How ‘Hacks’ Found Comedy in Every Prop, Light, and Gesture | rssama.com

“I ne'er really made tooth-to-Emmy-winner contact. I did not bite.”

That’s co-creator and character Paul W. Downs denying — to nan champion of his recollection — ever clamping down connected Emmy-winner Julianne Nicholson’s hand while lunging to wound her during their “frantic” segment successful “Hacks” Season 4.

“I deliberation that’s nan only return wherever you pretended to [bite her], actually,” co-creator Lucia Aniello said. “She would’ve been good pinch it. She’s truthful game, if Paul spot her hand, she would’ve gone pinch it. She would not person stopped nan scene.”

“She was really holding onto that bag,” Downs said. “She was very committed.”

The segment successful question, which you tin spot successful nan afloat video question and reply above, is from Episode 9, “A Slippery Slope,” which was written by Downs, Aniello, and co-creator Jen Statsky. They were joined by cinematographer Adam Bricker and accumulation designer Rob Tokarz, for a virtual sheet chat arsenic portion of Universal Studio Group’s USG University.

Watch nan afloat video above.

Let’s break it down: Jimmy (Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) are helping a sleepy, hungover Dance Mom (Nicholson) into her dressing room, wherever they person to revitalize nan TikTok prima truthful she tin execute connected Deborah’s (Jean Smart) late-night show. The premise is elemental enough. But it’s nan specifications — nan performances and props, nan lighting and nan wallpaper, nan cinematography and nan blocking — that elevate a funny segment to panic heights.

“There were immoderate nicks and cuts. There were immoderate injuries,” Downs said. “That was a very beingness scene. She threw herself into a barroom cart. There was blood.”

That being said, production designer Rob Tokarz and his squad helped to protect nan actors arsenic champion they could. When Dance Mom first enters nan room, yes, she stumbles into a barroom cart, which looks and sounds vulnerable capable to get a laughter — moreover though it was perfectly safe.

“We had to make judge nan barroom cart is thing safe for her to bump into aggregate times, truthful we had to switch each nan glassware pinch thing that was not going to break apart,” Tokarz said. “I deliberation we replaced nan solid connected nan barroom cart itself pinch tempered solid truthful if it were to ace it would beryllium safe.”

Another astute touch by Tokarz was making judge immoderate prop utilized successful nan segment for comic effect would besides beryllium thing that would logically beryllium recovered successful a late-night dressing room — for illustration nan large metallic bucket first glimpsed erstwhile nan characters enter, erstwhile it’s filled pinch bottles of water, and later seen successful close-up arsenic Dance Mom’s getting dunked.

“We had options connected what nan crystal bucket would really beryllium and what would look champion cinematically,” Tokarz said. “Then we benignant of backmost it up and person it make consciousness to nan room. It each has to necktie together to beryllium realistic, truthful it’s not for illustration thing that abruptly appeared connected nan java table. It was holding nan h2o bottles astatine 1 point, and past they utilized it for thing else.”

“So we return each these elements and conscionable make judge nobody’s going to get hurt, [while giving nan actors] nan elasticity to do what they did.”

“We decidedly scripted a batch of nan beingness drama because it was specified a frantic scene,” Downs said. “They were fundamentally going to beryllium dragging an unconscious female into her dressing room and trying to revive her. There was a batch of opportunity for america to excavation moments for beingness comedy. […] Megan Stalter, Julianne Nicholson, and myself each had a batch of nosy doing it, and I deliberation we’re each group who are unfastened to improvisation and ad-libbing, but that was 1 that we benignant of had to choreograph beautiful specifically. There’s truthful galore props, and there’s truthful overmuch matching, continuity-wise. […] There was nan clearing of nan cocaine, which is simply a very communal building successful movie and theater.”

Aniello, who besides directed nan episode, said they don’t often get to “do a batch of rehearsal — some mightiness opportunity none” — but they make nan clip for much beingness scenes for illustration this one. It helps maximize nan joke already written into nan scripts while identifying unforeseen avenues for further wit.

“When we uncover she’s connected each fours, that’s written into nan script,” Aniello said. “They wrestle complete nan bag, she runs into nan barroom cart, each those thumps are decidedly there. In position of ‘they’re sitting down and this is wherever they guidelines up,’ that’s nan benignant of point that we activity out.”

“It’s a delicate creation of being very nonstop successful nan book and past besides erstwhile we rehearse truthful we tin lucifer continuity and stuff,” Statsky said. “But also, for illustration Paul’s saying — and in installments to him — he and Meg and Julianne are truthful coming and specified unthinkable comedians that, successful nan moment, you besides want to springiness abstraction for them to make choices. One of nan funniest moments successful nan segment to maine is erstwhile Paul goes complete to nan doorway and throws nan purse complete his shoulder. That was not successful nan script. That was conscionable thing Paul recovered successful nan infinitesimal — aliases possibly Lucia, you told him — but it was recovered connected nan day, successful nan moment.”

Then, of course, there’s nan enactment of really capturing everything written down, designed, and performed.

“What I emotion astir this segment from a camera position is conscionable really reactive nan camera is,” Adam Bricker, nan cinematographer, said. “We person unthinkable camera operators who are really successful nan scene, surviving successful nan moment. There’s a awesome power to nan scene, and I deliberation they onslaught nan correct tonal equilibrium of not trying to present that power pinch nan camera, but benignant of reacting to nan performances successful a measurement that keeps it really grounded and real.”

“Then from a lighting perspective, we wanted to support it naturalistic but besides make it consciousness a small scary, for illustration thing bad mightiness hap successful here.”

Something bad did hap successful that dressing room, but astatine slightest nary 1 near pinch teeth marks — aliases truthful they say.

“Hacks” is disposable connected Max.

IndieWire collaborated pinch Universal Studio Group for USG University, a bid of virtual panels celebrating nan champion successful tv creation from nan 2024-2025 TV play crossed NBC Universal’s portfolio of shows. USG University (a Universal Studio Group program) is presented successful business pinch Roybal Film & TV Magnet and IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking. Catch up connected the latest USG University videos here or straight astatine nan USG University site.