Hacks Season 5's premiere is right around the corner, with the first episode set to premiere on April 9, 2026. The upcoming season will be the last season of the show, and according to Jean Smart, who plays the leading character Deborah Vance, the last season will be much lighter than Season 4.Hacks Season 5 is not going to deal too much with the heavy themes that Season 4 did. The show will reportedly end on a lighter and more fun note than the show set out with.Jean Smart on Hacks Season 5 not being too darkHacks Season 5 is going to conclude the story of the legendary stand-up comedian with an aging act and her aspiring mentee comedy writer. In Season 4, we saw Deborah and Ava go through a professional rivalry, Deborah struggling with the fear that her legacy was in jeopardy, and the threat of how fleeting success in the show business is. However, Hacks Season 5 will move a bit away from all that seriousness. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIn an interview with the Boston Herald, Jean Smart spoke about the upcoming season, saying,“Because Season 4 got a little bit dark (and I think we had earned it),”She continued,“I was worried that people would hate me. But because they cared so much, they were willing to go anywhere with us, which was really wonderful. In Season 5, we get to get back to being profoundly silly, which is really, really fun.”Smart also spoke about how Hacks has added new meaning to her career at an age many don't expect something new, which is also a topic relevant to her character's arc in the show, who has been trying to reinvent herself. Smart said,“I can’t really explain it, but I’m eternally grateful for the roles I’ve had in the last decade, really. Things started to change for me when I did ‘24’ and played the First Lady. But I was never an ingenue, thank God. Because I’d be pretty miserable right now."Smart also shared something personal, saying,“Even in the high school play, I always played mom. I don’t know, if it was my height, my deep voice. Now, I do think there are more interesting roles for women who aren’t 25 years old. It used to be that if men were dominant in every movie you see it was because they only wrote stories about men." View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWhat Jean Smart said applied and somehow still applies to actresses across the globe, where women, even if they are young, are typecast to play mothers or aunts after a certain age that the industry considers 'old'. But that is slowly changing, which is making more and more people realise how women are capable of much more than they are offered. Smart continued,"Because men were the ones that were out in the world doing things. Women were not out in the world doing things, which is why everything was written about men. Pretty soon people realized that some women had actually always been out there doing things. And they started writing about women. Now they’re realizing that women can be just as three-dimensional and older women can have the same kind of lives and desires and things that women who are 30 do.”The new cast members joining Hacks Season 5 are Christopher Briney as Leslie Bibb, Cherry Jones, and Ann Dowd. The returning cast includes Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, Hannah Einbinder as Ava, Paul W. Downs as Jimmy, Megan Stalter as Kayla, Carl Clemons-Hopkins as Marcus, Rose Abdoo as Josefina, Kaitlin Olson as DJ, Christopher McDonald as Marty, and Mark Indelicato as Damien Asada Agosto.Hacks Season 5 will premiere on HBO Max on April 9, 2026. The first four seasons of the show are streaming on HBO Max.For more articles like this, follow Soap Central.