5 Best TV Shows Like Steve Carell's Rooster

HBO's half-hour comedy "Rooster" will charm you as soon as you hit play on the first episode, whether you like it or not. Created by Bill Lawrence — the guy behind "Scrubs," "Ted Lasso," and "Shrinking," just to name a few — the series centers around Greg Russo (Steve Carell), the successful author of a semi-trashy "beach read" thriller novel series about a private detective named Rooster.

When Greg is asked to give a talk at the pastoral Ludlow College, he's happy to get the opportunity to reconnect with his daughter Katie (Charly Clive), a professor at Ludlow who's dealing with a divorce from her fellow professor Archie ("Ted Lasso" alum Phil Dunster) after Archie left Katie for a grad student named Sunny (Lauren Tsai). Before long, Greg is roped into becoming Ludlow's writer-in-residence by the college's president Walter Mann (Lawrence regular John C. McGinley), makes friends with professor Dylan Shepard (Danielle Deadwyler), and settles in to start the next chapter of his life at Ludlow.

So what should you watch if you're really loving "Rooster?" We've got some solid options for you. From other shows helmed by Lawrence to shows set at colleges to shows with the same funny, warm tone, here are some picks you should check out if you like HBO's "Rooster." (Just for the record, though, "Ted Lasso" is not on this list because of how badly it goes off the rails in its third season.)

If you love the warm, funny tone of "Rooster," you should probably check out the rest of showrunner Bill Lawrence's oeuvre ... but if you've already watched "Ted Lasso" and, like we said, felt disillusioned by its lackluster third season, try "Shrinking." This comedy, which debuted on Apple TV in 2023, was created by Lawrence, "Ted Lasso" standout Brett Goldstein, and the series' star Jason Segel and revolves around Segel's therapist Jimmy Laird, a man struggling with his own grief over the loss of his wife who starts approaching his job in an ... unorthodox way. (Namely, he does something therapists don't usually try, which is he just tells his patients what to do.) "Shrinking," though, isn't the Segel show; it's a truly excellent ensemble comedy.

Jessica Williams, known for her breakout role as a "Daily Show" correspondent, is pitch-perfect as Gaby Evans (one of Jimmy's colleagues at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center), Lawrence's real-life wife and regular collaborator Christa Miller is wonderful as Jimmy's friend and neighbor Liz Bishop, and newcomer Lukita Maxwell holds her own against the experienced cast as Jimmy's daughter Alice. The real standout, though? Living legend Harrison Ford, who plays Jimmy's professional mentor and friend Dr. Paul Rhoades. Even Segel would have to agree with that assessment.

Another comedy-drama set at a university, the unfortunately short-lived AMC series "Lucky Hank" also focuses on a guy working at a college and trying to balance it with his own personal problems, just like "Rooster" protagonist Greg Russo. In "Lucky Hank," we've got Bob Odenkirk's English department chair William Henry "Hank" Devereaux Jr., who ends up in hot water after he tells an entire class that the fictional Railton College in Pennsylvania is a racket that trafficks in total mediocrity. When the college's dean Dean Jacob Rose (Oscar Nuñez from "The Office") excoriates him in the aftermath, he threatens to defund the entire English department, sending Hank into a total tailspin.

With a supporting cast that includes Mireille Enos (as Hank's wife Lily, also a professor) and Diedrich Bader (as Hank's buddy Tony), among others, "Lucky Hank" was really delightful, but sadly, AMC canceled it after its first season premiered in the spring of 2023. You should definitely go watch it, but one thing you should know first: there is an emotional gut-punch of a twist revealed in the series' sixth episode that might be a reason to check trigger warnings.

Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, HBO Max's sweet, sharp comedy "The Sex Lives of College Girls" focuses on the lives of the students as opposed to the professors and grad students seen in "Rooster." Still, both of these shows have a lot of heart — and, not for nothing, they're both set at fictional, prestigious, and pastoral colleges.

"The Sex Lives of College Girls" first dropped on the streaming service in the fall of 2021 and introduced audiences to four unlikely assigned roommates: over-eager scholarship student Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet), upper-crust snob Leighton (Reneé Rapp), soccer star Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), and aspiring comedy writer Bela (Amrit Kaur). Despite dealing with their enormous initial differences — Leighton quite literally walks out of their suite initially, enraged that her roommates are, by her estimation, losers — they become friends and guide each other through their personal and academic lives. In the show's debut season, there's a particularly touching storyline where Leighton comes to terms with her identity as a queer woman and only confides in Kimberly when she's heartbroken over her recent ex-girlfriend Alicia ("Grey's Anatomy" player Midori Francis).

Unfortunately, "The Sex Lives of College Girls" went through some major shake-ups before being canceled after its third season concluded in 2025. Rapp, for example, left to focus on her music career (and dropped hints through her music that she didn't have a great time working on it in the first place), and Broadway star Gracie Lawrence took on a new role as the new fourth suitemate Casey. Sadly, this couldn't save the series; it got canceled without truly wrapping up its story.

Okay, let's get one thing out of the way right now: "Abbott Elementary" is designed to be a pretty family-friendly show, so on the surface, it doesn't seem anything like the considerably more adult "Rooster." Still, both shows focus on the politics of running a school, and they share a lot more DNA than you might think despite one being about a college and one being about an underfunded West Philadelphia elementary school. Created by Philadelphia native Quinta Brunson and based on her mother's experiences teaching at a public school in the City of Brotherly Love, "Abbott Elementary" stars Brunson as Janine Teagues, an idealistic and optimistic teacher who's always trying to do the right thing and is flanked by a number of wonderfully funny colleagues.

There's the uptight but sweet Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams), who ends up becoming Janine's boyfriend, the ego-driven but secretly selfless principal Ava Coleman (a stunningly funny Janelle James), old-fashioned and experienced teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph, who's won Emmys for her role alongside Brunson), dorky but enthusiastic white teacher Jacob Hall (Chris Perfetti), and pitch-perfect Philly stereotype Melissa Schemmenti ("The Parent Trap" standout Lisa Ann Walter). Add in William Stanford Davis' borderline insane janitor Mr. Johnson, and you've got an astoundingly funny ensemble cast playing characters that tackle everything from safety day presentations to field trips to school board shake-ups.

Another HBO comedy-drama that balances warmth and humor with outright pathos, "Somebody Somewhere" flew a bit under the radar during its three-season run from 2022 to 2024. That's a shame, because more people should seek out this series, created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen that stars stand-up comedian Bridget Everett as Sam Miller, a woman who moves back to her small Kansas hometown in her 40s to help take care of her sister. After her sister passes away, that's when the show's story actually begins as Sam is now forced to navigate her social life in Manhattan, Kansas, trying to get by with the help of friends and family — like her other sister Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison), her friend from work Joel (Jeff Hiller, who took home a surprise Emmy for his supporting role at the 2025 ceremony), and Ed (Mike Hagerty), Sam's dad.

"Somebody Somewhere," like "Rooster," is a series that serves as more of a character study than some big ambitious narrative — and to be clear, that's a good thing. Both "Rooster" and "Somebody Somewhere" allow their character's thoughts, feelings, and struggles to essentially supersede some huge story arc, and as a result, we get to follow Sam and Greg Russo, on their respective series, through experiences that might seem all too familiar to us. If you haven't watched "Somebody Somewhere," now's the time to check it out; as for "Rooster," it's streaming on HBO Max now.