# Young Rock
**Young Rock** is an American single-camera sitcom created by [Nahnatchka Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/nahnatchka-khan) and Jeff Chiang for NBC, inspired by Johnson's formative years and told through flashbacks from a fictional 2032 presidential campaign.[1](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/) • [2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/tv/young-rock-season-one) • [9](https://sevenbucks.com/2022/05/17/young-rock-renewed-for-season-3-by-nbc/) It premiered on February 16, 2021[3](https://ui.eidr.org/content/10.5240/0D70-8B8E-CCC9-BA54-C8E3-T) and ran for three seasons and 37 episodes through 2023.[4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-camera comedy inspired by Johnson's formative years, co-created with Nahnatchka Khan (creator of *Fresh Off the Boat*)[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/tv/young-rock-season-one) |
| NBC run | Premiered February 16, 2021; 37 episodes across three seasons, 2021–2023[3](https://ui.eidr.org/content/10.5240/0D70-8B8E-CCC9-BA54-C8E3-T) • [4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/) |
| Framing device | A fictional Johnson runs for president in 2032 and gives interviews about his past, with flashbacks to childhood, teenage, and college eras[5](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true) |
| Three Dwaynes | Adrian Groulx (age 10, "Dewey"), Bradley Constant (age 15, high school), and Uli Latukefu (college)[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) |
| Parents on screen | Joseph Lee Anderson as Rocky Johnson, Johnson's father and a pro wrestler himself[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) |
| Episode length | About 24 minutes[7](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/young-rock/umc.cmc.17fo9dhz913tohvvymkmrxtse) |
| Awards | 2 wins and 14 nominations[4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/) |
| Availability | Streams on Peacock; Season One released on home video in 2022[1](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/) • [2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/tv/young-rock-season-one) |
## Premise and structure
Each episode is formatted as an interview in which a fictionalized [Dwayne Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/dwayne-johnson), running for president in 2032, reflects on memories that led him to his current reality.[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) The structure uses flashbacks to tell stories from three defining eras of his life: early childhood, teenage years, and college.[5](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true) According to a Rotten Tomatoes summary, the three periods are a boyhood spent around prominent wrestling figures as his father built a name for himself in the sport, an adolescence of teenage rebellion spent at a Pennsylvania high school, and a college football stretch playing alongside elite athletes at the [University of Miami](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-miami).[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/young_rock)
## Cast and characters
Three actors play Johnson at different ages. Adrian Groulx plays him at age 10, when he is known as "Dewey," in a window into his early childhood in Hawaii; Groulx appeared in 31 of the 37 episodes.[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) • [4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/) Bradley Constant plays the 15-year-old Johnson in high school.[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) Uli Latukefu portrays Johnson in the earliest phase of his college athletic career, just after an athletic scholarship gains him admission to the University of Miami.[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors)
**Family roles.** Joseph Lee Anderson plays [Rocky Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocky-johnson), Johnson's father and a pro wrestler himself.[6](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors) The producer's page lists the starring cast as Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Uli Latukefu, Ana Tuisila, Bradley Constant, Adrian Groulx, Fasitua Amosa, and John Tui.[1](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/)
## Production and authenticity
Seven Bucks Productions credits Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang as creators, with executive producers Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz, and Jennifer Carreras.[1](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/) Johnson supplied story material to Khan by voice; he said, "I would leave [Khan] these voice notes, after my second or third drink, and say, 'Listen, you're never going to believe this.'"[5](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true)
**How true is it?** NBC's account quotes Johnson as saying he "absolutely bought a car from a crackhead," which included a sleeping stranger.[5](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true) Johnson told [USA Today](https://www.edgepedia.org/usa-today): "Everything that people see in this first episode and throughout the season, everything happened. Now, what we do is, maybe it happened in a different year, maybe it happened in a different city."[5](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true)
## By the numbers
The series ran 37 episodes across three seasons from 2021 to 2023, with episodes of about 24 minutes.[4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/) • [7](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/young-rock/umc.cmc.17fo9dhz913tohvvymkmrxtse) IMDb records 2 wins and 14 nominations in awards recognition.[4](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/) Episode synopses place storylines in Hawaii in 1982, involving Andre the Giant, and in Pennsylvania in 1987, where Dwayne pretends he is rich to impress a popular girl named Karen.[7](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/young-rock/umc.cmc.17fo9dhz913tohvvymkmrxtse)
## Availability
The producer's page says all episodes stream on Peacock.[1](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/) Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released *Young Rock: Season One* on home video in 2022.[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/tv/young-rock-season-one)
## References
1. [YOUNG ROCK – Seven Bucks Productions](https://sevenbucks.com/project/young-rock/)
2. [Young Rock: Season One – Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/tv/young-rock-season-one)
3. [EIDR – The Universal Media Identifier](https://ui.eidr.org/content/10.5240/0D70-8B8E-CCC9-BA54-C8E3-T)
4. [Young Rock (TV Series 2021–2023) – IMDb](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11639952/)
5. [How Much of NBC's Young Rock Is True? (NBC Insider)](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/how-much-of-nbcs-young-rock-is-true)
6. [Young Rock NBC Cast: A Breakdown of the Main Actors (NBC Insider)](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/young-rock-nbc-cast-a-breakdown-of-the-main-actors)
7. [Young Rock (Apple TV listing)](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/young-rock/umc.cmc.17fo9dhz913tohvvymkmrxtse)
8. [Young Rock – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/young_rock)
9. [Young Rock Renewed for Season 3 by Nbc, sevenbucks.com](https://sevenbucks.com/2022/05/17/young-rock-renewed-for-season-3-by-nbc/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2010s and later network sitcoms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license