It’s not easy to remain a star: just ask Deborah Vance, whose once shining star is now a glistening lightbulb on a Las Vegas casino sign.

With a regular gig at the Palmetto Casino, stand-up comedian Deborah has been putting on a show for fans for years, but with her audience numbers dwindling, even she isn’t oblivious to the fact that her days on the stage may well be numbered.

Meanwhile, over in LA, Ava Daniels finds her career spectacularly grinding to a halt after an ill-advised tweet about a Republican politician’s gay son leaves her feeling the force of cancel culture before she’s even got a career worth cancelling.

Thrown together by their respective circumstances, can these two put aside their differences and manage to work together? Especially when they’re both so set in their ways?

We’re about to find out.

Hacks seasons one, two and three, are now all available on Sky Max and NOW.

Season four will kick off on Sky Max on April 11 in line with the US release, so you won’t be behind on the latest episodes at any point!

Sky is the exclusive home of Hacks in the UK, so it is only available on our services.

You can also watch the series on demand via Sky Go or by streaming on NOW.

The cast of Hacks of season one is:

• Jean Smart (Mayor of Easttown, Legion) as Deborah Vance

• Hannah Einbinder (How to be Broke, Strange Planet) as Ava Daniels

• Carl Clemons-Hopkins (The Beanie Bubble, Candyman) as Marcus

• Megan Stalter (The Megan Stalter Show, ILY Bye) as Kayla Schaefer

• Paul W. Downs (Broad City, Rough Night) as Jimmy LuSaque Jr.

• Rose Abdoo (Gilmore Girls, Parenthood) as Josefina

• Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty, With Love) as Damien

• Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Deborah "DJ" Vance Jr.

• Poppy Liu (Space Cadet, No Good Deed) as Kiki

• Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore, Flubber) as Marty Ghilain

• Johnny Sibilly (Pose, The Deuce) as Wilson

• Jane Adams (The Idol, Hung) as Nina Daniels

Hacks season one is ten episodes long and starts with Deborah Vance getting some life-changing news. Beware: spoilers ahead for season 1.

Deborah has a hell of a weekend when she discovers her ex-husband has died and her long-established residency at the Palmetto Casino is being filled by newer, fresher (read: younger) talent. In a bid to help her, manager Jimmy goes against Deborah’s wishes and brings in disgraced TV writer Ava from LA for an interview. While the pair don’t seem to initially get on, their barbed jabs eventually result in them trying to work together.

Ava is left annoyed when Deborah doesn’t use any of her new material, prompting her to try and get to know Deborah better. However, her efforts land her on a bizarre road trip that seems to expose exactly what kind of person she’s now working for.

Deborah takes on a photo opportunity that harkens back to a darker past, but Ava’s protests at it being ‘degrading’ backfires when Deborah takes their feud to the next level. As Ava keeps her head down with archive work, she finds a file that makes her realise the kind of star Deborah once was, and how funny the now-embittered star actually is.

Ava bonds with Deborah’s daughter DJ over their shared hostility, especially as she won’t pitch DJ’s jewellery line to the QVC bosses. This triggers a new conversation with Ava and her own mother, who is not best pleased about her daughter’s life as a ‘struggling artist’, prompting her to find a comforting figure in an unlikely place. Meanwhile, Deborah and Marcus go to the bat mitzvah of Marty’s daughter to try and convince him to let her keep the weekend dates.

Deborah resorts to savvy, if desperate, measures to convince Marty to keep her residency, while simultaneously continuing to fail to work on new material.

Meanwhile Ava finds herself on a whirlwind adventure with a dashing hotel guest named George, but their sex-and-drug filled weekend is ruined when she runs into some old writing partners who deliver a bitter dose of reality for her, and things take an extremely dark turn.

With Deborah knocked out on painkillers after getting cosmetic surgery, Ava is on a mission to break into her phone and delete a drunken voicemail she left for her and must resort to bizarre measures to gain access. The pair later bond about being a woman in the industry, leading to Deborah debunking a long-held rumour about her and Ava encouraging her to come clean with what really happened.

At a lavish birthday thrown for her by Deborah, DJ announces she’s engaged to be married to an MMA fighter she has just met. However, when she declares they will not be getting a prenup, Deborah makes a scene. Ava attempts to diffuse the situation and support DJ, but it ultimately results in her driving DJ and her new beau to a drive through wedding chapel. Meanwhile, in the fallout of the party, Deborah and Marty get closer.

Marty has some devastating news to share with Deborah – awkward considering they’ve just slept together. Deborah and Ava try out new material at a local comedy club. Meeting up with an old friend of Deborah’s, Ava learns of the inappropriate behaviour that they have both been victim of and party to in order to thrive in their careers. While Deborah downplays it, an encounter with a misogynistic emcee allows her to finally settle a score. Just when she’s getting somewhere with Deborah, Ava is given a once in a lifetime opportunity with a high-profile British production team.

As Deborah and Ava prepare for the final show, Ava secretly heads back to Los Angeles for her big interview, touching base with an ex-girlfriend in the process. However, the truth behind this opportunity leaves Ava torn about what to do next. When Marcus finds out what Ava’s up to, he finds an ingenious way to snitch without Deborah shooting the messenger.

Deborah and Ava clash about what happened in Los Angeles and the content of her final show at the Palmetto. With verbal and physical slaps being thrown, the growing friendship is quickly dissolved. Ava quits and leaves Vegas, planning to take Deborah down in the process. But it becomes clear the pair are already too tied together to walk out of each other’s lives so easily. As Ava heads to Boston after the death of her father, Dennis, Deborah comes up with a plan to clear the air. But is it too late?