Latest news with #ClickableFace
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Conan O'Brien says watching 'Hacks' tackle late night TV gives him PTSD: 'I'm kind of reliving it'
Hacks is bringing TV veteran Conan O'Brien back to the trenches of his late night era. In the latest episode of SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, the comedian and former late night host welcomed Hacks co-creator Paul W. Downs to chat about stand-up diva Deborah Vance's (Jean Smart) big return to the late night circuit on the latest season of the HBO hit. O'Brien admitted that he's experienced PTSD from watching the storyline unfold given his own history with late night. "The show delves into late night this year, which was fascinating for me because there are things that you cite in the show that I've lived through," O'Brien said. "And so I'll get a little bit of PTSD from watching it, but it's also really funny and apt. Like getting notes or, 'This is what we heard about,' you know, in the early days of my late night show research, and what are people saying and what do we need to try and adjust?" "It was all stuff that just felt impossible," he recounted of that period. "I'm kind of reliving it a little bit through your show, but you guys are doing a very good job of hitting a bunch of the nerves, which means you're getting it right." O'Brien made his late night debut with Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1993, taking over David Letterman's post and holding it down until 2009. That led to his infamous and short-lived tenure on The Tonight Show, which was followed by the 2010 cult favorite Conan on TBS, which ran for 11 seasons up until 2021. Downs called writing a show about making a late night show "so stressful and hard," noting, "I didn't do five shows a week and have to do monologue jokes. And yet, viscerally, I felt the pressure of that."Naturally, O'Brien has been namedropped in the show. Jimmy Kimmel, playing a version of himself, confronts Smart's Deborah Vance in episode 5, "Clickable Face," after she poaches Kristen Bell to be a guest on her show. An angry Kimmel informs her that he's been entitled to "custody" of Bell since "Conan died." O'Brien told Downs that the scene "killed" him. "It's a very funny joke and nonsensical," he said. "What I loved about it is that it's said [and] no one questions it," he said, "It's just like . . . I get her after Conan died. And it's just like, that's understood. And I'm laughing because no one questions it." (Don't fret: co-creator Lucia Aniello has already assured that O'Brien is not dead in the Hacks universe, leaving the door open for a potential future cameo.) "We definitely want you on the show," Downs reiterated to O'Brien on the podcast, also sharing that Kimmel improvised the line in question. "I did not write that line." "Let me write that down," O'Brien quipped. "He will be repaid in kind." Watch the rest of Downs' conversation with O'Brien above. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Hacks' Pits Jimmy Kimmel vs. Deborah Vance in a 'Hilarious' Battle Over Kristen Bell: 'He Was a Riot!'
Hacks Season 4 has been all about the bonkers behind-the-scenes drama that goes into making late night comedy in 2025. This week, in Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' the MAX hit tackles the stress of nabbing top tier talent that can appeal to, ahem, target demographics. After a focus group decides that Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) isn't relatable enough for their liking, the ruthless comic resorts to underhanded tactics to nab a super popular guest. The one problem? In doing so, she starts a turf war with none other than real life late night host Jimmy Kimmel. **Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' now streaming on MAX** Early in Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' Deborah Vance learns that women between the ages of 25 and 45 do not like her, per the aforementioned focus group, she decides that she absolutely needs to have a guest who does appeal to that demo. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) floats the idea that popular star Kristen Bell could appear on the show for a much-needed ratings bump. The problem? Bell is already committed to appear on Kimmel. 'They vacation together,' Jimmy says. Undeterred, Deborah goes on a mission to the cute LA enclave of Larchmont to literally stalk Bell in her local grocery store. There, she confronts the real life star of Nobody Wants This (and a fictional live action Tinkerbell) to guilt the actress into appearing on her show ASAP. Bell obliges, but there's a problem. It's Kimmel. 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.'
