On Tuesday, the most-awaited sitcom about the life of Johnson arrived on NBC. The former professional wrestler collaborated with Nahnatchka Khan to create the whole project.
The team cast three different actors to portray the role of Johnson at three different stages of his youth.
Adrian Groulx plays the role of the 10-year-old Johnson. Meanwhile, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu scored the roles for the 15-year-old and 20-year-old version of the actor, respectively.
It quickly received an 83 percent approval rating as of writing, and critics’ “Young Rock” reviews might explain why the series has been well-received.
THE SITCOM EXPLAINS WHAT “FAMILY” AND “HARD WORK” LOOK LIKE
Several people, including Daniel D’Addario of Variety, saw how down-to-Earth Johnson has always been even before he rose to fame.
In his review, he mentioned how the show unceasingly revealed the most likable stories about Johnson’s upbringing as a kid before growing into a fine, young man.
Johnson’s childhood also showed how kind he has always been despite coming from well-known roots of Samoan and Black wrestling family.
“Loud though his aspirations are, three episodes of “Young Rock” gave no further sense of who Johnson is – only what he wants. That may someday be your vote, but for now, it’s your attention, and it can be hard to feel he’s earned it,” the critic went on.
KHAN PERFECTLY TOLD DWAYNE JOHNSON’S LIFE – IN SUCH A SHORT TIME
One of the main problems in creating autobiographical-like sitcoms is telling the whole story even with a short viewing time.
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone applauded Khan and her team’s efforts in transforming the series into a story that does not spoil.
“After a busy pilot episode that tries to give equal time to the many different faces of The Rock – and doesn’t always succeed at that balance – the other episodes NBC provided for review focus on just one of its three Young Rocks, along with commentary from the adult Dwayne Johnson,” Sepinwall noted.
It is worth noting that Khan successfully showed four different eras of The Rock in just a half-hour broadcast each. The sitcom smoothly told the story of how the 10-year-old boy became the people’s champion these days.
“YOUNG ROCK” IS FUNNIER THAN OTHER NBC HALF-HOUR
People know how funny the “Jumanji” star can be, but Johnson brought his hilarious side even on his sitcom.
According to EW’s Kristen Baldwin and Darren Franich, Johnson’s “Young Rock” is way funnier than other NBC half-hour shows, thanks to the main star and its supporting cast that did not allow dead air to surround them.
Rocky Johnson also appeared as Anderson, a natural showman that contributed to the whole sitcom.