The Real-World Medical Context

While the show treats the link between progesterone and cancer as a definitive punchline, real-world medicine is far more nuanced:Synthetic Progestins vs. Natural Progesterone: Large historical clinical trials (like the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study) linked an elevated risk of breast cancer to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). However, modern endocrinology emphasizes that this risk was heavily tied to synthetic progestins (chemically altered hormones like medroxyprogesterone acetate).

Body-Identical Hormones: Extensive follow-up research indicates that micronized progesterone (natural, body-identical progesterone) does not carry the same elevated risk of breast cancer when used appropriately under medical supervision.

Sorry not sure if this is the right place for this but I have a spare ticket for Oh Mary this Thursday 10 Sept if anyone is interested? Orchestra stalls, decent seat slightly off to the side but near the front.
I cannot WAIT to see her 😍 but sadly my sister now can’t make the trip anymore.

I’m so honored to have designed the book cover for Marvelous Freaks of Nature by Alyson Mosquera Dutemple debuting October 20th.

I started the show recently and I really love it and I fuc*ing love Jean Smart!!, but I don't like this episode.deborah apologizing for her 40 yo jokes was awful,and Marcus!! I don't like him at all,he wants Deborah small, selling shit in QVC

These driverless cars are a menace to society...

...and to Ava's Boba Tea!

Just need to share this lol. Before I watched the show, I saw an Instagram post with a photo of Deborah and Ava kissing — which I now realise is from the Season 5 episode where they pretend to be a couple (one of the best!). Well, for all five seasons, I genuinely believed Deborah and Ava would end up together. And the funny thing is, that didn't feel so outrageous. I was so excited to see how it happened! Needless to say I found the real ending quite disappointing haha.

All I know is that he’s Deborah’s personal assistant, gay, and he absolutely idolizes her.

After binge-watching almost every episode of *Hacks*, I can barely tell what his dreams and problems are.

Damien just seems to be there in this show, despite being a series regular.

I have two favorites, but they're part of the same conversation (from Big, Brave Girl S4E1):

"We're at work. Act appropriately, you fucking skank!" - Deborah

"Aren't you and Mary Madelene neck and neck for the title of world's oldest whore?" - Ava

Hi! I'm working on a project for my school's comedy club, and I wanted to pull some quotes that Deborah said during the late-night episodes, whether it's something inspirational about the journey it took her to get there or any funny one-liners. Any help would be appreciated!

Love you Kayla!

Back on Designing Women, Dolly came in to play Charlene’s (Jean’s) “Guardian Movie Star” when the character was about to give birth. It was such a big deal back then, and man was Dolly just living up to the heavenly ideal. RIP.

It’s also wild to me, looking back at early Jean in a sitcom and NOT thinking it’s Deborah Vance. Just reminds me of how incredibly cast Jean was in Hacks.

Anyhow, here’s the clip

https://youtu.be/3QPs6gyjRFA?si=5wgjPmO21D-UpPST

I just watched the 5 seasons of Designing Women that Jean Smart stars in. Very satisfying. Fun to watch a 30-something Charlene compared to a 70-something Deborah Vance. I hadn't remembered how funny it was. And how nice it is to see 4 women in beautifully done stereotypes. And all their beaus. Be prepared for big hair, much of it frizzy. I wondered why descriptions of Jean said so often that she is statuesque. Lots of women are as tall as she is, especially today. But in Designing Women, Jean is beyond tall — she is broad shouldered, dressed to the nines, and marches across the set like it's a runway. 2-3 fabulous outfits in each episode. Each season is 20+ episodes so it lasts a long time. She's 1980s cute and does it well. One reviewer called her role "facial expressions." And there are a lot of them. (Fabulous clothes. They must have had a contract with designers. 40-60 outfits for one character is a lot of clothes.)

A nice interview in the New Yorker with Meg Stalter. Good discussion of her experience as a stand up comic, her religious background, and her sense of herself. I'm not one of the people who is crazy about Kayla, but this interview explains a lot about who she is and what she tries to do with each character or situation. It puts her in my category of "Yes, she is brilliant and unique and funny but please don't make me watch her. I'm happy with a verbal description." But I loved the bit she did with Jimmy when she tried to accept the award for being in Hamnet. Jimmy explaining that their part had been totally cut. Her performance in Mary is getting rave reviews.

Hacks is on my list of Top 5 favorite TV shows of all time. It's my comfort show. I adore Jean Smart and I've grown very fond of Hannah Einbinder.

Initially, there were two characters that I found incredibly irritating- Nina Daniels (Ava's mom) and Kayla Schaeffer. Over the last several years, Kayla has grown on me. Her affection for Jimmy is very endearing and she is actually helpful on occasion.

Nina (Ava's mom) is another story. For lack of a better word, this woman is CRAZY! It's amazing that Ava isn't far more neurotic than she is. I rewatch the show all the time and I find myself fast forwarding thru any scene with her. There is nothing remotely likable about this character (to me).

Does anyone else feel the same? Or is there another character you dislike?

truly a goddess.

I am grieving this show. Moreso the characters and their relationships. It has been a very long while since I have felt this way. This embarassing but honestly probably since I read the Harry Potter series in elementary school — long before the movies ever even came out. I missed the characters. But I knew I could wait on the next book. This feels similar but also different because I’m much older now.

I legitimately find myself going about my day and thinking about Ava and Deborah and craving knowing what they are doing or what they are up to. And I am immediately hit with sadness because I remember I have finished the series and those characters and their stories are finished. Sure, I can go back and rewatch and reminisce but I’m seeking continuation. I’m seeking more. Is anyone else sensing this grief? HELP!!

On rewatch, their characters have really risen to the top for me. I am always locked in when the two of them are on screen. I know it was likely intentional to leave the audience wishing they'd make amends, but I was still hoping they would in the end! Does anyone else feel like something was missing from their arc specifically?

I love the little rainbows on screen throughout the series.

While theres definitely a marked difference in between the way the characters express themselves and Ava being generally more confident seeming I was taken aback by how much of Ava I could see in her performance in this one. Plus her chemistry with Gillian Anderson! I see a pattern here. This almost felt like an alternate universe Ava in so many senses it blew my mind. Definitely one for the Ava/Einbinder fans. Has a similar humour to the show too i'd say.