Lucky Hank is a promising comedy series starring Bob Odenkirk.

On March 19, the premiere of the first episode of Lucky Hank took place. The story of a provincial college teacher will appeal to those who love midlife crisis dramas. And for those who just love Bob Odenkirk.

The series is based on Richard Russo's novel The Immediate Man. Aaron Zelman (Silicon Valley, Criminal Minds) and Paul Lieberstein (The Office, King of the Hill) took on the film adaptation.

Starring Bob Odenkirk ("Better Call Saul"), Oscar Nunez ("The Office"), Mireille Enos ("Murder").

In the center of the plot is William Henry Devereaux, Jr., aka Hank, the head of the English department at a remote college. He once published a novel, but has not published anything since. Hank teaches students writing skills, although he believes that he is not able to help them in any way because of his own mediocrity. He holds the same opinion about his college as a whole. When he voices these thoughts out loud, both students and colleagues take up arms against him.

Pilot contradicts trailer

AMC managed to completely fail the advertising campaign of the series. And this despite the fact that Bob Odenkirk, probably the main star of the channel, the same Saul Goodman, starred in the title role. The trailer and any remarks about the premiere make it clear that Lucky Hank is a drama about midlife crisis. But it turned out that the series is about something else.

At its core, Lucky Hank is a comedy with jokes about a midlife crisis and unfulfilled ambitions. You can draw endless analogies and remember the "Serious Man" by the Coen brothers, "A Little Over 40" with Hugh Laurie, and even "BoJack Horseman". The entourage of the provincial college refers to the "Community", but this is only an external resemblance - in "Hank" there is a completely different humor.

At the same time, "Lucky Hank" is similar to the series of comedians - a little on "Louis" and very much on "Maron". Whether it's good or bad is up to each individual viewer to decide, but you shouldn't rely on the trailer, it's deceptive.

Great dialogues and conflicts

William Devereux Jr. and his colleagues are losers. Many years ago, they became teachers at a provincial college and perceived their work as the beginning of a career, but their professional growth ended there. Hank wrote his only novel many years ago, since then he constantly sits down for a second book - and each time unsuccessfully. His colleagues are proud of their scientific articles, published so long ago that no one remembers them. Students are the same losers who could not enter a more prestigious educational institution.

The whole dramaturgy is built on a constant feeling of being a loser. Of course, this is the perfect breeding ground for caustic comedy. And the scriptwriters succeeded in both the characters (both the main and his colleagues), and the dialogues between them. Any conflict here leads to funny scenes.

For example, in the first episode, Hank's colleagues decide to kick him out of his position as department head. To do this, they hold a vote - and their plans come true. The next day, they choose a new manager, but no one has enough ambition in order to loudly declare themselves and offer their candidacy. As a result, Hank wins the election - and not because he is the best or ambitious, it's just that the heroes in general are not ready for any changes.

Odenkirk is beautiful, but it is limited

Bob Odenkirk began his career as a comedian, only over the years he began to receive dramatic roles. Playing Lucky Hank suits him perfectly. A gloomy and thoughtful professor, ready to say something unpleasant to others and constantly talking about how he doesn’t like everything, are ideal conditions for demonstrating Odenkirk’s talent.

One of the problems of the series (or the first episode) is that the main character is limited. He refrains from expression (and this is literally the element of Odenkirk), grumbles taunts under his breath, and then is silent - it seems that he has criminally few lines. You can attribute this fact to the fact that the pilot seeks to reveal all the characters, but Hank is unlikely to become more talkative in future episodes.

Extra voice-over

Against the general (and quite good) background, only one serious drawback of the series stands out - the offscreen voice of the protagonist. He voices his thoughts, and most often they are as uninteresting as possible. Now he talks about what happiness is, then he thinks about the mediocrity of his students - and each time he comes to rather boring conclusions. Sometimes he ironically comments (again, mentally) on statements addressed to him - and there is nothing special here either. These are not hardcore thoughts in the spirit of "Mud”, but just boring reasoning.

The problem is not only in the essence of the protagonist's thoughts, but also in the fact that they simply deprive the viewer of additional dialogues. If Hank were to speak his mind out loud, the show would have more petty conflicts. The first series showed that these conflicts are the most interesting thing in the series.

The AMC TV channel did everything so that no one would recognize "Lucky Hank", but if you suddenly stumbled upon him, then give him a chance. Moderately funny, moderately sad, with a brilliant cast - it's worth spending time on the pilot. And it's also small - only 8 episodes will be released in the first season.