When Greg Russo (Steve Carell) arrived at Ludlow College in Rooster’s pilot, he’d spent the five years since his divorce pining over his ex, had a distant relationship with his daughter, longed for community, and had essentially accepted loneliness as his norm. When it came time to say goodbye in Rooster’s finale, however, he realized he had students, faculty members, and family who’d have an awful hole in their hearts if he wasn’t around. In other words, “It’s A Wonderful Life, bitch!”

At some point in crafting Rooster’s freshman season, co-creators Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses noticed that Greg’s journey and the themes explored in their hit HBO comedy were reminiscent of Frank Capra’s beloved Christmas movie. So they canonically tied the two together in Season 1’s final episode. Tragically, Greg’s Gen Z students were so young they though It’s A Wonderful Life was some weird Christian movie, but in learning how much his found Ludlow family would miss him after he left, Greg got to live out his George Bailey dreams.

“I think that in many ways, by accident, Matt and I were saying that this show was, I don’t want to say super similar to that movie, but was really about loneliness, and community, and Greg thinking that he in the scheme of things didn’t have a lot of people, then finding out [he did] at the end. So we always knew we were building towards that,” Lawrence told Decider over Zoom. “In the beginning, we tried to make it clear that Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler) never really found her people there. Walt (John C. McGinley) said he’s a painfully lonely man. Greg’s daughter Katie (Charly Clive) said she didn’t really meet anybody besides Archie (Phil Dunster). She started dating him two weeks after she got there and that was her whole community. And Greg was off by himself throwing pennies into a jar, you know? By the end, there’s this warm community of people that care about each other.”

Ahead of Rooster’s first season, McGinley’s extensive prep for the role included writing a six-page single-space manifesto on how loneliness impacted him, which Lawrence and Tarses used as a blueprint when charting the emotion throughout the show. “At the beginning [it] helped us see some things that we were not totally consciously writing towards,” Tarses explained. “If this is something that [John] feels and that we feel in some ways, it felt like a thing we could definitely tap into for Steve’s character. And it ended up in this place where it felt like a good, real emotion.”

By the end of Season 1, Episode 10, “Songs for Raisa,” Greg felt immense warmth, gratitude, and belonging. But when the finale’s end credits rolled, his daughter Katie and the rest of Rooster’s core characters were still searching for meaningful relationships, direction, and purpose that can continue being pursued in Season 2.

If I had a nickel for every time one of Archie’s romantic relationships came crashing down in Rooster’s Season 1 finale, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s the exact change I was hoping for! With seconds to spare in Season 1’s penultimate episode, Katie kissed her cheating husband and told him she was willing to get back together if that’s what he wanted. After an emotional moment reflecting on Mikhail Gorbachev, famous Russian leader and Wife Guy, Archie made his decision in the finale and blindsided Sunny (Lauren Tsai), the mother of his child, by calling it quits. Though Sunny headed home to Wisconsin alone and has every right to consider an out-of-state job away from her ex, Lawrence assures fans, “She’s definitely returning. She’s a regular, and she’s awesome.”

In Greg’s final class of the semester, he reminded students that deep down, great characters already know who they are and who they aspire to become, “all they need is that one tiny little thing to wake them up.” For Katie, that tiny little thing was spinach in Archie’s teeth. The leafy greens clung to his pearly whites during lunch, giving Katie the ick. And even after they were gone, she knew, “You are always gonna have spinach in your teeth to me, metaphorically.” In an epic breakup speech, Katie told Archie she didn’t want to be with him, he wasn’t a great guy, and getting back together on her terms to put everything into focus. After calling herself a rockstar (more proof that her dad’s words do impact her!) she asked for a divorce. And as Rooster legend has it, every time Archie has a breakup, an angel gets its wings.

“I hope that what people were rooting for to happen actually happened, which is essentially two female characters breaking free.”

Bill Lawrence, Rooster

“We very specifically wanted to show two young women that were both, for whatever reasons, defining themselves and building their lives around an arguably narcissistic, toxic guy. We thought the victory was in not only the 10th episode, but moving forward, that construct is gone,” Lawrence said, acknowledging that Rooster fans can’t hide their Archie hate. “For us, understandably, the venom that we received from fans of going like, ‘Why are these women not — ‘ And I’m like, ‘First of all, if you pay attention to the show, it takes place literally over about five weeks tops. And secondly, we all make mistakes like this.’ I hope that what people were rooting for to happen actually happened, which is essentially two female characters breaking free.”

So is there room in Rooster for Archie to have a Jamie Tart-style redemption arc? “I can’t tell you whether or not he’s ever going to successfully change who he is as a person, but he’s certainly somebody that needs to bottom out for us to even consider him taking a look at who he is and how he behaves,” Lawrence stressed. 

In another full-circle moment, while Season 1’s pilot saw Dylan asking Greg to sleep together, the finale showed her telling him, “I don’t have a lot of friends here. I’m so glad we didn’t sleep with each other, because I get weird with people after I have sex with them…” Deadwyler and Carell have such incredible chemistry that even Rooster’s Connie Britton told Decider that Greg’s ex, Beth, “1,000%” senses something between them. Though the co-creators share different views on the relationship and where it should go, they both agree the door is still open after their finale chat.

“One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed doing is a male and female friendship, because I think, especially at this age, I have those in my life and they’re so incredibly valuable.”

Bill Lawrence, Rooster

“That’s complicated. In the old network TV days, if you had an attractive female character that was single and an attractive male character that was single and they had chemistry, it was inevitable. Part of your show was will they or won’t they? And one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed doing is a male and female friendship, because I think, especially at this age, I have those in my life and they’re so incredibly valuable,” Lawrence said. Despite fans’ pleas for Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) to cross the line in their Ted Lasso friendship, the two remained platonic at the end of Season 3. (Though who knows what Season 4 has in store!) And in a genuinely smart move, Shrinking explored a friends with benefits dynamic between Jimmy (Jason Segel) and Gaby (Jessica Williams) before shutting down their potential for romance. 

Unlike Lawrence, Tarses is not-so-secretly shipping Dylan and Greg. “I’m different than Bill about this. This other writer on the staff and I are much more basic bitches than that about the love story. But I agree with Bill that even if it is ending in that place of romance, it’s better that it starts in this friendship that gets deeper and deeper and that’s more at risk when people are really great friends to start.” The co-creators haven’t made a decision about the friends’ romantic fates, but Lawrence said, “To close the door would be stupid and disingenuous.” So if you’re still in line to see a Dylan and Greg kiss, stay in line! 

Someone else not kissing in the finale? Greg and Beth, despite Beth leaning in during an emotionally charged moment in Greg’s living room. In a somewhat unexpected twist, Greg denied the gesture in a move that signaled serious growth. “That was a thing he could not have done at the beginning of the season,” Tarses said. “I think [his growth] for sure is appealing to her. She’s also this slightly sociopathic character herself who likes power and she sees that she might not have it with him. So she wants it more. But there also is this connection that goes way back, so I wouldn’t rule them out either…”

Lawrence revealed he does love watching Greg’s romantic world unfold, teasing, “We brought more into it this year already.” But Season 1’s most crucial male/female relationship was undoubtedly between Greg and his daughter. 

In a delightful twist, my Rooster wish for more Connie Britton came true. Unfortunately for Walt, it came at the cost of his job. Season 1’s final scene showed Walt telling Greg that Beth would be taking his job as Ludlow President, which will seriously shake up campus dynamicss — especially since Greg decided to stay another semester. But fear not, hot house fans. McGinley will be back for Season 2!  

“We took great pains to say this is just the spring semester, and this will be his swan song. Connie Britton doesn’t start as the college president until year after,” Lawrence said, noting the team has been writing Season 2 for quite a while. “There’s a bunch of new people that we love coming into the world. But the trickiest thing on this show is you introduce 1,000 secondary characters, and whether it was Tommy (Maximo Salas), or Cristle (Annie Mumolo), or Donnie the cop (Rory Scovel), or Mo (Robby Hoffman), all of them are so good. So the biggest thing for us is trying to find room for this true ensemble piece. Currently we’ve got everybody coming back.” 

Since its premiere, Rooster smashed streaming records and quickly became HBO’s most watched freshman comedy in over a decade. It’s gaining significant buzz in FYC Season, with potential to go head-to-head with Lawrence’s hit Apple TV comedy Shrinking. But most importantly for Lawrence and Tarses, the show’s heart and humor is making a real impression on viewers.

To end the interview, a beaming Lawrence encouraged his longtime friend and creative collaborator to share a real-life anecdote from his daughter, Fiona Tarses, who plays Katie’s student Zoey on the show. “She lives in New York and was on the subway last night. And across the crowded car with lots of people between them, these people held up their phone and they’d written ‘FOR KATIE’ on it.” An A+ interaction to close out the semester.

Rooster Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max.