PASADENA
NBC on Saturday announced that it has given a green light to a sitcom about Hayward native Dwayne Johnson’s “formative years.”
Titled “The Young Rock,” the show has earned an 11-episode order. NBC chairman told reporter at the Television Critics Association press tour that “every episode feature him as he grows up through life.”
So that has us wondering if Hayward will figure in the story line. After all, the wrestler-turned-movie-star was born in the East Bay city in 1972.
But Johnson, the son of former pro wrestler Rocky Johnson, led a nomadic life, also living in North Carolina, Tennessee, Hawaii and Pennsylvania, among other places.
Though NBC provided few details about the show, our guess is that it will primarily focus on his tumultuous high school years, when he had numerous run-ins with the law before straightening out his life. He went on to play college football at the University of Miami.
Still, Johnson hasn’t forgotten where he was born. He has been known to occasionally use the hashtag #HaywardStrong on Twitter.
Johnson, who last year, wrapped up his sports-themed series “Ballers” on HBO, will serve as an executive producer as well as a cast member on “The Young Rock.”
In other NBC news coming out of TCA:
— It was announced that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return to host the Golden Globe Awards next year. The “Saturday Night Live” alums received generally positive reviews when they hosted the Globes from 2013-15.
— Jimmy Fallon will host “That’s My Jam,” a new comedy variety event series inspired by the popular, celebrity-fueled musical segments on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It will premiere out of the Tokyo Olympics this summer and in prime time.
— The medical series “New Amsterdam” has been renewed for three years, through the 2022-23 season.