Every late-night host needs a rival, and Deborah Vance is no exception. As the Hacks character played by Jean Smart embarks on a late night career in the show’s new season, she’ll discover an antagonist in none other than Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel appears in the show’s fourth season as a fictionalized (much meaner) version of himself. The first peek at his performance was revealed when Smart guested on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night.
“I just don’t want to see you end up like James Corden,” Kimmel threatens Vance in the clip before implying that he framed one of his former fellow late-night hosts. “They found a whole bunch of horse porn on his computer. Happened right after he got a little too friendly with Jennifer Aniston. He had to move back to England. He’s sweeping chimneys now.”
In the Season 3 finale of Hacks, Vance makes a career comeback at 70 when she is offered her own late-night program. The new season of the show will follow that undertaking, Late Night with Deborah Vance (which, as Kimmel pointed out, is currently being advertised on LA billboards as if it’s a real program).
Kimmel’s guest appearance isn’t limited to the one showdown he played on JKL.
“Seriously, we’re going to see the dark side of Jimmy Kimmel,” Smart teased. “No more mister nice guy.”
But while the fictional Kimmel is formidable, the real-life host says he was anything but confident on the set of Hacks. “I don’t think you have any idea of how nervous I was acting with you. I was really very nervous,” Kimmel told Smart during the interview. “And I didn’t memorize any of my lines beforehand—which you’re supposed to do, it turns out.”
Last year Kimmel made a cameo appearance as himself in Ezra, an indie film centered around a comedian’s trek to a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The fourth season of Hacks begins streaming on Max today.
