After bouncing back from a heart attack and putting a bow on his multi-award-winning series Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk is tackling his next project at AMC, Lucky Hank. Initially titled Straight Man, Lucky Hank stars Odenkirk as a college professor in the throes of a mid-life crisis. AMC dropped a Lucky Hank teaser trailer on Tuesday featuring Odenkirk in a salt-and-pepper beard, spectacles, and scowl that could send students running for the hills.
In the Lucky Hank teaser trailer, Odenkirk’s William Henry Deveraux Jr. explains he’s “always been a difficult man,” who specializes in minor strife and irritation. As the camera zooms in on Odenkirk’s face, the corner of his lip curls in disgust as he contemplates his mediocre existence. William Henry Deveraux Jr. is the chairman of the English department in an underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt, a state filled with individuals who are used to disappointment.
Joining Odenkirk for the eight-episode series are Oscar Nunez (The Office), Tom Bower (Crazy Heart), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), and Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley), in recurring roles, with Mireille Enos (Hanna) also starring.
Nunez plays Jacob Rose, the dean of Ralston College and Hank’s friend. Bower plays Hank’s estranged father, an intellectual titan who threatens to move close to Hank and his mother. MacLachlan takes on the role of the college’s president, Dickie Pope, Hank’s nemesis and a thorn in the sides of other professors. Diamantopoulos will play Tom Leska, a former love interest of Lily Deveraux (Enos).
The concept for Lucky Hank is based on the novel Straight Man by Richard Russo. Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein adapted the book and acted as co-showrunners. The duo executive produces with Odenkirk and director Peter Farrelly. Mark Johnson, Russo, Naomi Odenkirk, and Marc Provissiero also join the executive production team.
I’ve known some cantankerous college professors in my day. One time, I pissed one off pretty bad, only to discover they were my girlfriend’s grandmother at a later date. That was an awkward family dinner, let me tell you!
What do you think of the tone for AMC’s Lucky Hank teaser trailer? Are you excited to follow Odenkirk onto another series? Let us know in the comments.