'Young Rock': Dwayne Johnson to star in NBC sitcom inspired by his 'insanely unbelievable' childhood
The NBC network revealed that it has ordered 11 episodes of the new comedy series 'Young Rock' starring Dwayne Johnson.
The California-born star will be in every episode and will also be an executive producer on the series.
Paul Telegdy, NBC Entertainment chairman, announced the happy news at the Television Critics Association press tour this weekend.
Johnson took to his Instagram account to confirm the news with a caption revealing what we can expect from the new comedy series: "The story of my wildly unpredictable life comes to @NBC 'YOUNG ROCK'. For the first time ever I’m bringing you along with me to experience my insanely unbelievable childhood, teenage years and adolescence. My close friends refer to me as the big, brown tattooed Forrest Gump because of everyone and everything that has weaved in and out of my surreal life. I’ve seen it all my friends - success, failure, homelessness, evictions, suicide attempts, arrests, hard times, good times, low times, high times. And all this shit happened to me by the time I turned 21. This is a show about my young life. And the lessons I learned. The good, the bad, the ugly but ALWAYS FUNNY. Excited to bring you on this journey of taking a look at my past life, thru the lens of what the future holds. And who knows what that might 🇺🇸 be.@nbc@sevenbucksprod #fiercebabyproductions #YOUNGROCK Coming soon!"
The series is inspired by the star's formative years. The actor was born in Northern California and spent his younger years growing up in Hawaii, Tennessee, and Connecticut with more than a few stops in between.
The series will be co-written by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang. Both Khan and Chiang will also serve as executive producers with Johnson and his Seven Bucks Productions' Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz, and Jennifer Carreras. The show will be produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks and Khan’s Fierce Baby Productions.
The release date has not been confirmed by NBC as of yet, but if previous schedules could serve as a possible estimate, we should expect it the show to air in the 2020-2021 season.
The will mark the second time 'The Rock' has worked with NBC as he is soon set to return for the second season of 'The Titan Games' where he serves as host and co-executive producer.
Johnson is also currently in the hit movie 'Jumanji: The Next Level' that grossed in more than $600 million at the box office, and he will also appear in upcoming Disney's 'Jungle Cruise.'
“We're going to find the Rock wreaking havoc in the streets of Hawaii getting arrested. We were forced to leave the island and move to all places, Nashville, Tennessee. Those were the years that were very formative and helped shape me. The confluence of wild personalities that came in and out of my life during these times are just fascinating," Johnson said in a video.