A Jimmy and Kayla Hacks Spinoff Is ‘Not Happening,’ Says Paul W. Downs

Don’t cry because there’s no spinoff, smile because it ended how the creators wanted. Paul W. Downs, co-creator of Hacks, told Variety that a spinoff about his character Jimmy and Meg Stalter’s Kayla will never, ever happen. Ever! “The reason is that the story has been very important to us; we pitched its ending from the beginning,” Downs said. “Because we were able to end it in the way that we did, it feels like something we do not want to change in any way. We want it to exist the way it did.”

Lots of shows claim they have a plan for how to end the show, but so few actually stick to that plan when rubber meets the road. When you’ve finished the artwork as it was originally conceived, why zhuzh? “We feel so happy with how it ended, and we are so happy with how people have reacted to the finale of the show. For that reason, it’s something that we want to leave [as is]. I’ve never definitively said that, but I’m definitively saying that. I’m not being coy, I’m telling you the truth. It’s not happening.” 

Hacks final season ended with Kayla and Jimmy triumphant over Kayla’s soulless exec father, with them now heading Latitude. It’s a happy ending, but also a potential open window for further shenanigans in the industry. And with Hacks breaking the record for most Emmy noms for a comedy, the temptation to take things in the “Cheers begat Frasier” direction is tempting. But not quite tempting enough to derail Stalter’s nascent pop career.