‘Hacks' star and co-creator Paul W. Downs talks Season 4's ‘surreal' cameos

CNN

01-06-2025

As the fourth season of 'Hacks' came to a wild end this week, one thing that really stood out was the show's impressive list of public personalities appearing as themselves over the season.
From Jimmy Kimmel to Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen, the only other current comedy to rival the collection of cameos on HBO Max's 'Hacks' is Rogen's 'The Studio,' Apple TV's similarly industry-centric satirical show that features Hollywood heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard playing themselves in hilarious turns.
'Hacks' co-creator Paul W. Downs – who also figures in the regular cast as frazzled agent Jimmy LuSaque – focused in on one particular appearance from this season, that of Carol Burnett, calling it 'surreal' in a recent interview via email with CNN.
'When we conceived of 'Hacks' it was to tell the story of female comedians who had paved the way for the generations that followed them,' Downs said of his show, which follows fictional comedian Deborah Vance (played by Jean Smart) and her writer/protégée Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) as Vance vies to become to the first female host of a network late-night show.
'Carol is that for all of us,' he added. 'And we shot at Television City (in Los Angeles) steps away from the sound stage where 'The Carol Burnett Show' was filmed. It was such a full circle moment for all of us.'
Downs – who counts 'Broad City,' which featured some fantastic cameos (here's looking at you, Kelly Ripa), among his earlier credits – pointed to surprise appearances in shows from years past as inspiration, like Harpo Marx in 'I Love Lucy.'
'With Deborah Vance finally getting her late night show, actors and musicians would inevitably be a part of that journey, but we tried to be selective and only employ them when the story demanded it,' he said.
'Like when Deborah experiences stage fright for the first time in her long career it was an opportunity for her to get some wisdom from someone she would look up to, and there was no one better than Carol Burnett,' Downs explained. 'And featuring Rosie O'Donnell at a moment when Deborah needed some perspective on what life would be like after her show was very special for us.'
Downs said securing the cameos took some effort, such as Randy Newman, who appeared as himself in Episode 4 as one of Vance's first musical guests.
'(He) doesn't play as much as he once did and 'I Love LA' is one of his more demanding songs to play, but we're so glad he got on board,' he said.
Rogen, who co-created and stars in 'The Studio,' also referenced the inherent challenges of getting major stars to play themselves on his show, even briefly.
'It was a combination of (calling in) favors and people that we've never met before that I'm amazed came and did this, honestly,' he said on a recent episode of the Hollywood-focused podcast 'The Town' – whose host, Matt Belloni, funnily enough, also made a cameo as himself on the show.
'One of the hardest things was just conceptually, making these people understand what we were trying to do, and to sign onto it,' Rogen said on the podcast.
He and his producing partner Evan Goldberg discussed how several of the stars they courted to appear as versions themselves on 'The Studio' – Zoë Kravitz, Charlize Theron and Zac Efron, to name only a few – wanted to know 'what their joke was,' and if it was something they found funny, they agreed to do it.
In a very meta-moment, the creators and stars of 'Hacks' also made cameos this season on 'The Studio.' Both shows have been renewed for new seasons. Rogen's future cameo wishlist includes Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.
Season 1 of 'The Studio' is now streaming on Apple TV+. Seasons 1 through 4 of 'Hacks' stream on HBO Max, which like CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.