Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Young Rock’ Canceled at NBC After Three Seasons
The half-hour comedy series based on Dwayne Johnson’s life was canceled by NBC on Friday after three seasons.
Youthful Stone followed youthful Dwayne Johnson as he explored his ascent from obscure grappler to Hollywood whiz. As Dwayne found his voice in the WWE as The Rock, he and his unconventional family had to deal with locker room politics, new rivalries, and the dangers of growing fame. Recounted through stories from his own life, the show followed Dwayne’s excursion to the top and the characters that kept him grounded – – even as he put his focus on ever-greater fields.
Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant and Uli Latukefu played young Dwayne during various stages of his childhood. Joseph Lee Anderson portrayed Dwayne’s late father, Rocky, while Stacey Leilua played his mother, Ata.
The show wrapped its third (and now final) season Feb. 24, averaging less than 2 million viewers per episode.
“I was really careful to make sure that if we are gonna tell stories [they were important],” Johnson told ET in February 2021 prior to the series’ debut of revisiting his childhood through Young Rock. “I made sure that everything you see in this series is true. Now maybe I changed the landscape, maybe I changed the year, but the essence of every single thing you see is true. When I look back on this, you get really blown away by it and blown away at this opportunity to showcase this.”
Fellow NBC comedy, Grand Crew, which starred an ensemble cast led by Echo Kellum and Nicole Byer, was also axed on Friday.
In happier news, NBC greenlit a new mockumentary with The Goldbergs star Wendi McLendon-Covey titled St. Denis Medical for the upcoming broadcast season. Created by Superstore and American Auto’s Justin Spitzer, the upcoming series follows an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.
David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Mekki Leeper and Kahyun Kim round out the cast.
