"Young Rock" Series In the Works at NBC

We’ve had The Young Pope. The Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon debuted in 2017. Film buffs may recall John Ford’s acclaimed Young Mr. Lincoln. And now, there’s a new addition to that pantheon, and he’s bringing the people’s eyebrow with him. Dwayne Johnson and Fresh Off the Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan are teaming up for a new series about Johnson’s early years — the aptly-titled Young Rock — and NBC just ordered 11 episodes of it.

You might not be able to smell what the Young Rock is cooking, but soon you’ll be able to watch it. And that’s the next-best thing, right?

Deadline’s report on the series describes the show as follows:

Young Rock will chronicle Johnson’s formative years, with Dwayne set to appear in each episode. The pilot was co-written by Khan and Fresh Off the Boat co-executive producer Jeff Chiang.

Paul Telegdy, Chairman of NBCEntertainment, called the show “Dwayne’s life brought to live by a brilliant and soulful writer like Nahnatchka” when he announced it at TCA this week.

Khan is currently in the first year of a 4-year overall deal with Universal Television. Her production company, Fierce Baby Productions, is also working on another comedy, the memorably-titled Valley Trash. Khan has long been associated with projects with memorable names; she’s also the creator of cult comedy Don’t Trust the B—- In Apartment 23.

As for Johnson, Young Rock isn’t his first foray into exploring his recent history. He recently co-starred as himself in the acclaimed film Fighting With My Family.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…