Lucky Hank

In the two episodes that were made available for critics, we see moments of genuine humanity and decency in Hank. ... We’re ready to sign up for multiple semesters at Railton College. There’s a potential for real excellence there.

It doesn’t have the same rich darkness and sharp direction of “Better Call Saul” as it is more broadly comedic in tone than it is incisively cutting. However, it is elevated by both Odenkirk and the rest of the cast when it counts.

In story form, it can be greatly sentimental, especially when soundtracked by Kevin Morby, and fun even, especially when guided by a professor as profoundly human as Odenkirk’s, to go back to college, to see what you would do differently if you could play the game all over again. Or if you’d even want to play the game at all.

Lucky Hank is a funny show with a fine cast. We hope it keeps its light tone as Hank’s life falls to pieces, at least the way he’s perceiving that it is.

Hank’s diatribe serves mostly to situate the wonderfully expressive Odenkirk at the center of an observant, if slight, character study about an aging author wrestling with his own inertness. ... But Lucky Hank is full of small pleasures, beginning with its cast. There are fun supporting characters and appealing performances.

With Bob Odenkirk on curmudgeonly form and academic hijinks in the offing, Lucky Hank proves to be precisely-paced pleasure from start to finish. Miss it at your peril.

Playing an unlikable character and making us care about him anyway is a tough trick to pull off. In Lucky Hank, that’s exactly what Odenkirk does.

Lucky Hank is a show you can hang around with, feel basically mellow, and just enjoy the ride. It’s not superlative, and I’m not sure it’s actually trying to say very much, but as an anachronistic detour onto the university campus as it never truly existed (and certainly doesn’t now), it’s an unreal reality that’s worth the visit.

Lucky Hank probably won't be for everybody because of its tone, which is sometimes difficult to pin down. Its humor can be dry and dark, and the more optimistic moments are often followed by a hard dose of reality. But if you're willing to sit with the ennui and really give the ensemble a chance, you'll be rewarded with a unique, moving, very human show.

The comedy that comes in the English department’s interactions, or in the gentle wit of Hank and Lily’s conversations, makes the series a light and enjoyable watch. But it might, appropriately enough, be the television equivalent of earning a BFA — important in the moment, but unessential after the fact.

The dark comedy about the quest for fame and the politics of academia is a pleasant ensemble story with Odenkirk providing a strong anchor for plenty of witty banter and silly scenarios.

Hank is the least compelling person there. ... Yet miraculously, it still manages to be extremely watchable. If the supporting characters manage to crowd out Hank, it could evolve into a new workplace dramedy hit.

It’s clearly well-acted—Odenkirk always delivers, and he’s surrounded by great character actors—and the writing is sharp enough, but it’s still only in the “promising” phase of its existence.

“Lucky Hank” is disarmingly funny, though it feels like a draft that doesn’t yet know if it needs to be a short story or a novel. Unlike Hank with his students, however, I’m willing to hope that this show might reach its potential if it applies itself.

As with countless modern serialized series, Lucky Hank is playing a long game, so judging it on the basis of its opening chapters—whose effort is largely spent introducing its collection of characters and the dynamics that govern their multifaceted relationships—is inherently difficult. Still, there’s reason for cautious optimism

Through only two episodes, it’s hard to tell if “Lucky Hank” could use a bit more of “Saul’s” eagerness to gaze into the darkness, or if it’d be better off dialing up its softer side. The “everything and the kitchen sink” approach taken by co-showrunners Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein leaves enough room to pivot toward what’s working as the season goes on, but also too many questions about an amorphous story that could be described any which way: Is it a dark comedy? A light drama? A mid-life crisis cringe-fest, or an inspirational everyman saga?

While the pilot episode shows promise and is funnier than “The Chair,” episode two disappoints and confuses with no clear answer as to what “Lucky Hank” will be on a weekly basis.

But even Bader, a seasoned comedic character actor, can’t make the overly-quippy-yet-deflated dialogue land. Same goes for the rest of the talented but hung-out-to-dry cast, each straining for cringey humor in one limp written exchange after the next. Only Odenkirk and Enos succeed by playing their scenes utterly straight.

As of now, it’s mostly a work-in-progress, but there’s ample potential for it to evolve into something good. ... This show’s ability to settle in for a long run will not depend on Odenkirk, who’s instantly comfortable with what should be another indelible character, but on bringing everything around him up to his level.

“Lucky Hank” so accurately captures professorial ennui. But it might capture ennui a little too well, resulting in a show that seems to amble in no particular direction with little indication of when it might hit a stride. ... But Hank is the type of lovable curmudgeon that some viewers relate to so deeply that his mere involvement can create genuine stakes.

The whole canceled-on-campus thing was already done on Sandra Oh’s “The Chair.” “Lucky Hank” doesn’t drag it out, which is nice, and the resolution of the plot line is comic, which is also nice. But the plot makes for an inauspicious beginning. ... And then I saw the second episode, and it was a marked improvement over the first. Unfortunately, since AMC sent out only two episodes for review, I can’t say whether “Lucky Hank” will continue to find its best self after that.

The characters’ antics and idiosyncrasies—disrupting each other’s classes, dedicating lectures to tearing down each other’s work, talking insistently in literary quotations—often verge on the cartoonish. ... Lucky Hank does traffic in some interesting ideas about the generational divide between faculty and students.

With only the first two episodes as guide — admittedly not much, or nearly enough — Odenkirk's post-"Saul '' second act is a perfectly pleasant letdown.