“Rooster,” starring Steve Carell, is the latest project from “Ted Lasso” creator Bill Lawrence. The show follows popular fiction author Greg Russo (Steve Carell) as he moves in with his daughter Katie Russo (Charly Clive), a professor at a small liberal arts college, after her husband, a history professor Archie (Phil Dunster), leaves her for a graduate student (Lauren Tsa). Russo, still reeling from his own divorce, tries to get the couple back together by taking a writer’s residency at the same university. The title comes from Greg’s lead character in his action novels, a half-action star, half self-insert. Carell makes a very interesting straight man. For most of his career, he has been the comedic character, but in “Rooster,” he takes on the role of the least crazy one, between the health nut president of the university (John C. McGinley) and the walking HR nightmare dean of students (Alan Ruck).
The show relies heavily on the same awkward humor we have come to expect from “Ted Lasso,” but the episodes so far lack the heart that attracted viewers to that show in the first place. The culture gap between a popular fiction author and professors at a small liberal arts university seems much smaller than that between a UK soccer team and a U.S. football coach. Though the third episode almost begins to get into his culture clash with his creative students (this might be my basis as a creative writing major, but those were my favorite parts of the show), there was not enough of that clash to really hold up the show for an hour and a half of television.
Generally, the show seems to lack direction. Characters seem to putter around in beautiful woodsy settings, delivering lines that you can tell the writer thought were extremely clever. Though, I have to admit, the part where Dunster is chased around a bed and breakfast with nothing on but a sweater and his boxers, while Carell tries to beat him with a ladle, is very funny. The story does not really get going until the third episode, and the comedic beats of the first two episodes are not enough to carry an hour’s worth of television.
Even in episode three, there was a series of jokes that left a bad taste in my mouth. A series of misunderstandings such as the student missing hearing the phrase ‘white whale’ as a comment on her weight that landed Carrell in the disciplinary office felt more like bits from a DailyWire+ skit than something from the producers of “Ted Lasso.”
That all being said, there does seem to be some genuine humor in it from time to time, such as when Russo attacks Archie for getting the graduate student pregnant. Yet, the majority of the humor seems just to be pointing out how awkward all the characters are. While I do think the show has a lot of potential, it isn’t something I’d hold my breath over. The third episode is actually quite funny, so if you are willing to skip the first two episodes (and deal with the confusion that comes with that), it might actually be enjoyable. But personally, “Rooster” just doesn’t seem to wake me up.
