A smiling woman with short blonde hair speaking into a microphone — Jean Smart at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2018, three years before Hacks began. No free photograph from the run has been found. Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0

Jean SmartDeborah Vance

HBO Max · five seasons · 2021–2026

Hacks

A young woman with dark hair in a dark outfit, smiling — Hannah Einbinder, Ava Daniels, at SXSW London in June 2026, weeks after the final season ended. Amy Martin Photography · CC BY-SA 4.0

Hannah EinbinderAva Daniels

A Las Vegas headliner and the young writer who sharpens her act. The residency was mostly made in Los Angeles, which is the best joke of all: every place below is a set-up and a punchline. In the spotlights: Jean Smart at San Diego Comic-Con in 2018, three years before the show (Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0), and Hannah Einbinder in London in June 2026, as the final season ended (Amy Martin Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Sources

A woman with long hair speaking on a panel — Lucia Aniello, co-creator, director and writer of Hacks, at South by Southwest in March 2024, between the second and third seasons. Jay Dixit · CC BY 4.0

The double act

Vegas, by way of Los Angeles

Jean Smart plays Deborah Vance, and Hannah Einbinder plays Ava Daniels, the younger writer who works with her.

The series ran on HBO Max for five seasons, from 2021 to May 2026. Its creators are Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky. Smart won the lead comedy actress Emmy for every season, the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series.

Hacks was shot mainly in Los Angeles. By its third season it had done only a couple of days of location work in Las Vegas. Jean Smart said a night in Las Vegas during the third season was the first time she had shot a single frame of the show there.

Uproxx reported that the show does not use green screen for its Vegas scenes.

Sources

An ornate hotel interior with a painted, gilded ceiling — Inside the Millennium Biltmore, 2016: painted ceilings and gilt. P G Roy Photography · CC BY-SA 2.0

Ten bits

Land the beat

Each place is a joke. The set-up is what it plays in the show; the punchline is where it was really shot. Hit Set-up, leave a pause, hit Punchline. Between 0.7 and 1.6 seconds, it lands.

Sources

Bit 1 of 10

Deborah Vance’s Las Vegas casino, the Palmetto. Inside.

Hit Set-up to start the first bit.

0 laughs · 0 stepped on · 0 dead air · 0 of 10 places revealed

The room goes quiet.

Where was it really? Time the punchline to find out.

Sources

Millennium Hotels

Millennium Biltmore Hotel

Pershing Square, Los Angeles

The downtown Los Angeles hotel that La Nación names for the Palmetto’s interiors, on Pershing Square. Pictured: the hotel, 2012.

Check rooms

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Downtown Los Angeles architecture walks

Downtown Los Angeles

Live marketplace results for walking tours of historic downtown Los Angeles. Check which pass Pershing Square and the Biltmore.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

A castle-style roadside casino by a highway in the desert — Whiskey Pete's at Primm, on the Nevada state line, in 2008. It has been closed since 2024. Evil Vegeta · CC BY 2.0

The closer

The old casino

In season 5’s third episode, No New Tricks, Marcus tours a dusty old casino and falls for it. That scene was shot inside Whiskey Pete’s at Primm, not downtown.

The filming place was first reported by Architectural Digest. Whiskey Pete’s has been closed since 2024. The Primm family, who own the land, say several proposals to reopen it are being considered.

The final season was shot almost entirely in Las Vegas, from late 2025 into early 2026. The Plaza gave the season both the inside of Deborah Vance’s comedy club and the outside of The Diva. The Bellagio and Caesars Palace were used that season too.

Pictured: Whiskey Pete’s in 2008 (Evil Vegeta, CC BY 2.0).

Closed since 2024. See it only from the public road and the neighbouring stop; do not try to go in.

Sources

Five sets

Season by season

From a Los Angeles hotel playing Vegas to the real Fremont Street, then Singapore and the Louvre.

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, downtown Los Angeles, seen across Pershing Square, 2012. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 3.0
Seasons 1–3
The Palmetto, inside
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
Deborah Vance’s Las Vegas casino is played indoors, La Nación reported, by a downtown Los Angeles hotel.
The Palazzo on the Las Vegas Strip, 2010. Jim G from Silicon Valley, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0
Seasons 1–3
The Palmetto, outside
The Palazzo
The Palazzo on the Strip stands in for the Palmetto’s exterior.

Sources

Musée du Louvre

The Louvre: book a time slot

Paris, 1st arrondissement · Adults €22 (EEA residents) or €32

Where the series finale filmed among the Dutch masters. Open daily except Tuesdays, until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Plan a visit

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Downtown Las Vegas walking tours

Fremont Street, Las Vegas

Live marketplace results for guided walks of downtown and Fremont Street, past El Cortez and the Plaza. Check each route.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

The tag

Good night, and tip your crew

The Biltmore, the Palazzo, El Cortez, the Plaza, Victoria Theatre and the Louvre are open to visit. The American Cement Building and Whiskey Pete’s are seen from outside. The Altadena house was a private home and is not pinned.

Sources

Where it is now

9 places you can visit in three countries, plus one private house named only by its town.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working hotel on Pershing Square. The lobby and public rooms are open to guests and visitors; ask at the desk before wandering the function rooms.
Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A private office building. Its concrete X panels are seen from the street; there is no public access inside.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working airport with two passenger terminals. The terminal fronts are public; past security you need a ticket.

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, downtown Los Angeles, seen across Pershing Square, 2012. Downtowngal · CC BY-SA 3.0
Southern California · Pershing Square, downtown Los Angeles
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
La Nación reported in May 2025 that the interiors of the Palmetto, Deborah Vance’s Las Vegas casino in the show, were filmed at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
A working hotel on Pershing Square. The lobby and public rooms are open to guests and visitors; ask at the desk before wandering the function rooms.
Sources
MacArthur Park from the west, 2015: the neighbourhood of the American Cement Building, which is not shown. Junkyardsparkle · CC0
Southern California · Westlake, by MacArthur Park, Los Angeles
American Cement Building
Season 3’s scenes of Jimmy launching his own agency were shot in the American Cement Building near MacArthur Park.
A private office building. Its concrete X panels are seen from the street; there is no public access inside.
Sources
Terminal 2 at Ontario International Airport, shortly before 1am, April 2023. Sdkb · CC BY-SA 4.0
Southern California · Ontario, in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles
Ontario International Airport
D’Amazing Race, a season 5 episode, is set in Mexico but was filmed entirely around Los Angeles.
A working airport with two passenger terminals. The terminal fronts are public; past security you need a ticket.
Sources

Stay