Creators of “hacks” on the strange similarity between season 4, the ax of the end of the show

Talk about being premonitory.

Before CBS announced that they were pulling the plug The Late Show with Stephen ColbertHBO season 4 Hacks Already dealt with a similar situation in which the host of the late evening show by protagonist Deborah Vance has become fiercely of network brass on the expression of freedom of humor – a fight that makes the intelligent character in jeans turn.

One of the rumors is that CBS has ax The late show Due to its inclined humor against Potus (the network affirms that it was a lack of profitability at the end of the evening) and to appease the administration in its recent blessing of the fusion of Skydance-Paramount.

However, there is something more soothing Hacks Season 4 with regard not only his comments on the night, but also the state of comedy as a whole. We are talking with Hacks The co-creators Paul W. Downs and Jen Stattsky about all of this in the today’s episode of the Deadline’s Crew Call podcast.

Downs, taking a quick break in the Salle of Writers of season 5, says: “We were shaken by the news of the cancellation of Stephen Colbert because, it is literally the same circumstances in which Deborah chooses to leave his program.”

“It was a kind of crazy thing to have this. Almost witch, that it happened just after that. I mean, literally as three months after the broadcast of the episode,” he continues.

The current state of comedy entertainment is to see the best time and the worst times. At one end, stand-ups see Boom Times thanks to social media, but sketches’ artists and comedy players have trouble launching shows while the banners pinch in cents. This is frustrating since the format has always been expensive. However, banners have an obsession with efficiency on the cost ratio compared to the hearing.

Said Downs: “I don’t think it’s more difficult to comedy (nowadays) because of culture or climate. Why is it more difficult to do comedy now, it is that there is no central comedy. And now with the cancellation of The late showWho for many writers is where they get their first job; And for many standeps, it is a place where they get their first break and they are seen for the first time. Institutions like this are moving away and the Central Comedy Originals disappears – which is why it is difficult to make comedy. And that’s exactly what we are dealing with in (the episode) “a slippery slope”. »»

“It is more difficult to comedy because, you know, people, the business have changed so much, and now it is not enough to make a little profit,” adds Downs.

“With technology, with streaming, with public companies that have stocks of equity to be feared, I think that now it is not enough to make profits.”

“But especially in comedy, it’s really scary. We hear the anecdotal things of our writers all the time of which the agents say:” You know, perhaps you should write a dramatic script. “So I think it’s more difficult to comedy because of the market and because people are afraid of taking risks.

“Deborah actually takes care of that in his monologue. She says there are good people on the commercial side. When she gets it, it’s a business. But she leaves the show because she believes that we do not need to move to business as usual. And like her businesses to shake, she believes in the fight for a business that works for executives and artists. ”

We also discuss with Statsky and Downs about the future of Hacks Returning to shoot in Altadena who was hit by fires (and saw the loss of the manor where Vance lives), as well as their next show Kansas City Star With Kaley Cuoco.

Hacks Account nine Emmy wins, including a surprise prize last year for the exceptional comedy series. Hacks is in place for 14 Emmy nominations for season 4, including the comedy series; The staging of Lucia Aniello on “A Slippery Slope” in the series of comedy series; And Aniello, Downs and Statsky’s Comedy Series writing for this episode.

Listen to our conversation below: