Bob Odenkirk’s New Show Has A Name
Bob Odenkirk's upcoming new drama is now titled Lucky Hank.
Bob Odenkirk’s upcoming AMC show has been retitled ahead of its release and is now titled Lucky Hank, according to a report from The AV Club. The show had previously been operating under the working title of Straight Man, which was the title of the source material, a 1998 novel by Richard Russo. The show is set to follow a sad middle-aged white man as he experiences a mid-life crisis, which is a premise that has become a staple of the cable channel. This will be Bob Odenkirk’s next big project following the tremendous success of Better Call Saul, which aired its series finale last August.
This news comes after a host of Better Call Saul alumni have announced upcoming projects of their own as well, including Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, who is set to create and produce a new show starring Better Call Saul lead Rhea Seehorn for Apple TV+. With Bob Odenkirk taking on the mantle of an action movie lead in Nobody, fans were wondering if a return to dramatic television acting would be on the docket for the Saul Goodman actor, especially after the nearly fatal heart attack he suffered back in July of 2021. It looks like Bob Odenkirk will return to the small screen with Lucky Hank, hopefully providing some primetime viewing for AMC now that the Breaking Bad universe has concluded.
Bob Odenkirk is listed as an executive producer of Lucky Hank, as well as the series lead. The show has been adapted for television by Aaron Zelman, who wrote for Damages as well as Law & Order, and Paul Lieberstein, who is most notably known as a writer and producer for The Office, as well as portraying the supporting character of Toby Flenderson, Michael Scott’s nemesis in the HR department. The series has been given an eight-episode order and is expected to arrive on AMC and AMC+ sometime in the second quarter of 2023.
In the show, Bob Odenkirk is set to portray the titular Lucky Hank, known professionally as William Henry Devereaux, Jr. an interim chairman of the English department at a Pennsylvania university. Not much is known about the production of the show at this point, but if it follows the lead of the Straight Man novel, we should prepare to see Bob Odenkirk taking his Nobody training to the next level. In the novel, Devereaux is faced with a gutted English department budget and resolves to kill a goose on the campus every day until the budget deficit is rectified. Fingers crossed for a “no animals were harmed in the making of this show” warning to appear before the action begins.
With that plot, we’re expecting Bob Odenkirk to put his incredible blend of dramatic acting and screwball comedy to the test in Lucky Hank, bringing depth to a nutty-sounding protagonist, and delivering a performance that proves he’s more than just a sketch comedy actor. With a new title and an upcoming release date, fans can rest assured that all our questions will be answered in the coming days.
