There are some truly great golf comedies out there (Happy Gilmore, Caddyshack, etc.) and similarly, some of the funniest Will Ferrell movies involve sports. It seems like The Hawk, which hit the 2026 TV premiere schedule July 16, should be a match made in comedy heaven, with Ferrell portraying an aging golfer seeking a huge career comeback. However, the reviews are in, and critics seem to think the new series is more double bogey than hole-in-one.
The Hawk was co-written by Will Ferrell and Harper Steele — the stars of one of 2024’s best movies, Will & Harper — as well as Chris Henchy. It features an A+ cast, reuniting Ferrell with Molly Shannon, but according to Daniel Fienberg of THR, those talents are wasted on the “most shapeless and least comedically focused” sports project of Ferrell’s career. The Hawk is “hollow and forgettable,” the critic says:
The Hawk … does generate a few laughs. But it probably establishes a new baseline representing the absolute minimum number of laughs it would be possible for a television show featuring Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Jimmy Tatro, Fortune Feimster, Chris Parnell and David Hornsby to generate.
Lauren Sarner of the New York Post says she wishes Will Ferrell would have taken some of the energy he put into promoting the 2026 Netflix series — including appearing in character as Lonnie Hawkins in Kim Kardashian-approved SKIMS tighty-whities — and used it to make sure the show was actually funny. In her review of The Hawk, Sarner calls the titular character a “pale imitation” of Ferrell’s earlier work. The critic says:
In a grim – and likely unintentional – case of the show getting meta, Lonnie is a character whose best days are behind him. The Hawk makes you wonder if the same can be said of Ferrell. At the very least, it’s obvious that his skills are best for a movie, not stretched across a ten-episode series. The Hawk is painfully unfunny, and borders on mean-spirited ... Not every sports show needs to be Ted Lasso levels of ooey-gooey sweetness. But, The Hawk isn’t sharp enough to be a good mean comedy.
Eric Goldman of IGN rates it a “Bad” 4 out of 10, calling the majority of the 10 half-hour episodes “meandering and dull.” That’s not something you expect to read about Will Ferrell, given how many funny characters we’ve gotten from him in the past, but Lonnie Hawkins does not stand up to the comedian’s previous work. Goldman says:
Near the end of The Hawk’s season, Will Ferrell has a scene where he declares, ‘You think this is funny!? You think this is a comedy!?” which feels eerily appropriate for a show that’s so rarely successful at accomplishing its goals of, you know, being a funny comedy. Ferrell’s got one hell of a pedigree, and has given us a ridiculous amount of all-time great comedy moments, but he and his talented co-creators and co-stars can’t overcome the leaden feel to most of this series and a central character that just never feels fully formed.
Richard Roeper of RogerEbert gives it 2 stars out of 4, agreeing with the above critics that everything about The Hawk reminds him of better golf movies and funnier Will Ferrell performances. The series favors “loud” over “clever” with few original gags. Roeper continues:
We’ve got some big and insurmountable issues here. For one thing, the timing isn’t great, as we recently had the similarly themed (and generally superior) Stick on Apple TV ... More concerning is the uneven tone of The Hawk, which veers between slapstick set pieces that feel desperate, crude verbal wordplay, and half-hearted attempts at emotional resonance. It feels like we’re watching a less edgy take on Eastbound & Down, featuring unlikable characters in ludicrous predicaments that defy logic—even for a live-action cartoon of comedy/drama.
Erik Adams of AV Club is a little kinder to the Netflix comedy, giving it a "B" despite the critic’s admission that it “lands a few feet shy of the pin.” Adams still says it’s an “A” for effort (or, I guess a “B” for effort), because Will Ferrell is as game as ever. He says:
The aging Hawk has lost some of the oomph from his swing, but the star of Anchorman and Step Brothers still has his superpowers—even if he’s really not putting them to use to distinguish this high-status buffoon from all the others in his repertoire. He’s been out of this particular game for a minute, and it’s the first time he’s doing it in a half-hour TV series, but The Hawk proves once more that nobody commits harder to a silly costume, or puts more conviction behind an anguished scream, than Ferrell.
Will Ferrell is quite the character, but that doesn’t always translate into laughs. The Hawk reviews indicate there was a surprising lack of humor and even some mean-spiritedness in the 10 episodes, as well. So far, 24 critics on Rotten Tomatoes are rating the series at a pretty putrid 29%. However, if you’re a fan of Ferrell or any of the talented ensemble, you should definitely check out the show and draw your own conclusions.
The Hawk is available to stream now with a Netflix subscription.
