Season 4 of the hit Max comedy begins on April 10, when the first two episodes drop followed by one a week through May 29. As we emotionally prepare to see Jean Smart’s Deborah and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava go toe-t0-toe following that jaw-dropping season 3 finale, it’s only natural to wonder how much more life the show has left. In conversation with Deadline, showrunners Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello, and Paul Downs revealed that five seasons have always been the plan.

“I think keeping the relationship fresh and making sure there are new places for Deborah and Ava to go, that is the beating heart of the show,” Statsky said. “If we found a way [to do more] that made sense, then maybe, yeah. But right now, that is still the plan.” As the conversation continued, it didn’t take long to see what “more” might look like. When asked whether or not a Jimmy/Kayla spinoff might be in the cards, Statsky said, “Demand it. We’re building up the world, you know">some kind of gold statue. Having achieved her dream of procuring her own late-night talk show, Deborah promised that Ava could be her head writer ⏤ only to totally go back on her word by episode’s end. This resulted in Ava deciding to fight fire with fire and blackmail Deborah in exchange for what she was promised. It was a shocking move, proving just how far Ava’s character has come since season 1 ⏤ and how much she’s learned from Deborah about “being a shark.”

Given that season 4 picks up right where 3 left off, we’re in for plenty of drama. But Hacks is a comedy through and through, so we’ll still want to minimize the amount of champagne we’re drinking while we watch lest it not remain in our mouths for very long. We’ll see how these characters balance this season’s dramedy when Hacks season 4 arrives on Max starting April 10. As for that Jimmy/Kayla spinoff ⏤ your move, Downs.

Before Mariah Carey and her iconic Christmas anthem fully defrost in time for the holiday season, it’s important to allow an ever-popular celebration like Thanksgiving to have its moment in the spotlight.

As Turkey Day rapidly approaches, there’s no better form of preparation for festive fanatics than sitting down in front of the television and adhering to a variety of unforgettable holiday episodes — many of which were made popular during the soaring ‘90s. As television stans already know, the ‘90s was one of the best ages for television, with series like Friends, The Sopranos, and The Simpsons absolutely dominating pop culture.

Seeing as the common elements surrounding Thanksgiving are family, food, and feel-good moments, it’s certainly no surprise that many of these shows incorporated a few specials inspired by the stomach-growling holiday. So before you unbutton your pants after that otherworldly Turkey Day feast, let’s take a look at the 12 best ‘90s family sitcom Thanksgiving episodes, ranked from “would you the potatoes">the unfortunate ing of star Matthew Perry last year, this feels like the necessary time to try and have a laugh.

There are so many things that Will & Grace star, Erin McCormack has willingly shared about himself —that he used to be a manager at Baskin-Robbins, that he once performed in front of Notre Dame with a mime, the revelation that his wife Janet Holden is a “real camper,” etc.

But being a celebrity comes with the peril of a few curious minds wanting private information pertaining to their personal life, and in McCormack’s case, enter the long-standing rumors that he is actually gay.

While it provides no consolation, McCormack is not the only celeb out there who keeps tackling speculations and intrusive questions directed at his sexuality — on one hand, Hugh Jackman’s recent split from his wife sparked the age-old query about the Wolverine star, but singer-songwriter Kenny Chesney’s equally non-chaotic life developments also manage to poke at theories about his sexual status from time to time.

The fact that McCormack and his wife, Janet Leigh Holden, are splitting after more than 26 years of marriage has only fueled the speculations once again.

What sparked rumors of Eric McCormack being gay? 2fi50

NBC’s pioneering sitcom, Will & Grace, brought about a revolution by being one of the first network shows to present openly gay characters. But while Sean Hayes, who plays Jack and Will’s best friend in the series is openly gay, McCormack is not. The actor has even looked back at the show’s decision to rope him in to play a gay man, something he is happy to know won’t happen in today’s era of diversity and inclusivity.

Throughout the show’s eleven seasons, Will dated many men and eventually ended up with McCoy Whitman, played by Matt Bomer, who is openly gay in real life. Evidently, it was all enough to give rise to speculations about McCormack being gay, even though he was married to Janet Holden a year before the show started.

The rumors got brand new wings when the actor — who is an avid er of same-sex marriage — hilariously kissed his Will & Grace co-star, Hayes, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the show’s reboot back in 2017. Of course, his Will Truman also returning to the screens further ensured that any lingering logic left the chat of those huddled together to judgment on his private life.

So, is Eric McCormack gay? That’s a question only he gets to answer, when — and moreover, if — he wants to.

It was a formula many series had tried before, but Friends made the concept of a weekly sitcom based around the exploits of a group of 20-something friends and flatmates work, lasting a full ten seasons. So what other sitcoms plowed the same furrow? Here are ten of the best.

10. Hope and Gloria 6r2e21

This NBC sitcom debuted in 1995, and featured Northern Exposure’s Jessica Lundy and long-time sitcom star Cynthia Stevenson as neighbors in a Pittsburg apartment complex. The same mid-90s sensibilities that characterized Friends are present here, but audiences were less impressed, and the show was canceled after two seasons.

9. Dream On 2l4q2q

This quirky HBO sitcom stars Brian Benben as Martin Tupper, a divorcé living in New York who is desperately trying to rekindle his love life. The frequent use of archive footage from old TV shows and films spoke well to the irony-heavy pop culture at the time, and the show was a success, running for six seasons and winning two Emmy Awards.

8. Game On 72201s

This London-based sitcom made no waves beyond Britain, but was a ratings hit for the BBC on debut in 1995, and offered early outings for Ben Chaplin (Neil Stuke in later seasons) as the agoraphobic Matt, his loyal but feckless friend Martin (Matthew Cottle), and Mandy (Samantha Womack), who is smart, quick, and drop-dead gorgeous, but can’t seem to find Mr. Right. Debuting in the midst of the “lad culture” of mid-90s Britain, the show’s sexual politics have hardly dated well, but the scripts are tight, and the one-liners flow fast and freely. Chaplin would go on to carve out a career in Hollywood as a character actor, being most recently seen in Netflix’s 2021 period drama The Dig.

7. Coupling 384z4f

Another British show, this BBC sitcom was more or less a straight lift of the premise behind Friends – the setup is almost identical, even down to the number of principal cast , though the content was rather steamier – and ran from 2000 to 2004. It was penned by none other than Steven Moffat, who shortly became the showrunner for Doctor Who. An American adaptation for NBC was, however, a disaster, being pulled before the end of its first season.

6. Living Single 4c5j57

Less vaunted than its contemporary, this sitcom was likewise set in New York, and ran from 1993 to 1998. The interplay between the four female leads and the emphasis on the balance between work and love mirrored Friends’ preoccupations. Queen Latifah is excellent as the go-getting editor Khadijah James.

5. Will and Grace 6b504g

It takes a show of unusual quality to come back from the dead, but that’s exactly what Will and Grace did, returning to TV screens in 2017 over a decade after its cancellation. As the first primetime sitcom to feature a gay character in a lead role, the sitcom broke new ground, and during the show’s revival, Eric McCormack and Debra Lessing continued to impress as the eponymous not-actually-a-couple.

4. Gimme Gimme Gimme 3v4x8

If Will and Grace offered offence-free portrayals of the gay/straight odd couple, Gimme Gimme Gimme went out of its way to shock, featuring swingers, S&M, and hookups in public toilets. This uproarious BBC sitcom ran from 1999 to 2002, and starred Kathy Burke (Elizabeth, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Linda and James Dreyfus as Tom, two chalk-and-cheese flatmates forever destined to chase after the same men.   

3. Spaced bg2n

The show that launched the careers of Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, and Nick Frost, Spaced ran for just two short seasons from 1999 to 2001, but perfectly captures the happy-go-lucky zeitgeist of the late 1990s. Pegg and Stevenson play Tim and Daisy, two strangers who pretend to be an item in order to rent out a flat, with the military-obsessed Mike (Frost) ing them. Under Pegg’s influence, the show features a non-stop procession of pop culture references from The Phantom Menace – Tim didn’t like it – to Lara Croft.

2. Frasier 6yb8

Frasier may have featured a slightly older demographic than the firmly 20-something Friends, but in of its affluent lifestyle and urban setting, it trod similar territory. Kelsey Grammer did Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning work in the lead role, but Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin are equally accomplished as the sardonic Roz and the eccentric Daphne, respectively. A revival premiered earlier this Fall on Paramount Plus.

1. Seinfeld 2x7326

More than a quarter of a century after its final episode, it’s hard to believe just how ubiquitous Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy was to 1990s TV. The sitcom supercharged the careers of Jason Alexander (George Costanza), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine Benes), and gathered dozens of Emmy and Golden Globe awards in a ten-year run that frequently saw it top the ratings. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…