• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 16, 2026

With his new comedy series “The Hawk,” Will Ferrell returns to familiar ground as an egotist fallen on hard times who yearns for a comeback.

In this case, the “ground” is a golf course and Ferrell, 58, plays a professional golfer named Lonnie Hawkins, who was once the reigning king and “bad boy” of the PGA.

His nickname is “The Hawk,” from which this long-awaited comedy series first announced two years ago gets its title. 

Premiering Thursday on Netflix, “The Hawk” is Ferrell’s first-ever TV series. 

For Hawkins, the Holy Grail is to finally win the U.S. Open, having previously won all three of the other “grand slam” golf tournaments in the heyday of his career -- the Masters, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Years before, when he was closing in on a U.S. Open victory, he missed a crucial shot and lost. 

When we meet The Hawk in the present day, he is trying to qualify for the PGA Tour, in which he has not participated for years.

Ferrell plays the role with a combination of brashness and pathos. It is the kind of role he has honed for years, and the show is great.

It is hilarious, profane, well-written and well-directed, with a keen eye for details. 

The opening sequence, in which Hawkins and his longtime caddy (Keith David) careen at high speed in The Hawk’s tour bus to make it to a tournament on time represents the best stunt-bus driving since “Speed.”

The show’s story of redemption is Ferrell’s stock-in-trade. It formed the basis for movies ranging from “Blades of Glory” and “Anchorman: “The Legend of Ron Burgundy” to “Get Hard” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

While Ferrell is not seen cavorting in his underpants in Episode One of “The Hawk” (which the TV Blog previewed on Wednesday), a portion of a thong he happens to be wearing makes an appearance.

The show also features real-life products and brand names. The tournament in Episode One is part of a series of real-life tourneys known as the Korn Ferry Tour.

The real-life Waste Management Phoenix Open -- officially known as the WM Phoenix Open -- also gets a mention.

But the most conspicuous product placement is Milky Way, a candy bar that The Hawk proclaims to be his favorite. 

There is even a slogan for the candy that was coined especially for the show and heard more than once in Episode One: “Delicious beats bulls--- every time.”

Conversely, for some reason, the Cupcake Vineyards wine brand gets brutally dissed by The Hawk when he takes a sip of the company’s chardonnay and immediately spits it out.

He then wretches with a disgusted expression on his face, and as he pours the bottle down the drain, he says: “Ugh, Cupcake chardonnay!”

Supporting players in ‘The Hawk” include Fortune Feimster as The Hawk’s new assistant, Molly Shannon as his profane ex-wife, Jimmy Tatro as his golf-pro son and rival, and Luke Wilson as another golf rival named Golden Fisk.

“The Hawk” starts streaming on Thursday (July 16) on Netflix.