Dwyane 'The Rock' Johnson made his big debut on the small screen when his sports centered comedy 'Ballers' premiered on HBO last Sunday.
The 30 minute show has Johnson starring as pro footballer turned talent agent Spencer Strassmore. The series follows Strassmore as he tries to adjust to his new life away from the playing field while navigating through the big money, high stakes world of pro football and the crazy sometimes absurd characters who inhabit it.
So far critics have been split on 'Ballers.'
Cinema Blend's Mack Rawden awarded the pilot episode 4 stars out of 5 and says "The pilot isn't perfect, but it shows more than enough promise to make it a worthwhile investment. "
Yahoo's Ken Tucker praised The Rock's performance calling him a "canny, adroit" actor and says the former University of Miami defensive lineman provides a "terrific authenticity" to the role.
Others have not been as kind.
Some have been critical of the show's depiction of women, who were mostly relegated to the eye candy department in the pilot. The Wrap's Diane Gordon writes: "As for women, many of them are decorative (babes in bikinis), which comes as no surprise given the show's pedigree."
While the Observer's Emily Bicks notes that the show lacks any real substantial roles for women: "I haven't mentioned one female character because in the first episode, women are nothing more than unnamed naked bed candy, or an ornamental wife/girlfriend. I hope as the show progresses, we get some smart badass female presence in one form or another."
One thing critics can agree on is the show's resemblance to HBO's other testosterone filled comedy "Entourage". Ballers and Entourage both share some of the same creative DNA in the form of producers Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson as well as the glitzy, fame obsessed, subcultures they try to dissect (Hollywood for Entourage, the NFL for Ballers).
Time will tell if the Rock's show will prove as successful.
