Rooster will continue to crow for another season.
HBO has renewed the comedy, starring Steve Carell and created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, for a second season. The pickup comes halfway through the show’s 10-episode first season, which centers on the relationship between an author (Carell) and his college professor daughter (Charly Clive).
Rooster has performed well for HBO and HBO Max so far, averaging 5.8 million cross-platform viewers per episode since its March 8 premiere. The Warner Bros. TV series is on pace to be HBO’s most watched first-year comedy in more than a decade.
“It’s been heartening to feel the audience embrace Rooster, as we did when we first saw Steve, Bill and Matt bring this character to life,” said Amy Gravitt, executive vp HBO Programming and head of comedy series for HBO and HBO Max. “Along with our partners at WBTV and Doozer, we’re looking forward to seeing what Ludlow’s spring semester has in store for this incredible comedy ensemble.”
Added Lawrence, “We are so grateful to Warner Bros. Television and HBO for being such great partners and to Casey [Bloys], Amy and Channing [Dungey] for giving us the opportunity to keep making this show with Steve and our amazing cast. It’s been a career highlight for both of us, but more for Matt than me.”
Rooster follows Carell’s character Greg Russo, an author of pulpy, popular novels whose lead character is named Rooster. He comes to the college where his daughter, Katie (Clive), teaches and is in the midst of a personal crisis and agrees to stay on as a guest lecturer in exchange for Katie being able to remain in her job after she accidentally burns down her cheating husband’s (Phil Dunster) house.
Danielle Deadwyler, John C. McGinley and Lauren Tsai also star, and Annie Mumolo, Robby Hoffman, Rory Scovel, Alan Ruck and Connie Britton have also appeared in the series.
Carell told The Hollywood Reporter before the series premiere that he was on board after reading the scrpt for Rooster. “It was one of the best comedy pilots I’ve read — period,” he said. “Pilots are the hardest to write. You’re creating a world, you’re introducing it to an audience and you have to do it quickly, efficiently, without feeling like it’s all backstory — and be funny at the same time.”
“Rooster is a heartfelt, endearing series, and its second season renewal is richly deserved,” said Clancy Collins White, president creative affairs at WBTV. “Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses are masters of their craft, bringing their signature heart and humor to life through an incredible cast led by Steve Carell. We’re thrilled to continue this creative journey with HBO and Doozer.”
Lawrence and Tarses, who both have overall deals at Warner Bros. TV, executive produce Rooster with Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer of Lawrence’s Doozer Productions, Jonathan Krisel, Barbie Adler, Annie Mebane, David Stassen, Anthony King, David Hyman and Carell.
