Rooster: 5 Months Later, HBO’s 88%-Rated Steve Carell Series Is Still A Perfect Weekend Binge

Published Aug 29, 2026, 7:15 PM EDT Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions. Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston. Five months after its series premiere, this celebrated HBO Max original dramedy series starring Steve Carell remains a perfect 10-part weekend binge. Carell, who is immortalized in TV history as the iconic Michael Scott in the U.S. version of The Office, returns to the small screen in one of his best-ever performances, as evidenced by his recent Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in A Comedy Series. Carell has been nominated for the Emmy 10 times while starring in The Office and has yet to win the coveted prize. HBO's Emmy-nominated dramedy series Rooster earned a strong 88% Rotten Tomatoes score in its first season and features some of Steve Carell's best comedic work in years. Set on a prestigious New England college campus, this is the perfect cozy comedy/drama series for this time of year as the summer heat begins to turn into crisp autumn air during the last weekend of August. Rooster only has 10 short episodes, making it completely reasonable to binge in just a few days and perfect to start and finish in a relaxing weekend at home. Rooster Is One Of The Best New HBO Shows To Binge In A Weekend Rooster is one of the best shows to binge-watch on HBO Max this weekend, or any weekend for that matter. The HBO Max series is generally lighthearted and wholesome but avoids becoming melodramatic and cheesy thanks to likable characters and an inviting college campus setting. Carell stars as Greg Russo, a bestselling novelist who is famous for his Rooster beach read book franchise, who reluctantly takes a job as a professor at a fictional liberal arts college in order to save his daughter, Katie's (Charly Clive), teaching role. Katie discovers her husband, Archie (Phil Dunster), another professor, cheated on her with a grad student, ruining their marriage and inspiring Katie to, somewhat accidentally, burn Archie's house down. This is how Walter Mann (John C. McGinley), the president of Ludlow College, convinces Greg to accept a residency for a semester in exchange for Katie remaining on the college's faculty. Katie is unaware that her father only took the job at Ludlow to save hers, and she must also come to terms with her feelings for Archie, whom she still loves even after his infidelity. Rooster is co-created by Bill Lawrence, one of the most prolific TV producers in the entertainment industry, responsible for massive hit series like Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Scrubs, Bad Monkey, Cougar Town, and more. Rooster marks the first collaboration between Lawrence and Carell and became one of HBO's most consistently watched original comedy series ever, averaging 6.5 million weekly viewers. This places it only behind Sex and the City (1998) and Hung (2009) on HBO's all-time 90-day viewership average for comedy series. Steve Carell Is The Heart & Soul Of HBO's Celebrated Dramedy Series Katrina Marcinowski/HBO While the writing and ensemble cast are both excellent throughout Rooster season 1, Carell unsurprisingly shines in the lead role and elevates the series altogether. He brings a relatable charm to Greg Russo that makes him easy to like, root for, and even respect, as he juggles the responsibilities of his roles as a professor and father while also dealing with his own shortcomings and imperfections. He helps Katie determine what to do about Archie and her future, although his love for his daughter occasionally makes him cross her boundaries. Critics tend to agree that Carell is the heart and soul of Rooster and one of the main draws to the 88% RT series. The Wall Street Journal writes, "Steve Carell’s character in the likable, watchable and even lovable “Rooster” is classic Steve Carell: Self-aware, charming, boyish, incapable of reading a room, sidestepping a faux pas or calculating nuance." IndieWire notes, "Carell is savvy enough to root each preposterous statement or action in something true to his character. It’s a performance worth reveling in." If you're looking for an easy-to-binge feel-good comedy series with a relatively short runtime (5 hours and 9 minutes), you can't go wrong with Rooster on HBO Max. Rooster Release Date March 8, 2026 Network HBO Cast