There are certain names that have dominated comedy—be it streaming TV shows and blockbuster movies or Saturday Night Live and stand-up—for decades, and Will Ferrell is certainly high on that list. In fact, since the 1990s, Ferrell has been one of the biggest names in the industry, and that hasn’t really slowed down with time. While Ferrell seems to have an increasing interest in being a producer, he is still starring in a range of projects, including his brand-new Netflix TV show, The Hawk, which dropped on the streaming platform just this week.
The Hawk sees Ferrell in the leading role of Lonnie ‘The Hawk’ Hawkins, a pro golfer who is trying to get his mojo back while also navigating myriad relationships that he has torn apart with his baffling selfishness. The cast is star-studded, with Molly Shannon as his ex-wife, Stacy; Jimmy Tatro as his son, Lance; and Fortune Feimster as his caddy, Sam. There are also cameos and/or smaller parts played by a range of other celebrities, including Luke Wilson and, unexpectedly, Tony Hawk.
The show concluded in such a way that certainly leaves the door open for season 2, although Netflix has not officially confirmed that a second season is coming, nor has any member of the cast. However, with the possibility of The Hawk returning for another season, it becomes direct competition for another show that has a bizarrely similar premise—starring someone Will Ferrell has repeatedly shared the screen with over the last few decades.
Will Ferrell And Owen Wilson Both Have Pro Golfer Shows
While sports comedies are far from new (just look at Happy Gilmore and the much more recently released Happy Gilmore 2), it is odd that Will Ferrell’s The Hawk centers on a pro golfer who has proven himself to be a bit of a jerk and is now trying to recover his career when, just last year, Ferrell’s former co-star from myriad projects, Owen Wilson, played a leading role in Apple TV’s Stick, which likewise was about Wilson’s character, Pryce Cahill, a washed up ex-pro golfer who ends up trying to recover his career and heal various relationships around him.
While I’m not saying that one plot was lifted from another, it’s strange that the two shows, which have been released so close together, have such a similar foundational plot—and that only becomes even funnier considering that Owen Wilson’s own brother, Luke Wilson, stars in The Hawk. With these similarities, the two shows are now in direct competition with one another, which will only become all the truer given that, as mentioned, The Hawk season 2 is absolutely a possibility, and Stick season 2 is already confirmed, with a possible release date later this year.
Stick Is Far Superior To The Hawk
With the possibility that both Stick and The Hawk are headed for season 2, making them even more competitive with one another, it’s worth mentioning that, in terms of popularity and reception, there really is no competition currently. Reviews of The Hawk have been rather bleak, with many pointing to its at times nonsensical, messy plot and bizarrely outdated humor. The show’s Rotten Tomatoes score also reflects those sentiments, with the critic score currently sitting at a dismal 29% and the audience score better but still not great at 63%.
By comparison, Stick has been considerably better received. Currently, the show has an 81% with critics and a 72% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and while that’s likely to shift to a degree with the release of season 2, particularly the critic score suggests that Stick is a much higher caliber show than The Hawk. Granted, these two shows are likely to remain in competition with one another, particularly in light of how similar they are in terms of their premises and given that Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson have long run in the same comedy spheres.
