Hacks' Set Designer Unearths Iconic Couch

In the final season of 'Hacks,' production designer Rob Tokarz focused on creating environments that reflected Deborah Vance's legacy and Ava Daniels' emerging future. A significant challenge involved designing the set for 'who's making dinner,' a fictional sitcom that had been a cultural phenomenon for fifty years.

Tokarz and his team had to imagine the artifacts of a long-running show, including photos, costumes, and props. They built a backstage area, camera alley, and audience seating to accommodate the filming of both the fictional program and its retrospective. A distinctive yellow, flowery couch, discovered on Facebook Marketplace in Pasadena, became a central piece, evoking Deborah's past.

To visually represent Ava's growing influence, custom wallpaper was developed for one of Deborah's sets. Ten different designs were considered before selecting the final pattern, scale, and colors. This space was intentionally designed to be revisited in the finale, symbolizing a symbolic 'passing of the torch' from Deborah to Ava.