On Location peels back the curtain on some of your favorite films, television shows, and more.
After five seasons of antics, laughs, and tears, Hacks has arrived at its bittersweet end. The comedy-drama series depicted the life of legendary Las Vegas comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) as she formed an unlikely friendship with the much younger comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). When Ava arrived from Los Angeles to Vegas in season one, she was a reluctant resident, appalled by the conspicuous opulence. By the end of the show, which had its protagonists traveling around the country and beyond, Ava has come around to the place and to Deborah’s antics.
This final season opens with Deborah and Ava back in the United States after a disastrous slew of shows in Singapore, where Deborah was drinking heavily and falling asleep on stage. TMZ has reported Deborah’s death but to everyone’s relief she is—surprise—alive and well! In an attempt to redirect her energy after last season’s smear campaign against her career, she begins season five with the ambitious aim of achieving EGOT status. One Tejano studio recording later and she has started to change her tune.
But the entertainment holy grail—playing at Madison Square Garden—is a task she has set her sights on, which means that she and her extended talent team—Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), Kayla (Meg Stalter), and Randi (Robby Hoffman)—are all due for a trip to the Big Apple. As we say goodbye to our favorite toxic duo, the nostalgia tour takes the cast around to their usual Las Vegas and Los Angeles haunts but also across the country and beyond. Here are some of the places Hacks went for its fifth and final season:
Courtesy Warner Bros. Discovery
Though Hacks is a quintessentially Vegas show, not much of this season’s filming actually took place there; the vast majority of filming happened in and around Los Angeles. A few select scenes, however, are Vegas through and through. In the third episode, Marty (Christopher McDonald) is getting married (in a kilt!) to a shockingly age-appropriate woman at the iconic Caesars Palace. Roman pillars, palm trees, and floral arrangements abound. “So they closed the pool the night before,” Tokarz said, “And there’s a bunch of cabanas and loungers they cleared out for us. And then we spent the night installing the chairs and florals.” Over the seasons, Hacks has worked closely with the Caesars team, utilizing several of their properties, so they were excited to help execute the wedding vision.
