{"id":95212,"date":"2026-06-21T17:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=95212"},"modified":"2026-06-21T17:06:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:06:52","slug":"getting-down-with-a-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/06\/21\/getting-down-with-a-hack\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Down With A Hack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowing how to wrap up a beloved series is a tricky thing.  It rarely lives up to expectations.  I love Hacks<\/em><\/strong>, but felt the final season kinda limped along without the fervor of previous years.  That said, I did find the last episode touching and fitting.  It inspired me to revisit the series\u2019 original pilot.  That\u2019s when I realized how PERFECT the finale was.  A work of genius.  While I don\u2019t love how they got there, they pulled it off.  Bravo!<\/p>\n

Speaking of Hacks<\/em>, it was only at the end of the run that Paul W. Downs <\/strong>showed off virtually every inch of his beautiful body on the show.  We ogled his physical perfection, and wondered why he hadn\u2019t been flaunting it forever.  He heard our cries \u2013 or, more likely, decided that with Hacks<\/em> in the rearview mirror, he could distract us.  What other reason could there be for him to recreate Marky Mark<\/strong>\u2019s iconic Calvin Klein <\/em>undies photo shoot for Paper<\/em>?  While he doesn\u2019t seem to possess Wahlberg<\/strong>\u2019s \u201clargess\u201d, he certainly makes up for it with his tight and toned torso \u2013 surely wasted on a straight guy.  He even indulged in a number of shots with his Hacks<\/em> cohort, Meg Stalter<\/strong>, taking up where Kate Moss <\/strong>left off.  The sizzling snaps can be seen on BillyMasters.com<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In case you wanted even more of the Hacks<\/em> hunk, Downs mounted the stage of the Las Culturistas Culture Awards<\/em><\/strong> on Bravo<\/em>.  He accepted The Shrek Award<\/em> for Top Thing We Want to Do to That Green Guy<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 in full Shrek<\/em><\/strong> regalia, including the little brown vest and green body paint.  While in character, he didn\u2019t rule out using a double-headed dildo (filing that away for future reference).  You can see the entire bit on our website.<\/p>\n

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The scene-stealing Stalter is poised to make her Broadway <\/em>debut in Oh, Mary<\/em><\/strong>.  Could it be that, like Maya Rudolph<\/strong>, she will prove that a woman can actually play the role of Mary Todd Lincoln <\/strong>and do well at the box office?  We\u2019ll find out when she debuts on July 6th<\/sup>.  She\u2019s scheduled to stay with the show until September 12th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

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If there\u2019s a show that works with stunt casting, it\u2019s Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em><\/strong>.  You\u2019d think it couldn\u2019t get more stunty than last summer\u2019s Hollywood Bowl <\/em>production with Cynthia Erivo <\/strong>and Adam Lambert<\/strong>.  But let me tell you about a production that already played Regent\u2019s Park Open Air Theatre <\/em>in London.  After winning all sorts of awards, it just transferred to the London Palladium<\/em>, where it will play until September 5th<\/sup>.  And, kinda like Chicago<\/em><\/strong> on Broadway<\/em>, there will be a rash of rotating Herods \u2013 most notably Jesse Tyler Ferguson <\/strong>(June 20 \u2013 July 11) and Boy George <\/strong>(August 3-15).  Due to demand, the production will then transfer to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane<\/em> in the fall and feature a few fantastic fellas in the role.  Even more intriguing are Matt Bomer <\/strong>(October 16-31), Bob the Drag Queen <\/em><\/strong>(November 16-21), and Michael Ball <\/strong>(November 23 \u2013 December 5).  Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Knowing how to wrap up a beloved series is a tricky thing.  It rarely lives up to expectations.  I love Hacks, but felt the final season kinda limped along without the fervor of previous years.  That said, I did find the last episode touching and fitting.  It inspired me to revisit the series\u2019 original pilot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95213,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95212\/revisions\/95213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}