Hacks
Number One Fan
TV Flash files “Number One Fan” as hour 39 of 47 in the TV Flash guide — Hacks (2021–) on Max, season 5, episode 2, aired 2026-04-16, 32 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E02: listed hour 39 of 47 in the Hacks guide, hour 2 of 10 in season 5. It aired 2026-04-16 (32 min). The listed hour before it is “EGOT” (S05E01). Next is “No New Tricks” (S05E03).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Deborah rallies her fanbase to help secure Madison Square Garden for her next stand-up show. Meanwhile, Jimmy pitches an idol, and Ava meets a fan.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Number One Fan sit in the Hacks guide?
S05E02 is listed hour 39 of 47 — hour 2 of 10 in season 5, season 5 episode 2.
When did Hacks S05E02 air?
Number One Fan aired 2026-04-16 and is listed at 32 minutes.
Where should I start?
Season one, when Deborah hires Ava. The mentor-monster bond is the engine; later seasons deepen it through industry upheavals rather than replacing the pair.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch Jean Smart's career-redefining comic monster opposite Hannah Einbinder in Max's flagship showbiz satire. A legendary Vegas comic hires a canceled young writer; punchlines are the love language. Best when you want Hollywood half-hours with teeth and a writing staff that knows the mic.
Fading Vegas comedy icon Deborah Vance hires canceled young writer Ava, and suddenly the old network night has a new two-hander: punchlines as love language, knives out, mutual reinvention. Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky's Max series premiered May 13, 2021, and Jean Smart's late-career supremacy became inseparable from Deborah. Hannah Einbinder matches her. Carl Clemons-Hopkins orbits the workplace. Showbiz cruelty is the office; respect is the long game. On the palate: cigarette haze and perfect…
Filed against
- Jean Smart as Deborah Vance
Jean Smart’s Charlene Frazier gave Designing Women its sugared drawl, then Watchmen, Hacks, and Mare of Easttown proved the 1980s catalog comic had a second, third, and fourth act. TV Flash files her as the long game: Atlanta living-room…
- Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels
Hannah Einbinder's Ava Daniels is the canceled young writer across from Jean Smart's comic monster on Hacks — Max flagship showbiz satire, punchlines as a love language, Vegas legend hiring the intern the industry already tried to throw…
- Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus
Carl Clemons-Hopkins plays Marcus on Hacks — the staff-room pulse around Jean Smart's career-redefining comic monster and Hannah Einbinder's canceled young writer. Punchlines as a love language, Vegas as a workplace, Hollywood half-hours…