Hacks Season 4 will take place just 20 minutes after the shocking Season 3 finale as showrunners were ‘shocked’ by surprise Emmy win

Just days after Hacks surprisingly won the award for Best Comedy Series, beating out FX’s The Bear, the showrunners are already revealing new details about Season 4.

Max’s hit comedy series was nominated for 16 Primetime Emmys, winning three: Outstanding Screenplay for a Comedy Series (Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Jean Smart) and the shocking win for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Showrunners/creators Aniello, Downs and Statsky were in the Emmys press room following the win, where Aniello revealed new details about Season 4. The Wrap.

“I think the only thing I can legally say is that we pick up about 20 minutes from where we left off,” Aniello said.

The season 3 finale was a real surprise: Deborah Vance (Smart) finally got her own talk show, something she had been wanting since the beginning of the series.

Showrunners/creators Aniello (center), Downs (right) and Statsky (left) were in the Emmys press room following the win, where Aniello gave The Wrap new details about Season 4

However, she made the shocking decision to reject her protégé Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and cut her from the role of head writer on the series, despite having promised her that role.

Ava blackmails Deborah, threatening to reveal that she slept with TV executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) to get her new show.

Aniello added about the main characters ahead of Season 4: “The tension is still high and there’s still a lot to explore.”

Production on Season 4 is expected to begin later this month, with a May 2025 release date.

While FX’s The Bear won the most comedy awards, breaking its own record of 10 Emmys by winning 11 this year, it didn’t win Best Comedy Series. Hacks surprised everyone else by beating out The Bear.

Even showrunners didn’t see it coming. Statsky told the Emmys press room on Sunday that “we were really shocked.”

“We were really, really surprised. We’re blown away,” Statsky added in the press room.

‘The TV Academy has always been so nice to us… but [comedy] “We’ve never won this series before and it was such a massive shock and we’re so grateful for it,” she added.

However, she made the shocking decision to reject her protégé Ava (Hannah Einbinder), effectively eliminating her from the role as head writer of the show, despite promising it to her.

Aniello added about the main characters heading into Season 4: “The excitement is still high and there’s still a lot to explore.”

Ava retaliates by blackmailing Deborah, threatening to reveal that she slept with TV executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) to get her new show.

Aniello added about the main characters heading into Season 4: “The excitement is still high and there’s still a lot to explore.”

Hacks was nominated for Best Comedy Series for all three seasons, but lost to Apple TV Plus’ Ted Lasso for its first two seasons.

Hacks season 3 debuts in 2024 after a two-year hiatus, with The Bear winning Best Comedy Series for its first season last year. A repeat is expected to air this year.

When asked what was different about this season, co-creator/showrunner/star Paul W. Downs said the writing team wanted to “surprise each other” this season.

‘In a third season we can really dig deeper into what we’re doing with all the characters, and I think that’s exemplified by Jean’s performances [Smart] and Hannah Einbinder make this season, and our entire cast,” Downs said.

He added that the writers are “blessed with such an incredible cast that elevates every word on the page.”