In the same vein as Young Sheldon, a primetime sitcom that focuses on the early days of fictional character Sheldon Cooper from the hit comedy The Big Bang Theory, the upcoming NBC primetime sitcom named Young Rock will focus on the early days of XFL owner and entertainment superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The one major difference being that “The Rock” is not a fictional character.
Young Rock, being produced by Seven Bucks Productions, is billed as a sitcom about Dwayne Johnson’s tumultuous “formative years.” In January 2020, NBC placed a straight-to-series order for an eleven episode season of the show. Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson are both reported to be involved as executive producers. As well, Johnson is reported to be a “cast member,” perhaps in a voice-over narration role, appearing in each episode of the series.
The series is reportedly based on Dwayne Johnson’s young life, in the time when he attended high schools in Hawaii and Tennessee. It was in this time of his life that things were most tumultuous, and he had multiple brushes with the law. The comedic story is told from a future Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as he runs for president in 2032 and takes a look back at his extraordinary life through the outrageous stories of his family and youth that shaped him into the man he is today.
Last January, on social media, Dwayne Johnson had this to say about the series:
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.
In July 2020, NBC unveiled the first trailer for Young Rock during a 30 Rock reunion special.
“The Rock” explains in the trailer that the show will cover things from his life that he has not shared with the public, his therapist, “or even Oprah.”
“From growing up in the crazy world of professional wrestling, to being a broke 14-year-old kleptomaniac with a full mustache, to being a troubled 15-year-old country western singer,” Johnson recounted his life. “Playing college football and winning a national championship, to the wild days of the early 90s. In my new show on NBC, we’re gonna explore all of that and more.”
The series was originally set to air in fall 2020, but has been pushed back to early 2021. With the lingering concerns of coronavirus, and The Rock’s busy schedule, the release date may still change further.
There is no word yet as to who would be playing “Young Rock.” Earlier this week it was reported that wrestling legend The Iron Sheik had joined the cast as a recurring guest, suggesting that the series will feature the 1980’s wrestling scene, where Dwayne Johnson was present alongside his father Rocky Johnson.
We watch for further casting announcements to take place in the coming weeks.
This new show, Johnson’s The Titan Games, and more than a dozen movie projects currently in various stages of conceptualization and production, leads XFL fans to wonder when the superstar has any time for football league ownership. Not to mention the fact that Johnson and his family have been laid up with COVID-19 for the past few weeks. A casual onlooker might think Mr. Johnson is spreading himself a little too thin. However, this may be just the way he likes it.
XFL fans will continue to watch Dwayne Johnson’s blossoming career with great interest. Some of that success is bound to rub off on the league.
