Luck be a Henry: TV’s Odenkirk is ‘Lucky Hank’

AMC is rebranding Bob Odenkirk. Now best known for his role as multi-faceted criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (a.k.a. Jimmy McGill) in the AMC-turnedNetflix series “Better Call Saul,” Odenkirk stars in the network’s newest dramedy, “Lucky Hank,” as William Henry Devereaux Jr. (also known by the titular moniker, Hank), a curmudgeonly professor in charge of the English department at the local college. The series follows Hank as he embarks on a whirlwind midlife crisis.

“Lucky Hank” premieres Sunday, March 19, on AMC and the AMC+ streaming service.

While Odenkirk is without a doubt the biggest draw to the new series, AMC entices audiences with another tie to their famous Albuquerque-set dramas. In addition to Odenkirk himself taking on production duties, “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” producers Mark Johnson, Naomi Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero collaborate once more on “Lucky Hank.” Additionally,“SiliconValley’s”Aaron Zelman and “The Office’s” Paul Lieberstein, both also executive producers, serve as “Lucky Hank” showrunners. Two-time Oscarwinning director Peter Farrelly (“Green Book,” 2018) also joins the team as an EP and as one of the directors alongside Daniel Attias (“The Wire”) and Jude Weng (“The Good Place”).

The new series, originally called “Straight Man,” is based on the 1997 Richard Russo novel of the same name. The show’s official synopsis describes Hank as “the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt.” Further categorized by AMC as “a born anarchist,” the leading man is constantly tormented by “the fact that his department is more savagely divided than the Balkans.”

Although a televised midlife crisis may sound anything but pleasant to watch, Russo readers will recall the author’s wit and sense of humor in the face of seemingly impossible situations.

If you were a fan of Odenkirk’s other AMC series, his 2021 film “Nobody,” or if you simply can’t stop watching the “Lucky Hank” trailer on repeat, chances are AMC’s newest series is right up your alley. Don’t miss the Sunday, March 19, premiere of “Lucky Hank,” on AMC and AMC+.