Joe’s a regular, everyday guy: average, you might say. Born and raised in Pittsburgh; blood runs Steelers black and gold; works as a plumber. Got a wife, a kid, a house to pay off. Like anyone, he’s hit with all kinds of feelings when his dad — also an ordinary, working-class man — dies unexpectedly. But in the thick of that grief comes another sudden blow, this one dealt straight to the head. And when Joe comes to, there’s a ruthless gangster in his face demanding the money he says Joe’s father owes him … or else.
How can this be real, Joe struggles to believe, that his father was in cahoots with the Russian mafia? Just as you’re also likely wondering, could Average Joe, the dark comedy thriller — from series creator Robb Cullen (Mr. Robinson) and co-producer McG (Not Dead Yet, The Winchesters), starring Deon Cole (Cole Hearted) — possibly be based on a true story?
Read on to find out — along with everything you need to know about Season 1 of the offbeat crime series.
Watch all 10 episodes of Season 1 now.
Making a toast at the wake of his suddenly departed dad, Joe Washington (Cole) raises his glass and lovingly pronounces: “To Teddy Washington, grandfather, father, tow-truck driver, sometimes asshole … And the world’s greatest Steelers fan you’ll ever see.” But Teddy, who died in a fire, was much more than that, too — more than any of his closest friends and family ever knew.
Until the next afternoon, when Joe shows up to his dad’s towing company office to find it vandalized, and — as a vicious Russian gangster and his young accomplice are shaking him down, learns his pop was up to a whole lot more than hauling wreckers.
“Let me get this straight,” says Joe’s pal Leon (Barrett), pacing the bloodstained carpet after dropping by, only to find Joe’s just offed a couple bad guys in desperate self-defense. “Your dad stole $10 million from the Russian mob.” “And a Lamborghini,” Joe puts in, stanching his wounded hand inside the golden emblem of Steelers fandom, a Terrible Towel. “And a fucking Lambo,” Leon sighs.
Things couldn’t go more wrong, or get any weirder — except, of course they could. Choice by choice, twist by twist, Joe and Leon (and their families) find themselves swept into a dark criminal underworld that’s by turns grisly and comic — and definitely anything but average.
No, it’s not based on a book.
Yes, the series is loosely inspired by creator Robb Cullen’s true-life experiences, though he’s generally been cryptic on the subject of precisely which parts and exactly to what degree.
In a Variety video interview, he divulged a little more. Cullen’s father was, in his son’s words, “a con man, as most record producers are.” “We moved a lot,” Cullen said. “We landed in New York, and my dad befriended a man — I’ll call him the Russian — and he was ‘muscle’ for a family. So, when my dad died not that long ago, I got a call from the Russian, who said, ‘I’d love to talk to you about your pop.’ ” Cullen agreed to meet the guy at a Bob’s Big Boy, where the story got downright chilling. “ ‘You know, your dad took a lot from a lot of people,’ ” Cullen recalls the man saying, before leveling with him: “Just tell me where the fucking money is, Robb.”
Average Joe is set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh.
Yes. The series has been picked up for a second season.
