‘Hacks’ Bosses Tease Julianne Nicholson’s Return as Dance Mom: ‘It Goes Crazy’

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Hacks Season 4, Episode 5, “Clickable Face.”]

In Hacks‘ latest episode, “Clickable Face,” Deborah (Jean Smart) stressed over making her new late-night show a hit for the network, but in doing so, she risked sacrificing the quality of her programming, at least in head writer Ava’s (Hannah Einbinder) eyes.

That didn’t stop Deborah from attempting to appeal to demographics that she was falling short in, particularly when it came to suburban moms. In an effort to sway them towards her show, she poached Kristen Bell as a guest, angering fellow late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel in the process.

“We always want to lend some validity and realism to our show and so for us to be able to say, well, if it’s an episode or a season about making late night in Los Angeles, then you would have these people like Kristen Bell as being somebody [Deborah would] want to get on and Jimmy Kimmel being a main threat in a really funny way to Deborah,” co-showrunner Lucia Aniello tells TV Insider.

Max

“It just felt like all these people cameoing made it feel more real, and that to us realism is always the thing we’re striving for, whether it’s in production design, writing, or performing. In every way,” Aniello adds.

Part of that realism comes in the form of Dance Mom (think TikTok viral sensation), played by guest star Julianne Nicholson, who is fresh off her more dramatic and sinister turn on Hulu‘s Paradise. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) recruited Dance Mom as a client and invited her to attend Deborah’s show to audition for a gig.

Although Deborah and Ava gave Dance Mom a shot at auditioning, they initially said no to performing on the show until Deborah and Ava had a fight over a monologue joke. Eager to make a comeback from the blunder, Deborah decided Dance Mom would perform, upsetting Ava in the process, but making the Alberta TikTok sensation a big hit for the show.

“We’ve been fans of Julianne’s forever,” gushes co-showrunner and star Paul W. Downs. According to the creative, Nicholson was considered for a previous role on the show but didn’t work. Ultimately, this part of Dance Mom, Downs says, “came about because we were thinking about people that might clash with Deborah if they were put on the show or asked if the network asked to have them on the show. When we started getting into the episode about data and market testing, we actually thought that character could play as a wedge between Ava and Deborah because Deborah wants to appeal to as many people as possible.”

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It certainly seems like that wedge was placed between them in the closing moments of this installment, but don’t expect that to be the last you’ve seen of Dance Mom. “She does become a fixture on Deborah’s show because she’s a hit,” Downs explains. “People love her, and we’ve seen those [situations] on those kinds of shows.”

As Aniello teases, “[Episodes] 7 through 9 are really when she [shines].” Fellow co-showrunner Jen Statsky echoes this sentiment, adding, “Keep your eyes peeled for Dance Mom.”

“Yeah, it goes crazy,” Downs promises. Stay tuned for more of Dance Mom on Hacks this season, and let us know what you thought of Nicholson’s hilarious turn in the comments section below.

Hacks, Thursdays, 9/8c, Max

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