Bob Odenkirk leaves 'Better Call Saul' behind

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If it ain’t broke …

I don’t claim to know what lies behind the everyman appeal of Bob Odenkirk, but I am a sucker for its charms as much as everyone else. Whether it was absurdist comedy in “Mr. Show” or Saul Goodman in his various iterations on “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” there is something welcoming about Odenkirk — even when the character isn’t — that makes you want him on the screen in your living room.

“Lucky Hank” puts that theory to the test. And it passes with ease, thanks to a lived-in performance by Odenkirk, a kind of small miracle in which he makes you want to spend time with a character who definitely doesn’t want to spend time with you.

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What is the plot of ‘Lucky Hank’?

The series, which begins streaming on AMC+ and other services on March 17, stars Odenkirk as William Henry Devereaux Jr. If the name sounds just pretentious enough to belong to an English professor, it does — Hank, as he’s called, is the chair of the English department at Railford College.

Harvard, it’s not. When a pretentious student finally goads Hank into participating in one of the courses he teaches, Hank goes on a rant, calling Railford “mediocrity’s capital,” among other things.

This lands him in hot water, but it’s not out of character. Hank is filled with ennui soaked with a tinge of anger, with a sprinkle of misanthropy on top. Actually, he doesn’t hate people so much. It’s more that, like with almost everything else in his life, he’s just stopped caring.

Which is different from giving up. The kind of not caring Hank practices takes a lot of mental energy. Maybe that’s why he always seems exhausted.

‘Lucky Hank’ cast also includes Mireille Enos

Hank’s father is a famous literary critic whose unseen presence dominates his son’s life. Hank himself had a single novel published years ago, and has been starting his second ever since.

He’s married to Lily (Mireille Enos), a vice principal at the local high school who is at least initially patient with Hank in the first two episodes available for review. Her bemused observations of her husband echo that of the audience, though cracks in the facade show through occasionally.

At work, Hank deals with the typical absurdities of an English department populated with overeducated, underachieving whiners. Their petty annoyances are sometimes funny, but these scenes are where “Lucky Hank” most resembles a straightforward network sitcom — an argument about faculty parking spaces could have been a subplot in “Welcome Back, Kotter.”

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What book is ‘Lucky Hank’ based on?

Let’s face it, we’re here to see Hank, which means we’re here to see Odenkirk. The series, based on Richard Russo’s “Straight Man: A Novel,” really clicks when Hank is forced to confront things outside his comfort zone (which is almost everything). For instance, in the second episode, novelist George Saunders, author of “Lincoln in the Bardo” and a professor, appears as himself, only here he’s a onetime friend of Hank’s when they were both young writers.

Saunders, of course, has gone on to massive success, while Hank … well, “mediocrity’s capital” and all that.

Hank hosts a question-and-answer session with Saunders, but only after he is forced to confront not only his jealousy and imposter syndrome, but also his own unwillingness or inability to write another novel.

These are the kinds of scenarios in which Odenkirk shines. There’s a genuineness to both his frustration and, several layers down, his ambition. The audience likes Hank more than Hank likes himself. That’s due to Odenkirk, who makes this mess of a man someone whose story is intriguing enough to make you want to see more of it.

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