Young Rock


Young Rock is an American television sitcom based upon the life of professional wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson, also known by his ring name "The Rock". The series was created by Johnson, Jeff Chiang and Nahnatchka Khan. It aired on NBC from February 16, 2021, to February 24, 2023. In April 2021, the series was renewed for a second season. A holiday special episode aired on December 15, 2021, and the second season premiered on March 15, 2022. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on November 4, 2022. The series was cancelled in June 2023.

Premise

The sitcom is organized around a frame story set in the early 2030s, beginning with Johnson running for office in the 2032 United States presidential election. Each episode involves Johnson participating in an interview or other conversation which leads him to flashback to a story from one of three periods of Johnson's life, with occasional episodes where all three periods are shown. In the first season, Johnson is depicted as a ten-year-old in Hawaii; as a high school student in Pennsylvania; and as a college student and football player at the University of Miami.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Dwayne Johnson as himself in scenes set in the future
  • * Adrian Groulx as 10- to 14-year-old Dwayne, usually called Dewey by family
  • * Bradley Constant as 15- to 17-year-old Dwayne
  • * Uli Latukefu as 18- to 26-year-old Dwayne
  • Joseph Lee Anderson as Rocky Johnson, Dwayne's father
  • Stacey Leilua as Ata Johnson, Dwayne's mother
  • Ana Tuisila as Lia Maivia, Dwayne's grandmother, Ata's mother
  • * Tuisila also plays the 1960's version of Lia
  • Matthew Willig as André the Giant

    Recurring

1982

Season 1 (2021)

Special (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Season 3 (2022–23)

Production

Development

On January 11, 2020, NBC gave a straight-to-series order to Young Rock, a comedy series based on Dwayne Johnson's early life created by Johnson and Nahnatchka Khan and produce the series with Jeff Chiang, Dany Garcia, Jennifer Carreras, Hiram Garcia, and Brian Gewirtz with Khan and Chiang writing the pilot. In November 2020, production on the series commenced in Australia. On January 15, 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere on February 16, 2021. On April 30, 2021, NBC renewed the series for a second season, again filmed in Australia. A holiday special episode titled as "A Christmas Peril" aired
on December 15, 2021, ahead of the second season premiere on March 15, 2022. On May 12, 2022, NBC renewed the series for a third season, which was filmed in Memphis, Tennessee. The third season premiered on November 4, 2022, following Lopez vs Lopez as a part of NBC's Friday Comedy Hour block. On June 9, 2023, NBC canceled the series after three seasons.

Casting

Three actors were cast to play Johnson at three ages from his youth. On September 30, 2020, Johnson revealed that Bradley Constant was cast as 15-year-old Johnson, Uli Latukefu as 18–20-year-old Johnson, Adrian Groulx as 10-year-old Johnson, Stacey Leilua as Johnson's mother, Ata Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson as Johnson's father, Rocky Johnson, and Ana Tuisila as Johnson's grandmother, Lia Maivia. On August 3, 2021, Matthew Willig was promoted to series regular for the second season.

Release

Marketing

During the 2020 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, an inflatable CGI float featuring Dwayne Johnson in his 20s was unveiled in promotion of the television show.

Home media

released the complete first season of Young Rock on DVD and manufacture-on-demand Blu-ray on March 29, 2022, with its second season was released on DVD and Blu-ray also as manufacture-on-demand titles on November 8, seven months after the first season's home release.

Reception

Critical response

The series received generally positive reviews from critics throughout its run. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a rating of 90% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by a winsome ensemble, Young Rock is an endearing peek behind the curtain of both Dwayne Johnson's childhood and the wild world of wrestling." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The series has been criticized by Jim Cornette for its historical inaccuracy and unflattering portrayal of several wrestlers.

Ratings

Overall

Season 1

Special

Season 2

Season 3

Accolades

The series was one of 101 out of the 200 most-popular scripted television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2020 to 2021. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire women, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.
AwardYearCategoryRecipientResult
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2021Best Broadcast Network Series, ComedyYoung RockWon
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2021Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, ComedyJoseph Lee AndersonNomitated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2021Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, ComedyStacey LeiluaNomitated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2021Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, ComedyDwayne JohnsonNomitated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2021Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, ComedyAna TuisilaNomitated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards2022Best Broadcast Network Series, ComedyYoung RockNomitated
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards2023Favorite Family TV ShowYoung RockNomitated
People's Choice Awards2021Comedy Show of 2022Young RockNomitated
People's Choice Awards2021Male TV Star of 2022Dwayne JohnsonNomitated
People's Choice Awards2021Comedy TV Star of 2022Dwayne JohnsonNomitated
People's Choice Awards2022Comedy Show of 2022Young RockNomitated
People's Choice Awards2022Male TV Star of 2022Dwayne JohnsonNomitated
People's Choice Awards2022Comedy TV Star of 2022Dwayne JohnsonNomitated