@nicolemichele5 Published March 9, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ET Where to Stream: Rooster (2026) Powered by Reelgood More On: Rooster (2026) Where Is ‘Rooster’ Filmed? And Is Ludlow College Real? ‘Rooster’ Episode Guide: How Many Episodes Are in ‘Rooster’ on HBO And HBO Max? Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Rooster’ On HBO, Where Steve Carell Is An Author Who Works At A College To Be With His Daughter After Her Husband’s Sex Scandal ‘Rooster’s Theme Song Slaps, And Series Creator Bill Lawrence Knows It: “The Fact That Michael Stipe Agreed To Do It Is Just Insane” HBO’s new comedy, Rooster, is taking viewers back to college with a cozy campus setting that serves as the perfect backdrop for Greg Russo’s (Steve Carell) personal and professional shenanigans.
When Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses’ new series premiered on Sunday, March 8, viewers joined Greg, his daughter Katie (Charlie Clive), her husband Archie (Phil Dunster), President Walter Mann (John C. McGinley), professors like Dylan (Danielle Deadwyler), and students like Sunny (Lauren Tsai) at Ludlow College.
The liberal arts college campus on Rooster is giving New England in the fall vibes. But were episodes shot in New England? Is Ludlow College real? And where was Rooster filmed? We’ve got answers!
Read on for everything to know about Ludlow College and Rooster‘s main filming location.
First things first, is Rooster‘s Ludlow College a real university? While there appears to be a Ludlow College in England, the university in Rooster is fictional. So where does the show film? The ivy-covered brick buildings, inviting quad, and gorgeous collegial grounds aren’t elaborate set design! The series films on a real college campus: University of Pacific’s Stockton Campus.
Based on the school’s website, the private university in Stockton, California features a 175-acre campus that promises “New England beauty with California weather.” And Rooster isn’t the first time the university appears on screen. “Pacific’s history with Hollywood goes back to the 1940s,” the school notes. “Academy Award winner All the King’s Men (1949), Flubber (1997) starring Robin Williams and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) are a few of the movies that have been filmed on campus.”
Exteriors for the series were reportedly filmed at the university over the course of two weeks in June 2025, which means it was hot as heck when Carell and his co-stars are walking around bundled up in fall attire.
“To help fill out the campus during scenes, the crew enlisted about 100 extras recruited from a pool of locals, students and professors who were staying in town,” SFGATE reported. And per ABC 10, Carell even interacted with Pacific students on set and addressed the extras ahead of filming.
“…Steve Carell popped out of the car and was like, ‘Hi everybody, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate this. I’m really excited for this project. Let’s get going,'” Pacific student Juli Alexander told ABC 10. “Carell would just kind of walk around and chat with us… There was one point right before we started filming when my sister and I were playing rock, paper, scissors, and he jumped in.”
So there you have it, Rooster fans! To soak up the Ludlow College vibes IRL, University of Pacific is the place to go! And be sure to check out the rest of Decider’s Rooster coverage.
New episodes of Rooster premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
