# Young Rock (2021)

> A comedic, self-mythologizing retelling of Dwayne Johnson's childhood, teenage years, and football days, framed by a 2032 presidential run.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/82331

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 36
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang
- Network: NBC
- Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Ana Tuisila, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Fasitua Amosa
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: irreverent, nostalgic, warm, self-deprecating, breezy

## What critics say

Critics generally find the series warm and charming, with its young cast and family storytelling carrying a formulaic sitcom structure.

## Synopsis

Young Rock (2021-2023) is a United States network comedy series created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang for NBC, a half-hour autobiographical sitcom. Dwayne Johnson plays a mock-presidential narrator, a candidate running for office in 2032, who revisits his own youth through outrageous family stories, with Johnson himself portraying the adult on-screen version. The younger Dwayne is played across ages by Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, and Uli Latukefu, while Joseph Lee Anderson plays his wrestling father Rocky Johnson and Stacey Leilua plays his mother Ata. The engine is a boy trying to find his place between a volatile household, a wrestling world that defines his father, and a rebellious teenage life in Pennsylvania. Each episode moves through a single chapter of that life, from childhood amid wrestling icons to high school trouble and then a football career at the University of Miami. The series runs for three seasons and thirty-six episodes in a single continuing arc of growing up. Its tone is warm, self-deprecating, and nostalgic, with broad family comedy balanced by sincere affection. Fans of The Wonder Years, Atypical, and Entourage will find resonance in its blend of memoir, celebrity charm, and heart.

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