‘Hacks’ Fits Perfectly Into This Moment Of Reevaluating Women Who've Been Misunderstood

Jean Smart’s character in the HBO Max series channels many real-life, unfairly maligned women.

One of legendary comedian Deborah Vance’s most famous jokes is about how she burned down her ex-husband Frank’s house after he cheated on her with her younger sister.  Except the premise of the joke never happened, as Jean Smart’s character eventually reveals to her writing assistant Ava (Hannah Einbinder) in Episode 6 of HBO Max’s “Hacks.” As Deborah explains: “It was a fucking dryer fire.” “Why didn’t you say something?” Ava asks.