Better Call Saul came to a close last year after six excellent seasons, but Bob Odenkirk has already moved on to his next AMC series. Based on Richard Russo’s 1997 novel Straight Man, the series initially shared that name, but it was revealed today that there has been a title change. Bob Odenkirk’s new AMC series is now known as Lucky Hank.
The “midlife crisis tale” is set at a struggling Pennsylvania college and follows William Henry “Hank” Devereaux Jr. (Odenkirk), the unlikely chairman of the English department. In addition to Bob Odenkirk, Lucky Hank also stars Mireille Enos as Lily, William’s wife and the vice principal of the local high school. Just as Hank’s life begins to unravel, Lily also begins to question the path she’s on and the choices she’s made.
“I love the tone,” Bob Odenkirk told Entertainment Weekly last year of his new series. “It’s more comic. I feel like I relate to the main character, who’s a misanthrope. He’s a cranky guy, but you like him. And I just think tonally it’s great. It feels like a new mashup of comedy and drama that we’ve been on the verge of for a long time. [It’s like] you took a very fun show — like a Parks and Rec — and you said, ‘Let’s slow down and get to know these people and have their internal battles be a little bit more of the subject matter.’ So it’s really a great mashup of comedy and the kind of drama that we’ve gotten to do on Better Call Saul and it’s become more prevalent in streaming shows, and I think it’ll be neat. I hope the audience is up for it.” With each project, Odenkirk’s talent continues to impress, and while we might mourn the conclusion of Better Call Saul, I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us with Lucky Hank.
In addition to Bob Odenkirk and Mireille Enos, Lucky Hank also features Olivia Scott Welch, Suzanne Cryer, Diedrich Bader, Sara Amini, and Cedric Yarbrough. The eight-episode series doesn’t have an official release date yet but is expected to debut on AMC this spring.