‘Hacks’ star Jean Smart says making audiences laugh is the point as HBO Max prepares final-season Emmy push

HBO Max’s Hacks, in its fifth and final season, has received a large Emmy nominations package, with the series earning 24 nominations overall, including a best actress in a comedy series nomination for Jean Smart, according to NPR’s coverage published August 4, 2026.

Speaking about the end of the series, Smart said the show’s guiding goal has been to make people laugh, describing the work as something “just so fun to make people laugh.” She framed the performances and writing as efforts built around consistent audience engagement, rather than one-off comedy moments.

NPR reports that Smart also credited the show’s creative team for steadily improving the series across its run, saying the writers “raised the bar every single season.” That approach, as described in the coverage, reflects a deliberate process in which each season is designed to build on what came before, including the show’s character work and comedic timing.

Hacks, which streams on HBO Max, has reached the conclusion of its narrative arc in the fifth season. The Emmy nominations, including Smart’s lead acting bid, arrive as the industry prepares to recognize final-season series accomplishments, underscoring how the closing stretch of a long-running comedy can still generate awards momentum.

The nominations include work across the series’ creative categories, with Smart’s acting nomination specifically recognizing her role in a comedy series. The coverage does not change the underlying fact of the show’s conclusion, but it places the final season in the center of this year’s awards conversation.

With the final season now complete, the Emmy recognition means Hacks’ last installment remains part of the public conversation around television writing, comedic performance, and streaming-era comedy production, even as audiences move on to new releases from the platform.

Next steps for viewers and industry stakeholders will include following the Emmy voting and broadcast schedule, while the cast and creators continue to transition away from production on Hacks as the show’s run ends.