Helen Hunt's Hacks Season 3 Cameo Teases Reunion For 37-Year-Old Sci-Fi Movie That Bombed At The Box Office

WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Hacks season 3, episode 2!

Summary Helen Hunt joins Hacks season 3 as network exec Winnie, sparking a reunion with Jean Smart after 37 years.

The new season sees growth in cast members, with more cameos, recurring characters, and exciting returns.

Hunt's return to the small screen in Hacks could be her best TV role since Mad About You.

Helen Hunt appears in Hacks season 3 as an important network executive, with her introduction to the show creating a reunion for a 1980s sci-fi movie. The cast and characters of Hacks season 3 have grown substantially from past seasons, with more cameos, recurring characters, and exciting returns as Ava and Deborah embark on their new late-night talk show journey. In addition to more stand-up comedians joining Hacks, the show’s third outing is recruiting additional TV veterans to play big players and executives in the comedy scene, including Oscar winner Helen Hunt.

With Jimmy and Kayla having quit their jobs to start their own agency in Hacks season 2’s ending, the two characters head to a conference in the season 3 premiere to scout new clients. They end up running into network executive Winnie Wendell, played by Helen Hunt, who reveals that she had an affair with Jimmy’s father several decades ago. While Helen Hunt doesn’t return in Hacks season 3, episode 2, a reference to Winnie during Deborah’s late-night talk show guest hosting gig sets up her character to appear again this season, thus reuniting Hunt and Jean Smart after 37 years.

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Related Hacks Season 3 Review: The Comedy Series That Reinvents Itself Does It Again & Better Than Ever Hacks season 3 proves that the writers & actors will never do the same thing twice, raising the stakes & creating a well-earned third installment.

Helen Hunt & Jean Smart's Last Collaboration Before Hacks Was In 1987's Project X

The actresses co-starred in the 1987 box office bomb

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With Winnie Wendell being an executive for the network overseeing Danny Collins’ late-night show, which Deborah intends to take over, Helen Hunt and Jean Smart may end up sharing the screen for the first time since their 1987 movie Project X. The Matthew Broderick-starring sci-fi movie featured Hunt as graduate student Teri MacDonald and Smart as Dr. Creswell, who were involved in caring for chimpanzees being used in a project for the US Air Force. Now, about 37 years later, the two are collaborating once again in the critically acclaimed Max original TV show.

Title Rotten Tomatoes Box Office Project X (1987) 74% $21.6 million

Unfortunately, Project X fared poorly at the box office upon release, earning only $21.6 million (via Box Office Mojo) on an estimated $17 million budget (via New York Times). The movie was still relatively successful with critics, holding a 74% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but didn’t do much to help earn bigger Hollywood film roles for Hunt and Smart. However, with the two now back together for Hacks season 3, it’s exciting to see how much each has accomplished in the decades since Project X, with Smart having won five Emmy awards and Hunt having won four Emmys and an Oscar.

It’s exciting to see how much each has accomplished in the decades since Project X, with Smart having won five Emmy awards and Hunt having won four Emmys and an Oscar.

Hacks Season 3 Looks Like Helen Hunt's Best TV Show Role Since Mad About You

Helen Hunt returns to the small screen for another comedic role

Helen Hunt may be an Oscar-winning actress with some big blockbusters to her name, but she rose to fame for her multi-Emmy-winning role as Jamie Buchman on Mad About You. The show ran from 1992 until 1999, with its popularity even leading to a Mad About You and Friends crossover episode in 1994. In the years since, Hunt has made sparingly few TV appearances compared to her film career, which makes her Hacks season 3 role so much more exciting. Not only is Hunt bringing her comedic timing and prowess back to the small screen, but Winnie could also become an important, rounded recurring figure on the show.

New episodes of Hacks season 3 release Thursdays on Max.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, New York Times