Rooster (TV series)

Rooster
GenreComedy
Created byBill Lawrence
Matt Tarses
Starring
Music byAndrew Watt
Opening theme"I Played the Fool" by Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producers
CinematographyBlake McClure
Editors
  • Ali Greer
  • Matthew Freund
Running time30–34 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMarch 8, 2026 (2026-03-08) –
present

Rooster is an American comedy series created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, and starring Steve Carell. It premiered on March 8, 2026, on HBO.[1][2]

Cast

Main

Recurring

Episodes

No.Title [13]Directed byWritten byOriginal release date [13]Prod.
code
1"Release the Brown Fat"Jonathan KriselBill Lawrence & Matt TarsesMarch 8, 2026 (2026-03-08)T12.20101
Greg Russo is a middle-aged author of a series of commercially popular beach read novels about a private investigator named Rooster. He arrives at Ludlow College, a liberal arts college in New England, to present a talk on his books, organized by English professor Dylan Shepard. His real reason for coming to Ludlow is to check on his daughter Katie, an art professor at the college, whose husband and fellow professor Archie has recently left her for a graduate student named Sunny. Katie assures her father that everything is fine, but he encourages her to talk to Archie. On his first night at Ludlow, Greg and Dylan share a drink at the local inn and reminisce about their lives. He offers to walk her home, but gently rebuffs her advances. The next day, Katie goes to Archie's home and learns that Sunny is pregnant; after forcing Archie out, Katie burns his most prized possession—a first-edition copy of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace—in the fireplace, only for the fire to go out of control and burn Archie's house down. When Greg arrives at the scene, Katie refuses to deny her involvement in causing the fire.
2"Trousers"Jonathan KriselAnnie MebaneMarch 15, 2026 (2026-03-15)T12.20102
After Katie admits to having caused the fire and deliberately burning Archie's copy of War and Peace, her job gets placed in jeopardy. Katie decides to resign from her teaching position at Ludlow, but Greg tries to convince her otherwise. He is able to persuade Walter Mann, the college's eccentric president, to get Katie her job back on the condition that she writes a letter explaining her reasoning for the fire and that he accept a position as a writer-in-residence for the rest of the semester; Greg reluctantly agrees. Dylan attempts to get The Ludlow Review, the college's student writing publication, two issues a year but finds out that the Review is discontinuing its print edition due to budgetary cuts. She runs into Greg at a local diner, who apologizes for the previous night and buys her breakfast. Katie accidentally slips to Greg about Sunny's pregnancy; furious, Greg confronts Archie in his hotel room while he is conducting a televised interview for the BBC. The confrontation quickly turns physical, and a disgraced Archie moves into Sunny's apartment. Greg bids farewell to Katie and tells her that he will see her again that upcoming Monday.
3"White Whale"Zach BraffDavid StassenMarch 22, 2026 (2026-03-22)T12.20103
4"Angry, Like An Angry Person"TBATBAMarch 29, 2026 (2026-03-29)TBA

Production

The ten-part series is written and created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses and received a straight-to-series order from HBO in 2024. The cast is led by Steve Carell who is also an executive producer alongside Lawrence, Tarses, Jeff Ingold, Liza Katzer, Jonathan Krisel, Barbie Adler, Annie Mebane, David Stassen and Anthony King. It is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Doozer Productions.[3][1]

Phil Dunster joined the cast in November 2024 with Charly Clive joining the cast as Carell's daughter the following month.[6][5] Danielle Deadwyler, Lauren Tsai and John C. McGinley joined the cast in February 2025.[7][4][8] Connie Britton and Annie Mumolo joined the cast in recurring roles in June 2025.[9][10] The following month, Robby Hoffman and Scott MacArthur joined the cast in recurring roles.[11][12]

Filming

Principal photography for Rooster began in June 2025 at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California which served as Ludlow College.[14][15] Exteriors were filmed at the University of the Pacific over the course of two weeks.[16] Looking to emulate an elite East Coast liberal arts school, co-creator Matt Tarses originally envisioned shooting Rooster at his alma mater Williams College in Massachusetts. However, the studio had approved shooting interiors in Los Angeles so they needed to find a college within driving distance of Los Angeles.[17] Extras during the university shoot had to wear autumnal clothing in 100°F / 37°C heat.[18] Additional footage for Ludlow College was shot at Occidental College and the University of Southern California.[19] Studio filming for interiors took place at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank. Principal photography wrapped in August 2025.[20]

Release

The series premiered on HBO on March 8, 2026.[2]

Reception

Critical response

The series holds an 89% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 44 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Rooster nestles in with humor and heart thanks to Steve Carell's soothing performance and Danielle Deadwyler's exuberant support, leading Bill Lawrence's kind-spirited, good-time new series to lovely heights."[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable".[22]

Audience viewership

The series became the most watched comedy premiere on HBO in the U.S. over a decade. Rooster drew 2.4 million viewers in the U.S. across platforms in its first three days of availability.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Gomez, Dessi (December 8, 2025). "Bill Lawrence's HBO Comedy Series Starring Steve Carell Has Its Title And Premiere Window". Deadline. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "HBO Original Comedy Series ROOSTER, Starring Steve Carell, From Bill Lawrence And Matt Tarses, Debuts March 8". Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom. February 5, 2026. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  3. ^ a b Otterson, Joe (May 20, 2024). "Steve Carell to Star in HBO Comedy Series From Bill Lawrence, Matt Tarses". Variety. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 19, 2025). "HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series Adds Danielle Deadwyler To Cast". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Porter, Rick (November 8, 2024). "'Ted Lasso' Star Phil Dunster Boards HBO's Steve Carell Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (December 12, 2024). "HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series Casts Charly Clive As Co-Lead". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 28, 2025). "HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series Adds Lauren Tsai To Cast". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (February 25, 2025). "John C. McGinley Joins HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series In 'Scrubs' Reunion With Creators Bill Lawrence & Matt Tarses". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (June 16, 2025). "HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series Adds Annie Mumolo". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Cordero, Rosy (June 18, 2025). "Connie Britton Joins HBO's Steve Carell Comedy Series". Deadline. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Riley, Jenelle (July 7, 2025). "'Hacks' Breakout Robby Hoffman Joins Steve Carell's New HBO Comedy (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Otterson, Joe (July 29, 2025). "'Running Point' Star Scott MacArthur Joins Steve Carell College Comedy at HBO (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Shows A–Z – Rooster on HBO". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
  14. ^ Karcher, Carmela (June 10, 2025). "Filming for HBO series starring Steve Carell takes over Stockton's University of the Pacific". CBS News. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  15. ^ Porras, Gabriel (June 12, 2025). "Stockton sees economic boost from new HBO series shoot". KXTV. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  16. ^ Gallucci, Nicole (March 9, 2026). "Where Is 'Rooster' Filmed? And Is Ludlow College Real?". Decider. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  17. ^ Gentile, Dan (March 9, 2026). "Overlooked Calif. university is the background for Steve Carell's new HBO show, 'Rooster'". SFGate. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  18. ^ ABC10 (March 6, 2026). "Pacific student says filming Steve Carell's new HBO show in Stockton was a summer highlight". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved March 9, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Shrestha, Naman (March 8, 2026). "Where is HBO's Rooster Filmed?". Moviedelic. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  20. ^ "All 8 Rooster (2026) Filming Locations Revealed". Tonboriday. March 8, 2026. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  21. ^ "Rooster: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  22. ^ "Rooster: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  23. ^ Seitz, Loree (March 12, 2026). "'Rooster' Recruits 2.4 Million Viewers, HBO's Most-Watched US Comedy Debut in Over 10 Years". TheWrap. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.