When his college professor daughter Katie (Charly Clive) gets into a bind, Russo comes to the small town to check on her. Her cheating professor husband Archie (Phil Dunster) has impregnated a PhD student, and now Katie is dealing with the aftermath of that revelation as well as the gossip going around campus.

Walter Mann (John C. McGinley), the President of the school, is thrilled to have Russo on campus and blackmails him into taking the job of resident author at the college. Their relationship throughout the first season is complicated but friendly and built on respect.

Russo and the Dean, Dylan Shepherd (Danielle Deadwyler), have a tenuous friendship, also built on respect, but with some humorous tensions that often arise.

As the school year progresses, Russo must navigate his unique relationship with his students. Is he their friend or teacher? Or can he be both? They identify him as the character in his novels named Rooster, so that is how many of them refer to him. But Russo is definitely not his protagonist.

Having recently divorced his wife Elizabeth (Connie Britton), Russo is still dealing with his feelings for her.

The disruption in their marriage was due to Elizabeth, who now finds herself in the awkward situation of being “the Archie” in the paradigm, referring to Katie’s philandering husband. To say this entire family has issues is an understatement.

The interplay between the college staff and the students, as well as Russo and Katie, offers comedic situations and the dialog is quick and humorous. This is a whacky college, to put it bluntly.

As Russo navigates his new situation, he discovers things about himself as his past bubbles to the surface.

Carell is endearing as Greg Russo. The character of Russo, aka Rooster, is simple but also complex. And the rest of the characters also provide plenty of depth to this light-hearted show.

The series has been renewed for a second season. “Rooster” is HBO’s most-watched comedy, making it a “must see” for HBO viewers and fans of Carell. The entire first season is available to stream on HBO Max.