HBO Max's 47-Episode Dark Comedy Series Is So Good, You Can Rewatch Multiple Times

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Published Sep 27, 2026, 5:15 PM EDT

Mads Misasi is a part-time entertainment journalist and full-time marketing content creator. Before joining the ScreenRant team they wrote for TellTaleTV for 9 years working their way up from contributor to Associate Editor. TV has been a passion of theirs since a very young age. Mads typically watches all of the things, especially dramas and sitcoms.

One dark comedy show on HBO Max is so good, it demands a rewatch. Some TV shows are entertaining enough the first time around, but the best comedies tend to reveal even more with every rewatch. Once the surprise of a punchline or major story beat is gone, smaller character moments, background jokes, and carefully planted callbacks suddenly become much easier to appreciate.

That is especially true for dark comedies, where humor often comes from characters saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong moment. The funniest scenes can also be some of the most uncomfortable, and seemingly throwaway exchanges often say far more about the characters than viewers initially realize. That balance makes certain shows incredibly easy to revisit.

HBO Max's 47-episode comedy Hacks fits that description particularly well. Its sharp writing, complicated relationships, and willingness to let its characters be deeply flawed mean there is always something new to notice. Even knowing where the story is headed does little to lessen the impact of its funniest or most emotional moments.

Hacks has quietly become one of streaming's most consistently rewarding comedy-dramas. The relationship between Deborah Vance, an iconic comedian, and Ava Daniels, her comedy writer, drives the show. However, the series has built an entire world around them filled with memorable supporting characters, biting humor, and surprisingly sincere storytelling. That combination makes Hacks the kind of show that doesn't just hold up on a rewatch — it arguably gets even better.

Hacks Is A Streaming Show That Gets Better With Every Rewatch

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in Hacks season 5

The easiest reason to revisit Hacks is that it is genuinely funny. Deborah and Ava can turn practically any conversation into an argument, with neither willing to surrender the last word. Their insults are sharp enough to make even ordinary interactions memorable, while the series surrounds them with supporting characters who bring entirely different kinds of chaos into their lives.

However, knowing the jokes are coming rarely makes them less effective. If anything, rewatches make it easier to appreciate just how carefully Hacks builds its humor around its characters. The funniest moments aren't simply punchlines inserted into a scene. They usually come directly from Deborah's stubbornness, Ava's inability to stop talking, or the fact that these two women understand exactly how to irritate each other.

That is also where the show's heart comes from. Deborah and Ava have the kind of television partnership that comedy has been missing for a long time. There is genuine affection between them, but Hacks never feels obligated to make that affection easy. They can support each other in one scene and destroy that goodwill in the next.

Their relationship is messy, competitive, frequently unhealthy, and still strangely refreshing. Deborah challenges Ava to become a better writer, while Ava forces Deborah to reconsider ideas about herself and her career that had gone unchallenged for years. Neither woman exists only to teach the other a lesson, either. They continually change because of each other while remaining unmistakably themselves.

Knowing how much their relationship will evolve makes those earlier episodes especially rewarding to revisit. Small moments of vulnerability mean more, arguments become more meaningful, and even some of their cruelest jokes reveal how well they know one another. Hacks understands that humor and heart don't have to compete for attention, and that balance is exactly what makes another watch feel worthwhile.

Hacks Is Unlike Any Other Comedy-Dramas On Streaming

Megan Stalter, Paul W. Downs, Robby Hoffman in Hacks

Part of what makes Hacks so rewatchable is that there really isn't another comedy-drama on streaming that feels quite like it. Plenty of shows mix humor with heavier storytelling, but Hacks moves between those two extremes almost effortlessly. A scene can begin with an absurd joke and end somewhere unexpectedly vulnerable without either moment feeling out of place.

Much of that comes from the show's willingness to let its characters be difficult. Deborah is brilliant, ambitious, stubborn, and capable of being incredibly cruel when she feels threatened. Ava can be equally selfish and destructive, even though she considers herself more progressive and self-aware. Hacks never asks viewers to excuse those qualities just because they are at the center of the story.

Instead, their flaws are essential to why the show works. Deborah and Ava are allowed to make enormous mistakes, hurt people they care about, and sometimes learn the wrong lesson entirely. Growth happens, but it rarely follows the clean trajectory television audiences have been trained to expect. Even after meaningful breakthroughs, either woman can fall back into old habits.

That unpredictability extends beyond them. Characters like Jimmy and Kayla, as well as Marcus and DJ, could easily be little more than comic relief; Hacks continually gives its supporting cast enough depth to make their lives feel important outside Deborah and Ava's orbit. The result is an ensemble where even the strangest jokes can eventually lead somewhere surprisingly heartfelt.

Most importantly, Hacks understands that becoming a better person doesn't mean becoming an entirely different one. Its characters evolve while remaining messy, funny, selfish, loving, and occasionally infuriating. That refusal to sand away their rough edges gives the series a distinctive voice among streaming comedies, ensuring its 47 episodes offer far more than one viewing can uncover.