• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Rarely does a TV series succeed primarily, but not exclusively, on the basis of its writing, but such is the case with “Rooster,” a new comedy coming Sunday to HBO and HBO Max.

Steve Carell (above photo) stars as a successful, but insecure author of thrillers featuring a hero named “Rooster.”

We learn almost nothing about the Rooster character in Episode One of “Rooster” (which the TV Blog previewed on Thursday).

But we do learn that the author, Greg Russo, is a well-meaning, divorced and admittedly lonely man with a grown daughter, Katie (Charly Clive), who teaches art history at fictional Ludlow College.

Russo turns up on campus as a guest speaker in a lecture hall, where he reads a portion of his newest book and then takes questions from students.

But the real reason he accepted the invitation was to visit his daughter, whose husband, another professor, has left her for a grad student.

While at the college, the eccentric dean (John C. McGinley) offers him a position as a writer-in-residence, and Russo considers it, but he does not decide whether or not to take it by the time Episode One is over.

The quality of the writing comes through in the conversations between the characters, and also in the spinning of the show’s main storyline. 

Noticing the quality of the writing while watching a movie or TV show is not a frequent occurrence, but it makes “Rooster” a pleasure to watch and possibly the best new show I have come across this year.

Credit for the writing -- and the rest of the show -- goes to co-creators and writers Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses.

Lawrence created “Scrubs” (among other shows), which was just revived on ABC. Tarses was a writer on “Scrubs” who advanced to an executive producer position on the show. 

McGinley was one of the original stars of “Scrubs” and he is now seen on the revived series too.

The director of Episode One of “Rooster” (and possibly other episodes too) is Jonathan Krisel, who is probably best-known as the co-creator of “Portlandia,” one of the best comedies of the last 20 years.

Not surprisingly, Carell, 63, is the glue that holds the whole thing together -- not that it necessarily needs any glue.

His character is easy to like, and to root for, because Carell applies just the right touch to the author’s character and his flaws. “Rooster” is just as likable.

“Rooster” premieres on Sunday, March 8, at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO and HBO Max.