paul W. Downs — who co-created and stars in Hacks as Jimmy LuSaque — the similarities actually feel endless.
Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Illana (Illana Glazer) feel like mish-mashes of both Ava and Kayla (Meg Stalter) from Hacks, and their hilarious quirks would easily fit in with Deborah’s truly outlandish entourage.
Broad City follows 20-somethings Abbi and Illana as they navigate work, romance, and their friendship in New York City — with plenty of hilarious misadventures along the way. In my brain, everyone has already seen this show (I thought it was required reading?) but if you haven’t, know that it’s the kind of show that will make you feel ok about not having your sh**t together.
You can watch Broad City on Stan.
2. Veep
A high-powered woman with an acid tongue who is navigating public life with friends who are also on her payroll? That’s a bio that fits both Deborah Vance and Selina Meyer — the fictional vice president played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in HBO’s universally-acclaimed Veep.
Veep is slightly more profane than Hacks (like, some Pulitzer Prize-worthy insults) but both shows offer a close look at a slightly cruel famous woman you can’t help but root for because she is routinely beaten down by the powers that be.
Selina Meyer tries (and often fails) to climb the ranks of US politics across seven side-splittingly funny seasons of Veep. You can watch it on HBO Max.
3. Killing Eve
If the twisted mentorship between Hacks’ Deborah and Ava is more your bag, try Killing Eve. It stars Sandra Oh (which is reason enough to watch) as a spy tasked with investigating an elusive assassin known as Villanelle (Jodie Comer). I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say there’s not a tonne of “investigating” going on when the pair interact.
Killing Eve is deeply sapphic, which a bucketload of Deborah-Ava TikTok edits (and Ava’s own sex dreams) will agree is also true of Hacks. You can watch Killing Eve on Stan.
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4. Fleabag
Hacks stands out because it blends comedy with intensely dramatic and sometimes downright dark emotional beats — something Phoebe Waller Bridge’s Fleabag also managed to pull off.
Granted, Fleabag — which follows Bridge’s character as she heals from a personal tragedy — is far sadder than Hacks, so be wary of that if you want more feel-good fare. But both shows balance some truly outrageous zingers (“I look like a pencil”) with plenty of emotional gut punches.
If you loved Hacks because it made you laugh and cry, Fleabag is the fix. You can watch it on Amazon Prime, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
5. The Comeback
The Comeback stars Lisa Kudrow (again, reason enough to watch) as a veteran sitcom actress clawing her way back to relevance after a career hiatus. That logline is true of Deborah’s trajectory in Hacks, and in some extended universe, I’m almost certain Valarie Cherish and Deborah Vance run into each other at parties.
There’s plenty of satirical takedowns of Hollywood and the price of fame in both The Comeback and Hacks, to the point where I’m now wondering why the TV gods haven’t blessed us with an actual crossover of these two legends? I Hollywood loves a reboot?
You can watch The Comeback on HBO Max.
6. The Other Two
If you’re more interested in the Hacks characters flailing within the orbit of Deborah’s celebrity (Kaitlin Olson’s DJ is a personal fave), then The Other Two will fill the spot. It follows two siblings living in the shadow of their teenage brother, who becomes an exceedingly famous internet star overnight.
The Other Two only ran for three seasons (criminal!), but like Hacks, it finds the hilarity and absurdity in what it means to be a celebrity. You can watch it on HBO Max.
7. The Studio
Part of the fun of Hacks is that it feels like we get a BTS look at how Hollywood operates, from the backstage of late-night talk shows, to writers rooms and life on a tour van. If this peek behind the curtain is what you’re after, The Studio offers it in spades.
It stars Seth Rogen as the head of a movie studio who juggles commercial demands with creative ambitions. The Studio makes us feel the magic of movie-making, but it also pokes fun at Hollywood quirks like actors ‘going method’, execs only wanting existing IP (ahem, Marvel) and everything in between.
You can watch The Studio on Apple TV.
So, while it truly distresses me to imagine a Hacks-less world, at least we have a bunch of other equally great shows to numb the pain. Happy binging, folks!
Lead images: HBO Max
