NBC CANCEL Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Young Rock and Grand Crew
NBC CANCELS Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s Young Rock and Grand Crew — Amid Ongoing Writers’ Strike
NBC has canceled Young Rock and Grand Crew as the writer’s strike enters its sixth week.
Airing for three seasons, Young Rock loosely told the story of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s life from his childhood to his wrestling career to Hollywood superstardom.
The show’s story is told from the perspective of the fictional Johnson’s run for President of the United States.
Johnson appeared as his adult self alongside Adrian Groulx as 10 to 14-year-old Dwayne, Bradley Constant as 15 to 17-year-old Dwayne, and Uli Latukefu as 18 to 26-year-old Dwayne.
The show also starred Joseph Lee Anderson as Rocky Johnson, Stacey Leilua as Ata Johnson, Ana Tuisila as Lia Maivia, and Matthew Willig as Andre the Giant.
Young Rock: NBC has canceled Young Rock and Grand Crew as the writer’s strike enters its sixth week
Grand Crew: Grand Crew ran for two seasons while Young Rock aired for three seasons
Young Rock came on the air in February 2021 and concluded its third season in February 2023.
The series was co-created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang, who executive produced alongside Johnson, his ex-wife Dany Garcia, his ex-brother-in-law Hiram Garcia, Jennifer Carreras, and Brian Gewirtz.
Grand Crew, meanwhile, has had two seasons since premiering in December 2021.
The series follows a group of black friends in their 30s who deal with life and love and spill all the tea on bottles of wine at their favorite Los Angeles wine bar.
Nicole Byers played Nicky Koles, Echo Kellum played her brother Noah Kohls, Carl Tart played Sherm Jones with Justin Cunningham as Wyatt Fields and Grasie Mercedes as Fay.
Grand Crew’s executive producers included creator and showrunner Phil Augusta Jackson and Dan Goor.
Both shows were produced by Universal Television.
NBC has not disclosed the reason for the cancellation of the two popular shows.
The WGA has been on strike since May 2, and all writers’ rooms closed on that day as the scribes stormed the picket lines in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and wherever productions were filmed.
Wrestling family: Airing for three seasons, Young Rock loosely told the story of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s life from his childhood to his wrestling career to Hollywood superstardom
Star: Johnson appeared as his adult self on the show (2019 photo)
Family: The story of the show is told from the perspective of the fictional Johnson’s run for President of the United States
Wine Bar: The series follows a group of black friends in their 30s who deal with life and love and spill all the tea over bottles of wine at their favorite Los Angeles wine bar
Two seasons: Nicole Byers played Nicky Koles, Echo Kellum played her brother Noah Kohls, Carl Tart played Sherm Jones starring Justin Cunningham as Wyatt Fields and Grasie Mercedes as Fay
What matters to the writers are salary and residuals in the ever-changing streaming landscape, the size of the writers’ rooms and the use of artificial intelligence.
While studios and streamers rake in billions in profits and pay their top executives hundreds of millions, pay for television and movie writers has not only stagnated, but has also fallen due to the shorter, limited-edition series that are common today.
Where a show would get a 22-episode order a few years ago, today shows air for six to 10 episodes, significantly lowering the pay of the writers, actors, and crew.
This week, the Screen Actors Guild also voted to authorize a strike if their contract negotiations fail.