Season 4 of Hacks delves into the chaotic off-camera happenings involved in creating late-night comedy shows in 2025. The latest episode, “Clickable Face,” explores the pressure of securing top-tier talent that can resonate with specific target audiences. Deborah Vance, the relentless comedian played by Jean Smart, faces criticism from a focus group who deems her as unrelatable. Determined to win over a broader demographic, Deborah resorts to questionable tactics to secure a highly popular guest, inadvertently sparking a rivalry with real-life late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
**Spoilers for Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 “Clickable Face,” now streaming on MAX**
Upon discovering that her appeal is lacking with women aged 25 to 45, Deborah sets her sights on landing a guest who can bridge this gap in her viewership. Jimmy suggests enlisting the help of Kristen Bell, a beloved star, for a potential ratings boost. The catch? Bell is already scheduled to appear on Kimmel’s show, revealing a personal connection between the two.
Despite the obstacle, Deborah embarks on a quest to track down Bell in Larchmont in a humorous attempt to persuade her to make an appearance on her show. Confronting the actress in a local grocery store, Deborah employs guilt tactics to secure Bell as a guest promptly. However, a complication arises—Bell is already committed to Kimmel’s show.
The next day, Jimmy Kimmel is literally waiting for Deborah at her parking spot, ready to push into her personal space and shake her down. “KB’s not doing your show,” he says bluntly, referring to Bell. “Everyone knows that when she’s got a new project, that she does my show first. I got full custody when Conan died.”
Kimmel goes on to make fun of other late night hosts like Fallon and Cordon, all while alluding to the work he’s done to secure bookings in the cutthroat world of late night talent booking. It’s a more sinister side to the late night host and one that Jean Smart revealed wasn’t (initially) true to life.
“Hilarious! Hilarious!” Smart exclaimed when DECIDER asked her about the scene. “And he was so sweet!”
“When we first started the scene, he kept apologizing to everybody. He said, ‘You know, just please be patient. Please be kind. I don’t normally do this.’” And he was really nervous,” she added.
However, as the day went on, Kimmel became more comfortable with his part on Hacks.
“By the end of the scene, he was like padding his part and adding lines,” Smart said. “It was like, ‘We’ve created a monster.’“
“I love it,“ Hacks co-star Hannah Einbinder chimed in.
“He was a riot. He was so much fun,” Smart said.
Smart also revealed she had one slight regret about the whole situation. DECIDER spoke to her and Einbinder weeks before Hacks Season 4’s April premiere date and Kimmel’s cameo was still a tightly kept secret.
“I’m going to do his show April 9th and I wish we could show a clip of that scene, but we can’t because it won’t have aired yet,” Smart said. “I really wish we could.”
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