“Hacks” Gave Us an Odd Couple for the Ages Over five stellar seasons, Jean Smart’s and Hannah Einbinder’s characters became unlikely artistic soul mates, whose brilliance grew out of their creative friction.

One of the joys of “Hacks” is its meta-narrative: just as Deborah reached a late-career high within the show, so did Smart, after decades in television, enjoy a multi-Emmy-winning victory lap. The same goes for Einbinder, who, like Ava, has established herself as a politically outspoken, incisive comedic voice. (Look out for her upcoming star turn in Jane Schoenbrun’s queer slasher film, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.”) Then there’s the show’s second-banana duo, the talent managers Jimmy and Kayla, played by Downs and Meg Stalter. Like his character, Downs was the show’s straight man (though Jimmy’s sexuality is left curiously ambiguous) and a behind-the-scenes player, while Kayla’s rise from inept assistant to business partner mirrored Stalter’s ascendance from TikTok comedian to blowsy, off-kilter character actress. (Stalter was less assured as the romantic lead of Lena Dunham’s series “Too Much,” but her obnoxious-halfwit persona was put to perfect use on “Hacks,” her first professional acting job.) “Hacks” filled out its cast with a crackerjack ensemble, from Carl Clemons-Hopkins, as Deborah’s gay consigliere, to Lauren Weedman, as the chaotic mayor of Las Vegas.

But the show wouldn’t have worked without Smart, who imbued Deborah with wisdom and weariness, grit and glamour. In a standout scene from Season 1, Deborah offers a sexist m.c. at a comedy club $1.69 million if he agrees never to set foot on a stage again. “I can’t get rid of ’em all,” she tells the stunned crowd, with the fatigue of a lifetime spent fending off douchebags, “but I can get rid of one.” The guy shakes on it, and she crows, “Now get the fuck off my stage.” Smart, who sta