Hacks is an American comedy-drama television series created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky that premiered on May 13, 2021, on HBO Max. Starring Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder and Carl Clemons-Hopkins, the show centers on the professional relationship between a young comedian and his personal assistant. The show follows the everyday life of Franklin Haskins (Carl), who is struggling with a stagnating career in which he has been working for years without much success also what are hacks season 2 spoilers.
1. Bojack Horseman
HACKS was originally created by the creative team behind BoJack Horseman, and it is not surprising, as there are striking similarities. Both shows center on the life of a struggling comedian (although, technically, BoJack Horseman’s sitcom isn’t all that good). HACKS even borrows some of the humor from BoJack. And both shows feature a somewhat jaded writer-assistant who handles admin work for their famous boss. Of course, where HACKS differs from BoJack is that while in the latter case we get to see what happens behind closed doors and in between jokes on set, HACKS depicts a comic struggling to find his voice in an unforgiving industry.
2. BoJack Horseman HACKS was originally created by the creative team behind BoJack
Horseman, and it is not surprising, as there are striking similarities. Both shows center on the life of a struggling comedian (although, technically, BoJack Horseman’s sitcom isn’t all that good). HACKS even borrows some of the humor from BoJack. And both shows feature a somewhat jaded writer-assistant who handles admin work for their famous boss. Of course, where HACKS differs from BoJack is that while in the latter case we get to see what happens behind closed doors and in between jokes on set, Hacks depicts a comic struggling to find his voice in an unforgiving industry.
3. Mrs. Maisel
Like Mrs. Maisel, HACKS also takes place in a New York comedy club, where its main character is trying to make it big. Four seasons of Mrs. Maisel later, his girlfriend gets pregnant and he’s stuck at home with the child while she’s away on tour or performing at her regular job as a waitress—and if he’s lucky enough, he will get to drive the carpool to school and do a few small gigs in between. In HACKS, however, the boyfriend isn’t a Jew but an African-American comedian named Franklin who lives in Harlem and gets around New York by foot or bus rather than subway. [Coincidentally, the creator of HACKS, Lucia Aniello, is an African-American.] And while the girlfriend in Mrs. Maisel gets to go on tour and head out to California, Franklin must stay with his mother in Harlem and take care of his kid.
The same themes can be found in HACKS. Like BoJack Horseman, Franklin struggles with alcoholism and has a difficult relationship with his mother. [Hey, it’s interesting how these stories have been spun so that the working mother has to leave her child behind for long periods of time or even permanently.] But unlike BoJack or Mrs. Maisel, the mother in Hacks never leaves the child with the father. Instead, a wannabe-comedian named Alicia (played by Jean Smart) replaces his mother in his life. And not just to babysit or clean up after him; Franklin has to pay her for her services as a maid and personal assistant!
4. Oh, Hello
While Hacks is by no means a complete copy of Oh, Hello, it too borrows heavily from the same source material. A lot of episodes are even named after quotes from the show in which people close to an archnemesis of the main character turn out to be its biggest fans! In Hacks we see Alicia use this as a tool as she tells Franklin that his mother is far more amused with her than she lets on. She also nicknames him “Green Bean.” In Oh, Hello, Eli (played by Bill Pullman) is manipulated into believing that his wife really likes the new head chef.
5. Mr. Robot (USA)
Another one of Hacks’ many references to its predecessor is that one of the characters—a cop—is called “Hector.” And he too has his own little sidekick, a coin-operated device called “Alex.” Mr. Elliot works with a group of “partners’ ‘ as he hacks and creates computer viruses in an attempt to bring down the Evil Corp. Although Hector in Hacks and Alex in Mr. Robots dont work together, they are both the sons of famous cops who have succeeded their father’s work: Hector isn’t only a police officer but a former FBI agent and hacker; Alex isn’t only a policeman but also the son of a hacktivist .
6. Difficult People
One of the other Hacks characters that happens to share a name with a character in Difficult People is Dina, who at one point says “Nope. Not happening.” And if you’re wondering what she means when she says this, well, she’s only referring to her job as Franklin’s assistant. In both shows the main characters are struggling in the same career, or studying the same subject (waiting tables and earning money for tuition) .
