The best shows evolve almost immediately beyond their setups, using them to introduce characters and establish a framework but not leaning on them after that. A significant event or life cycle development is often a catalyst for a major change in career, location, relationship status, or all of the above, but it doesn’t have to define their journeys. Rooster ostensibly centers on an author navigating newly single life as his daughter goes through her own relationship journey, but it’s a sophisticated, rich comedy that expands to include its entire ensemble in a phenomenal way.
Greg (Steve Carell) has done pretty well for himself when it comes to his books, but they’re far from sophisticated. Even he isn’t able to pretend when he’s speaking at the college where his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) works that he’s written anything of significance, but dean Walter Mann (John C. McGinley) thinks otherwise and wants him to fill a vacancy they have for a guest lecturer. While he’s initially unsure about sticking around, the opportunity to be there for Katie, who has recently suffered the humiliation of everyone learning that her husband Archie (Phil Dunster), also a professor, cheated on her with grad student Sunny (Lauren Tsai), whether Katie wants him to be around or not.
Rooster is the latest hit series from Bill Lawrence, who is currently on a real high with Ted Lasso and Shrinking, and Matt Tarses, who has worked with Lawrence on Scrubs and Bad Monkey. It’s a dream duo who have a different cast and premise to work with here and knock it out of the park again. Like Jason Segel’s Jimmy on Shrinking, Greg is somewhat aimless and hasn’t quite figured out how to be an adult, but he’s doing his best, one inappropriate relationship or interaction at a time. One running joke is that he frequently says and does the wrong things, which are quickly misinterpreted and earn him disciplinary scoldings, but it’s never overplayed, with Greg closer to a Ted Lasso than a Jimmy or J.D., confident enough in himself to get by even if he’s not quite getting everything right.
Since exiting his career-making breakthrough in The Office, Carell has been doing everything possible to reshape his image into that of a more dramatic actor, with grumpier and darker roles in The Four Seasons, The Morning Show, and The Morning Show. Even Space Force, which featured plenty of humor, found him playing the straight man. Rooster is a great gift for longtime Carell fans: this is the funniest he’s been since Michael Scott. Greg is far more intelligent and sensible, but the way in which he responds to the unfortunate and generally preventable events around him is almost effortlessly funny. It’s a much more reserved take that mines just as much marvelous comedy.
Like all of Lawrence’s projects, this isn’t just about the lead actor. Opposite Carell is Danielle Deadwyler, who, after a stint of solid but extremely serious parts in fare like Till and The Piano Lesson, is doing something wholly new. It’s tremendous fun to watch her professor Dylan navigate her own career tweaking as she steps into a position of power without fully considering what it means to have authority. She and Carell are a fantastic unexpected pair. Clive, who got her TV start with the spectacular Pure, is just as formidable a scene partner for Carell, leaning into the awkwardness of Katie’s efforts to get her life back on track as she can’t adequately combat public perception and her own disastrous instincts.
A superpower of Lawrence’s has always been to find actors he’s worked with before and put them to excellent use in brilliant new ways. The most gratifying reunion of all is with McGinley, whose Dr. Cox on Scrubs is among the most memorable characters ever to grace TV screens. The intensity is the same with Walter even if his demeanor and worldview are totally different, and it’s a gift to have McGinley back with Lawrence again. Dunster, a more recent collaborator from Ted Lasso, is also superb, keeping Archie likeable enough and just as prone to poor decisions that come off as regrettable in an entertaining way rather than totally despicable. Tsai is the best surprise, since Sunny could easily be one-dimensional but instead is just as frazzled and directionless as the rest of the characters, elevating a role that could have been completely forgettable to just as vital as the rest of the cast.
The poster for Rooster, which shows Carell’s Greg scratching his head with a smile on his face as he does the walk of shame across campus, doesn’t do this show’s substance justice. Even the meaning behind that nickname, given to Greg by Tommy, (Maximo Salas), a student who becomes much more of a friend, is secondary to the stellar writing that goes beyond promotional hooks. This show blends comedy and drama well, leaning on standout recurring players like Rory Scovel and Robby Hoffman to deliver big laughs while keeping it all focused on some higher goal of emotional resonance. Above all, this is a comedy that does what comedies do best: ensures entertainment for its audience while staying just serious enough to rein in its chaos in a believable way.
Series grade: 9/10
