Stories about the college experience are as evergreen as a hero’s journey. The environment of higher ed is a fertile one, full of conceits and narratives about the urge to better oneself — either through life experience, the pursuit of knowledge, or a litany of other factors we’ve seen throughout this particular kind of storytelling. It’s a tried and true formula for a reason, allowing for all kinds of different generations of characters to learn something about themselves.
“Rooster,” HBO’s newest comedy, which sprang forth from co-creator and comedy legend Bill Lawrence’s lucrative deal with Warner Bros. Television, orients itself around that sense of self-discovery, albeit through a very different lens.
When his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) finds out her husband Archie (Phil Dunster) cheated on her with a grad student named Sunny (Lauren Tsai), pulp novelist Greg Russo (Steve Carell) sloops down into the college where Katie works to save the day under the guise of doing a reading of one of his beloved Rooster series novels (think Donald E. Westlake’s “Parker” series but with a washboard ab’d version of Carell on the cover) for the university’s literary professor, Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler, a delight). Intent to keep an eye on Katie, and at the insistence of the university bureaucrat Walter Mann (John C. McGinley), Greg ends up taking on the writer-in-residency position, where the teacher becomes the student and vice versa.
“Rooster” leans on that sentimentality a touch too much in the early stages of its episodes (HBO sent out six of ten episodes to critics; I watched all six). Like some of the other series Lawrence has been involved with over the years, including “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking” and “Scrubs,” this show works best when it balances comedy and melancholy in equal measure.
In fact, the comedic beats of “Rooster” are almost a Trojan horse for the relationship between Carell and Clive (who reportedly went through a lengthy audition process to land the role). Greg and his ex-wife Beth (Connie Britton) separated a number of years ago, so seeing the cycle potentially repeat with Katie and Archie gives “Rooster” much of its narrative momentum as father and daughter try to navigate the hurt together. The dynamic between the two is stellar and really what makes “Rooster” well, cluck (sorry).
But the series comes alive when it leans into the somberness of what Greg’s experienced and what Katie is currently going through. The sadder tone works really well for Carell’s multifaceted skillset as a performer, but it’s Clive who is bound to turn heads. As someone largely unfamiliar with her comedic work in the UK, I now want to retroactively seek out what I’ve missed. Her instincts and timing are incredible, making it seem like she’s been in the business for decades despite landing her first project in 2018.
“Rooster” does have its laughs, though, the best of which come from Greg’s exploration of being on a college campus in a modern-day environment, which is mined to smart effect. To wit: an illusion to the titular white whale of “Moby Dick” from Greg is perceived by a female student as a fat-shaming comment and lands him in the midst of a disciplinary board hearing. Jokes like this, of which there are several throughout the series, aren’t trying to punch down about “woke” culture, but rather, function as the best kinds of setups and punchlines, i.e., ones based on misunderstandings on both sides, wrapped through the understanding that current college students are far more socially conscious nowadays.
“Rooster” also proves to be a great vehicle for Deadwyler, whose role as the comedic foil typically generated some of my favorite humorous beats. And it wouldn’t be a Bill Lawrence series without a colorful supporting cast, which includes the previously mentioned McGinley and Dunster, alongside stalwart comedic performers like Annie Mumolo, Alan Ruck, Rory Scovel, and Scott MacArthur.
While “Rooster” builds a solid foundation for itself, its most exciting deviations and tensions came toward the end of the episodes provided by HBO, which certainly left me wanting to see how Lawrence and co-creator Matt Tarses continue to mine the dynamics of their characters. It’s hard to know how the season may resolve itself with four episodes left, but if the series can build on the momentum it builds here, “Rooster” may hit a rarified air typically reserved for the best shows, one which feels like an accurate portrait of the ups and downs of life, rendered in both comedic and tragic clarity.
That, combined with a tremendously compelling central dynamic thanks to the charm and charisma of Carell and Clive, makes the trip back to school well worth it.
“Rooster” premieres Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
