by Nick Ferro, Editor
Last month I talked about Bill Lawrence’s many projects while reviewing the latest season of Scrubs. I have long been a fan of his comedy and writing and more recently I have been especially drawn in to the way he depicts family units. Particularly found family. I can imagine being a creator in Hollywood with many long-running shows to his name has allowed him to develop strong bonds with many of those actors. In fact, I don’t have to imagine I have heard him say as much in interviews. But considering that many of his projects have included actors from his earlier works as either guest stars, cameos, or even major supporting roles has led me to believe this to be true. I have observed that there are two primary ways that he likes to approach this type of storytelling, one by showing a group form a bond together through the lens of one protagonist. Think Cougar Town or Shrinking. The other is when one protagonist can spark camaraderie in a group like Ted Lasso. Lawrence clearly writes about what he knows, and I think it is safe to say, he knows what goes into making a family out of your friends and co-workers.
Rooster is another such project where once again Lawrence takes a group of people and fuses their lives together in a way that sparks potential lifelong friendships. However, this time, he finds a new way to do it, or at least a twist on an old way. Like Ted Lasso, Rooster is about a character from the outside being introduced into a new environment where everyone else is familiar. In this case a college campus. Greg Russo (Steve Carell), the author of a famous series of spy novels, pays a visit to his alma matter, Ludlow College, to visit his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) a professor whose husband Archie, (Phil Dunster), also a professor at the college, just got caught cheating on her with his student assistant Sunny (Lauren Tsai). While there, Greg is introduced to what will over the course of this season, his new “found family.”
First off is Walter Mann (John C. McGinley) president of the college and avid health nut. He spends the majority of the pilot attempting to get Greg to join the school as a literary professor and to join him for a steam in the sauna. I always love to see Johhny C. in a Bill Lawrence show and this is time no different. He is an incredibly quirky character who shows some flavors of his past characters while still delivering on a completely new person to enjoy him embodying. Professor Dylan Shepard (Daniel Deadwyler) plays what at first appears to be the potential “will-they-won’t-they” love interest for Greg but actually becomes much more of a friend and confidant as the season progresses. There could still be future potential for these two, but I like how season one doesn’t make it their whole dynamic. I found her character’s arc to be incredibly satisfying to watch as she goes from being just another professor to a more confident member of the faculty. Plus, her friendship with Greg and chemistry between the actors was a huge win.
Greg also gets to know several students during his time at Ludlow like Ronni (Sophia Macy), the stereotypical “offended by everything” student which leads to some very funny disciplinary moments for Greg. But the most important student he meets is Tommy (Maximo Salas). Tommy isn’t the best student and only got in because his parent works for the school. But Greg sees potential in him immediately through his writing. Tommy has unrealized potential that a good teacher can help and that’s exactly what Greg tries to do, despite all the shenanigans that occurs in this wildly funny and irreverent show from a drunken frat party to replacing the school’s drunk hockey coach.
There are other characters that pop up to add flavor like Mo (Robby Hoffman, Hacks) Sunny’s quirky roommate who hates Archie. Or Officer Mullins (Rory Scovel) the doofy town cop who is terrible at his job but also happens to always be around when Greg doesn’t want him there. But ultimately the crux of this story is how Greg is working hard to be a part of his daughter’s life without being controlling. The “B plot” of this season is Katie and Archie’s marriage or the lack thereof and whether or not it’s salvageable. Dunster is a real standout in the show as the D-bag you love to hate who is somehow managing to be a completely different character as Jamie Tart but still able to evoke all the same feelings from an audience who might have been primed to see him as nothing but. I really was blown away by how quickly I kept forgetting that this was the same actor. Despite Dunster being the actor we know from that other big project, I really loved Clive’s performance throughout the season. She is allowed to feel every emotion under the sun from betrayal, to revenge, to embarrassment, to empowerment. She is the one character, aside from her main character father, who experiences the most change and growth as the season progresses and I always enjoyed when she got to spend time with others in the cast just as much as Carell.
Like all Doozer productions, Rooster’s strongest asset is the strength of it’s cast as a comedic ensemble. One of these actors by themselves might carry a show for a season or two but seeing this group of characters interact in different ways and form a community around one man, who manages to touch their lives in unique ways, is why I think this show will continue for several years in much the same way Lawrence’s other shows have. On top of that, this show is very funny! It isn’t afraid to poke fun at what some might call the “liberal woke agenda” because it also delivers on the strong and important message that being woke just means striving to be a good person. It is not okay to treat people the same way it used to be accepted and ignored in the past. Showing growth, understanding, and learning from your mistakes is part of what makes a community thrive. But it’s also okay to laugh at yourself when you make those mistakes and it’s okay to give people who are trying to be better second, third, or even fourth chance so long as they are consistently showing an honest effort to improve. Greg’s biggest strength is his ability to grow. He isn’t perfect. He screws up all the time, but as Superman once said, “that’s what makes him human.”
Overall, Rooster wasn’t a show that I rushed to watch as soon as the new episode aired each week, but it was one that I made sure to check out before there was a backlog. I enjoyed my time with it, and I plan on returning for season two. If you like Bill Lawrence shows, laughing, Steve Carell, or one of the countless actors in this show, you will have a good time and when it comes to thirty-minute sitcoms these days, what more can you ask?
Rating: Liked It
Rooster is available to stream on HBOMAX
You can read more from Nick Ferro, and follow him on Letterboxd