Latest news with #Hacks'
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
An off-putting season of ‘Hacks' just opened the door in the Emmy race
'Hacks' won the comedy series Emmy last year on the strength of a campaign that proclaimed: Vote for us! We're actually a comedy (unlike, you know, 'The Bear'). So what happens this year when the show stopped being funny? I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. There's not much to laugh about these days, so let's pick our spots and consider the TV series vying for television's top award. Let me just say at the outset that I enjoy 'Hacks.' And like everyone else on the planet, I adore Jean Smart and appreciate that Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky created a role worthy of her talents. Comparing notes with Smart on the best sad sing-along songs is a memory I'll always treasure, and even inspired me for a time to dip back into listening to 'love songs on the Coast.' At its essence, 'Hacks' is a love story between Smart's stand-up legend Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), the young writer who helped Deborah reinvent her career. They come from different generations and possess distinct comic sensibilities. They fight, hurt each other, separate and ultimately reunite after realizing that they're better together. They get each other. Or at least, Ava gets Deborah. And that's enough because Deborah is the star and she doesn't really need to bother understanding Ava's Gen Z peculiarities. She can just roll her eyes. Their mutual dependence is believable enough. They both live for work. So much so that at the end of 'Hacks'' third season, Ava has blackmailed Deborah, an act that lands her the head writer job that Deborah had promised to give her on her late-night talk show. Ava was but the learner, now she's the master. Well played, Dark Lady of the Sith. It was, as our old friend Jeff Probst would say, an epic blindside, and you can understand why this current season would begin with bitter acrimony between the two women, a situation so toxic that the network brought in a human resources rep to keep them from harming each other. The animosity wasn't fun to watch. The tone was shrill and off-putting. Was there a joke that landed in the season's first half? I don't remember one, but maybe that's because I was curled up in a fetal position watching the plot unfold. At least amid the drama of 'The Bear,' I could get some some inspiration for a good set of kitchen knives. Of course, Deborah and Ava got back together, which was a relief because that HR lady was annoying. The season's penultimate episode was ridiculous, but in all the best ways, surprising and emotionally satisfying. Helen Hunt finally scored a big moment. And Julianne Nicholson showed some moves as Dance Mom that I never imagined her possessing. Get that character to rehab and into Season 5. Yes, 'Hacks' can still entertain. Even the anticlimactic final episode gave Smart the opportunity to play boozy and bored, showcasing her depth as a dramatic actor. One would think that after what transpired, Deborah would have more opportunities, even with a noncompete clause, to parlay her ethical stance into something more meaningful than a sad casino gig in Singapore. But the finale set up one final comeback — final because 'Hacks' was pitched with a five-season arc. And we're on the doorstep. At least they won't have to contrive to separate Ava and Deborah again. So, by all means, nominate 'Hacks' for comedy series again. I'd rather rewatch it than nod off during the tepid 'Four Seasons.' And maybe since the show's creators have known (since 2015) what the final scene will be, we'll have a persuasive fifth season possessing the energy of a great Deborah Vance comeback. In the meantime, keep last year's mandate going and give the Emmy to a show that was consistently funny. Give the Emmy to 'The Studio.'
USA Today
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Call Me Izzy' review: Jean Smart transcends a middling Broadway play
'Call Me Izzy' review: Jean Smart transcends a middling Broadway play Show Caption Hide Caption Hack's co-stars talk off camera relationship 'Hacks' co-stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder reveal to USA TODAY what their relationship is like in real life. NEW YORK — It's impossible to ever truly upstage Jean Smart, the incomparable 'Hacks' star and six-time Emmy winner. But boy, does a toilet try. For 85 fitfully moving minutes, a porcelain throne is the shag-covered centerpiece of 'Call Me Izzy,' an uneven new Broadway play that opened June 12 at Studio 54. Dramaturgically, it makes a wee bit of sense: Our heroine, Isabelle Scutley (Smart), is trapped in a low-income Louisiana trailer park with her abusive husband, Ferd. Their teensy bathroom is her only refuge where she can safely scrawl her poetry, which she does – surreptitiously and often – on rolls of bath tissue. But aesthetically, surely there must've been better ways to convey Isabelle's dire straits than plopping a potty centerstage. It's one of the myriad jarring choices that distract from Smart's otherwise beautiful leading turn, telling a conventional but necessary story of a woman's late-in-life liberation. Written by Louisiana native Jamie Wax, the one-person show begins with what could be a spoof of an awards-bait prestige drama. Smart, donning an unkempt wig and terrycloth robe, stands alone in Isabelle's bathroom as she wistfully names the shades of her toilet bowl cleaner: 'Blue … azure … sapphire … swirlin' cerulean … lapis lazuli.' The intent well may be to give us a peek into Isabelle's creative mind, and the heartening ways that she finds poetry in the mundane. But the entire exercise is so perplexingly self-serious, and only becomes sillier when Isabelle squats in her latrine to recount her life story. Much of the play's first half unfolds in similarly obvious fashion, as Isabelle secretly enrolls in a creative writing class and wins a fellowship that could be her bus ticket to a new life. It's hardly a surprise when Isabelle tells the audience conspiratorially that she's started an affair with her professor. But Smart, with her mischievous glint and bone-dry delivery, manages to wring laughs from even the most groan-worthy one-liners. ('He is surprisingly passionate and so polite. I keep expecting him to say, 'Please pass the vagina?'') Wax's writing is riddled with clichés, although he occasionally hits on something uniquely powerful or harrowing. In one crushing scene, Isabelle recalls the first time that Ferd hit her and how he wept in her arms afterward. But rather than abhorrence, she was shocked by the 'closeness' she felt to him in that moment: 'That power, that healin' after a bad episode. It's a dangerous drug.' Sarna Lapine's production never quite coalesces, from Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams' scattershot scenic design – a grab bag of lawn chairs, baskets and forest silhouettes – to the folksy underscore music that pervades nearly every dramatic revelation, courtesy of T. Bone Burnett and David Mansfield. As for Smart, she elevates the show in every sense imaginable. Returning to Broadway for the first time in 25 years, the soft-spoken actress delivers a richly textured performance that brings Isabelle to vivid life, in all her strength, humor and resourcefulness. No matter how often Ferd strikes and belittles her, Isabelle always manages to brush herself off and turn her pain into art. But eventually, his decades of mistreatment come spilling out of her, and Smart's palpable grief for a life and family lost is devastating to witness. After a mawkish beginning, the play somewhat redeems itself through earned emotions and an ambiguous ending that begs discussion. It's never wise to bet against Smart, who ultimately deserves a far better vehicle for her Main Stem comeback. But even if these powder-room reveries aren't a royal flush, 'Call Me Izzy' still has a lot in its tank. 'Call Me Izzy' is now playing at Studio 54 (254 W. 54th Street) through Aug. 17.
Metro
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Netflix fans counting down for Lena Dunham's TV return with raunchy rom-com
It has been more than a decade since HBO's Girls first hit our screens back in 2012, but fans of Lena Dunham are as excited as ever for her latest project. Titled Too Much, the Netflix show stars Hacks' Megan Stalter as Jessica, who is a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties. Reeling from a broken relationship, she decides to take a job in London to live a life of solitude. But after she arrives, she meets Felix (Will Sharpe), who seems to be a less than suitable partner. Despite this, she finds that their unusual connection is impossible to ignore. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Written and directed by Girls creator Lena, the show also has producers from the film Love Actually. The rom-com will officially launch on the streaming platform on July 10. But, Netflix has also revealed that five guest stars – Andrew Scott, Jennifer Saunders, Kit Harington, Rita Ora and Jessica Alba – will feature in the show. Taking to the YouTube comments section, many viewers shared their excitement over the latest series. @treemu.c wrote: 'We love a plus size lead, who knows what she wants💁🏻♀️ So excited for this!' @geminithetwins added: 'Wait, am I actually excited about a Hollywood rom-com?!' @RandomPersonOnEarth678 also joked: 'Emily in Pari- I mean London.' After Girls ended in 2017, it has been clear to see what a pioneering impact it has had on TV. Now, with Too Much, it feels like a natural evolution for Lena, who was likely influenced by her own experience living in the UK. Speaking at the Next on Netflix event in London earlier this year, Lena said that while of her own experiences moving to and living in the UK informed the storyline, the star of the show made the role her own. 'I'm sure many of you have fallen in love with Megan Stalter from her work as Kayla on Hacks, the not very competent, but utterly delightful assistant. 'What I love about her is she is truly an old fashioned physical comedian in the vein of, you know, Carol Burnett or Elaine May, but she has something really modern and also really sweet about her, and she can move between intense comedy and heavy drama with ease,' she explained. 'She just felt like the perfect foil to feel how Americans contrast against the people of this nation, because it didn't take very long for me to realise that while you technically speak the same language, there are some vast differences that I am still coming to understand.' More Trending The 38-year-old went on to share that while the show 'does touch on some heavy topics', it was ultimately a comedy whose goal it was to 'bring joy'. 'You can take a half hour away from your day and feel like you are part of a world that is truthful, but just a little more sweet and tender than the actual world that we live in,' she added. Following the end of Girls, Lena has appeared in shows such as American Horror Story and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. She has also directed the first season of Industry, created the comedy Camping and executive produced Genera+ion. View More » Too Much will be available to stream on Netflix on July 10. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: South Korean gangster drama hailed 'best revenge series' soars up Netflix chart MORE: WWE fans 'in tears' over beloved star's powerful transformation on Raw MORE: 'Best vampire movie in history' added to Netflix to celebrate 40th anniversary
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Joy and visibility take center stage at Critics Choice LGBTQ+ Cinema & TV celebration
Joy, pride and community were just some of the words that honorees of the Critics Choice Association's second annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema and Television called out at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles over the weekend. Actress and comedian Sherry Cola, who hosted the ceremony for the second time, told Gold Derby she was 'thrilled to be here.' More from GoldDerby Pickleball, punchlines, and personal growth: 'Hacks' stars Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs on their bond and what's next 'That feeling of having a first crush': How Zach Cherry and Merritt Wever made their 'Severance' marriage feel real Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' 'Ghosts': 'I enjoy playing characters that are desperate' 'This is a celebration of all of our victories this year and also a reminder of our resilience,' the Joy Ride star said. 'As a community, just making sure queerness is still on the screen at all times.' The event welcomed a variety of film and television stars who spanned multiple generations. Taking home the Career Achievement Award was film, TV and stand-up star Wanda Sykes, who told Gold Derby she was thrilled to see how LGBTQ+ visibility has grown in Hollywood. 'The number of people who are here tonight being honored, that just shows tremendous growth in our industry,' she said. 'This is just a beautiful thing to have, especially for Pride Month. So very excited to be here.' Shrinking star Michael Urie, who was honored with the Trailblazer Award, joked that the word 'trailblazer' made him 'feel a little bit old' but admitted he also gets it. 'When I was first on TV and when I came out, there weren't a lot of gay characters on TV and there weren't a lot of out gay actors, and there's a lot more now,' he said. 'So many that we can fill a whole night celebrating them. So I'm really proud.' 'There are still so many kids out there who are growing up in a family where they're the only one like them. They're the only queer person in their family,' Urie said. 'Television can still show, 'Hey, look, you'll find a chosen family out there.' In Shrinking, even though the show is mostly straight people, it is a show about chosen family. And that is something that is so important to the queer community.' Wanda Sykes Sasheer Zamata, who starred as queer witch Jennifer Kale on Disney+ series Agatha All Along and took home the Breakthrough Performance Award, said she was thrilled to play a superhero character who was also part of the LGBTQ+ community. 'I'm a superhero nerd myself, and so being able to provide a character and portray a character that is queer — and is also a layered character at that — feels really, really cool,' Zamata said. 'I am so thankful that there are so many people who can relate to these characters and relate to the story, and I just want to be able to tell more stories like that.' For Severance star Tramell Tillman, who was honored with the Supporting Performance Award, Drama Series, he told Gold Derby that he's been dreaming about these moments since childhood. 'I remember being 10 years old and making the decision that I wanted to be an actor and practicing my Oscar speech and my Emmy speech,' he said. 'And so the young Tramell is really, really excited.' He added that representing as an LGBTQ+ actor was an opportunity that he didn't want 'to squander or take for granted.' 'It's my hope that I'm giving justice to the community and representing well,' he said. Another first-time honoree, Rising Star Award winner Benito Skinner, who created and stars in Overcompensating, told Gold Derby that the awards attention 'feels very surreal' especially because he sat with the project for about five years. 'I've been at places and people will bring up the characters to me or something and I'm like, 'Oh f--k, it's out.' I keep forgetting,' he said. 'I feel so lucky and I'm just glad that people, I think, are excited about the show and are loving it and laughing and crying.' With his Prime Video series taking place in college, Skinner's advice for young people is that coming out should happen on their own timeline. 'I think that I judged myself for so long after I came out because I was like, 'Oh, I should have done it 20 years ago.' Like I missed out on so much of my life,' he said. 'But I think we all have our reasons, and take your time and find places where you feel safe. Find your community, and I think you'll find people that will allow you to feel comfortable to come out when it's the right time for you.' Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson said being honored by the LBGTQ+ community also felt 'surreal' but that they are 'grateful.' Having previously spoken out about gendered awards as a nonbinary actor, the other Rising Star Award recipient told Gold Derby that 'it's not lost on me that this is a position that I might not get many opportunities to be in at the moment. So I plan to make the most of it.' Comic icon Bruce Vilanch told Gold Derby he couldn't be happier to see the LGBTQ+ community growing. 'I think it's great that there's so much visibility,' he said, 'because I think that is how LGBT, WTF, LOL people get the rights that they deserve to get under the American system — by being visible.' Here's the complete list of Critics Choice Association Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema and Television Award recipients: Career Achievement Award: Wanda Sykes Groundbreaker Award: Niecy Nash-Betts (Grotesquerie) Trailblazer Award: Michael Urie (Shrinking) Industry Leadership Award: Howard Cohen and Eric d'Arbeloff, co-presidents of Roadside Attractions Comedy Award: Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) Vanguard Award: Nathan Lee Graham (Mid-Century Modern) Documentary Award: Harper Steele and Will Ferrell, along with director Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) Reality TV Award: The season 17 cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Ensemble Award: Bridget Everett, Jeff Hiller, Murray Hill, Mary Catherine Garrison & Tim Bagley (Somebody Somewhere) — Supporting Performance Award, Drama Series: Tramell Tillman (Severance) Supporting Performance Award, Comedy Series: Gideon Glick (Étoile) Breakthrough Performance Award: Megan Stalter (Hacks) Breakthrough Performance Award: Benito Skinner (Overcompensating) Rising Star Award: Sasheer Zamata (Agatha All Along) Rising Star Award: Liv Hewson (Yellowjackets) Best of GoldDerby Streamy Awards 2023: Everything to know about 13th annual event Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Slow Horses' EP Doug Urbanski on the secret to the show's success: ‘We try to make the perfect martini' and what's next in Season 5: ‘it's the most fun and most silly'
You practically need to keep a portable defibrillator next to your remote when you stream Slow Horses. The Apple TV+ series, has more twists, near deaths (and sometimes, actual deaths), and other heart-stopping moments within a single episode than other series do over the span of an entire season. But it's the everyday travails of its characters that keep them close to the audiences' heart, says star Gary Oldman. 'The appeal of the show is that we give you the world of espionage, but these are people you can relate to more than the tuxedo-clad James Bond,' Oldman told Gold Derby at an FYC event for Slow Horses at the Meryl Streep Center for Performing Arts at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation on Saturday. More from GoldDerby Pickleball, punchlines, and personal growth: 'Hacks' stars Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs on their bond and what's next 'That feeling of having a first crush': How Zach Cherry and Merritt Wever made their 'Severance' marriage feel real Joy and visibility take center stage at Critics Choice LGBTQ+ Cinema & TV celebration 'They've got their marriage problems, kid problems, they have to pay their mortgages, and go to the laundromat,' Oldman added. 'We see them do things that spies aren't normally seen doing.' Based on the Slough House novels by Mick Herron, the series, which is headed into its fifth season later this year, tells the stories of a group of disgraced British agents who try to bring down terrorists and other evil-doers under the supervision of Jackson Lamb, played by Oldman, who was joined at the event by the show's executive producer, Doug Urbanski, and cast members Rosalind Eleazar (Louisa Guy), Jonathan Pryce (David Cartwright), and Saskia Reeves (Catherine Standish). Speaking to the show's success, Goldman, a 2024 Primetime Emmy nominee Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his role, said, 'There's two criteria — the scripts, which are based on Mick Herron's novels, and the gang — the cast and the crew. To work with this group of people has been a highlight, really, of my career.' Some of those everyday-people quirks on display include Lamb's notorious bodily functions like passing gas. 'Lamb uses the flatulence, the drinking, the smoking, the sort of gruffness, the sarcasm, the insults, the bullying — all of that — as somewhat spycraft,' Oldman said. 'He has gathered this persona to keep people at a distance. 'You're not going to get close to me. You're not going to second guess me.' But, because he really has no filter and doesn't abide to social norms, he doesn't care.' Despite the life and death situations and the high stakes in the espionage world, Slow Horses manages to work in some comedic moments into the lives of the agents. In Season 4, we saw Louisa fall under the mistaken impression that River had romantic feelings for her. In reality, he was just trying to find a way to talk to her about his ailing grandfather, David. 'Every time I watch that scene, I'm like 'Oh, my God, Louisa! Look at you trying to think that!'' Eleazar said with a laugh. 'But I love their dynamic. Afterwards I thought, 'Huh. Is there something between them?' Maybe it's explored in later seasons? I don't know.' An example of how the show keeps viewers guessing was in the first episode of Season 4, titled 'Identity Theft.' David shot an intruder whom the audience believed was his grandson. For most of the episode, nearly everyone believed that River was indeed dead only for it to be revealed that he was alive. David had shot a look-alike intruder, Bertrand Harkness (Jack Lowden), River's half-brother, who had murder on his mind. 'We try and have a cliffhanger, and two stories going on,' Urbanski said. 'We try to make the perfect martini and keep the formula going.' 'River's' death serves as a reminder that Slow Horses viewers should never believe anything until they see it with their own eyes. While Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) died in the Season 4 finale, we didn't actually see his corpse on-screen, did we? Yes, the character dies in one of Herron's novels — but does that mean he's gone from the series? 'I don't believe we did see it,' Urbanski says about Marcus's corpse appearing on screen. 'That's a good question. No one comes back from the dead like a zombie [on Slow Horses], but I think one would be wise to question anything that is purported to be a death on the show. Sure.' Urbanski calls Season 5 'the most fun and the most silly season' that's been done to date. 'We called Season 1 The Bourne Identity season,' Urbanski says. 'It had that sort of energy. Season 2 was more like [the movie] Tinker Tailor Solider Spy [which Urbanski executive produced]. That was about bad guy Russians trying to kill Papa Cartwright and Jackson. Season 3 was the sort of the 'Hitchcock' and 'MacGuffin' season. They were all looking for the file. Then, in Season 4, the bad guys wanted to kill Papa Cartwright and Lamb again. 'Season 5,' Urbanski continues, 'is centered around [Roddy] Ho [played by Christopher Chung], who is sort of our least serious character.' (Watch for Ho to get a girlfriend.) 'You're going to find a shifting of gears in terms of tone for the first two or three episodes, and then, the last three episodes are actually quite cinematic,' Urbanski adds. 'You have quite a bit of fun with the chase that ensues.' Best of GoldDerby Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' 'Ghosts': 'I enjoy playing characters that are desperate' 'She's got tunnel vision': Wendi McLendon-Covey reveals what she loves most about her character Joyce on 'St. Denis Medical' Marlon Wayans on laughing through tragedy in 'Good Grief' and why social media has made comedy 'toxic' Click here to read the full article.
