Apple TV serves up a pickleball comedy with The Dink starring Jake Johnson (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed) and Mary Steenburgen (A Man on the Inside). The official trailer shows that Johnson reluctantly takes up the sport as the fastest path back to a tennis career. The results are pretty much what you’d expect. Also, Andy Roddick pops in to represent an actual star of the tennis world.
Joining Johnson and Steenburgen are Ed Harris, Ben Stiller, Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman, Chris Parnell, and Aaron Chen. Workaholics‘ Sean Clements wrote the script and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar‘s Josh Greenbaum directs.
Apple TV offers this lengthy synopsis: “Washed up former tennis prodigy Dusty Boyd (Johnson) has been reduced to coaching unruly children at his father Chuck’s (Harris) suburban country club. Desperate for his father’s approval, Dusty blindly supports Chuck’s vendetta against the new craze taking over the club: pickleball. But when Dusty reaggravates an old injury, taking away his ability to play tennis, he resorts to the unthinkable in the name of rehab.
He not only tries pickleball, but, thanks in part to his enchanting new partner, Candace (Steenburgen), he finds himself actually enjoying it. Torn between two worlds, Dusty is forced to finally face the ghosts of his past athletic failures, including his childhood nemesis, Andy Roddick. Ultimately, Dusty is drawn into a desperate battle for the future of the club, his father’s affection and his very identity.”
The Dink premieres on Apple TV on July 24, 2026.
Ben Stiller, Jake Johnson, John Lesher, Rob Paris, and Mike Witherill serve as producers. Executive producers include Josh Greenbaum, Sean Clements, Rick Steele, Joe Hardesty, Jonathan McCoy, and Daniel Crosser.
