The story is very similar to the movie in many ways (I can’t speak to similarities to the novel); Will (David Walton) is a wealthy bachelor, living a life of careless debauchery and absolutely no attachments. Cue the arrival of new neighbors Fiona (Minnie Driver), a depressed and earthy single mom, and her son Marcus (Benjamin Stockham), an odd little boy. Will ropes Marcus into pretending to be his son, after lying about being a single dad in order to win over a beautiful cellist (Leslie Bibb). Of course Will and Marcus start to form a bond that exists somewhere between father/son, older brother/younger brother, and just plain ol’ friendship; a relationship that is presumably the focus of the series.
Based on Jason Katims’ track record on television over the past several years, everything would point to this show being a success. The pilot’s got some funny moments, some uncomfortable moments, and quite a bit of heart.
And in case you can’t wait til next week, here’s a preview line for you all (feel free to guess the character if you’d like):
“ I know that you are extremely fond of the tradition of cooking slaughtered animals in an open air setting, but in the spirit of being a good neighbor, could you please refrain from grilling unless there is a southwesterly wind? ”
If you want more discussion about About a Boy, I’ll talk about my thoughts and feelings in greater depth after the first episode premieres on NBC next Saturday, February 22nd, after the Olympic coverage.
What do you think about the new show? Are you planning to give it a chance? Are you against adaptations? Let us know what you think below!
Follow me on Twitter
What is great about this sitcom that other freshmen sitcoms have lacked in? I really want to see this show.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the preview. I am looking forward to this show! One question though: did you feel the show will have issues sustaining its plot for a long number of episodes with the premise it has?
ReplyDeleteI hope this works. David Walton is very under-appreciated and really deserves a successful show!
It definitely doesn't feel like a really heavy serialized show - my guess is there will always be some story between Will/Marcus, but it'll have a more episode by episode story structure. It's not set up to play out the movie plot, that's just kind of the basis for their relationship.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope it works too! The pilot's nice, nothing overly impressive, but I really like everyone in it, and Jason Katims.
I don't know that this show is necessarily significantly greater than other new sitcoms this year, though the pilot is fun, and I hope that the show works based on the people involved.
ReplyDeleteThanks ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. I'm super excited for this, AAB and Growing Up Fisher both look like NBC's best comedies of the season, so I hope the Olympics promotion helps them out a bit, I'd love it if this got a second season. I'm assuming because obviously I haven't seen it, but the movie is a favorite of mine. And that line definitely comes from Fiona/Minnie Driver lol
ReplyDeleteDing ding ding! You got the line right - not a hard one, but her delivery did make me laugh. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha based on her dialogue in the promos I can visualize how she most likely says it and I laughed when I read it up above. 7 more days!
ReplyDeleteIt's been several years since I read the book so I don't remember much other than it made me want to read more from Nick Hornby and that I wasn't completely put off by the differences. So with all that said, I was really looking forward to seeing the show and now even more now based on what you said in your review. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
ReplyDeleteGrowing Up Fisher doesn't have great critic reviews....
ReplyDeleteYeah but the 2 minute promo/behind-the-scenes looked quite funny. The mom mostly, she's the real reason I intend to watch. Everything she said was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThat's What Makes You Beautiful in the trailer made me not want to watch but I'll give it a shot cause of the good reviews.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Growing Up Fisher seems like another awkward comedy to me, like TMJFS. I know its a comedy, but handing a chainsaw to a blind guy (as we saw in the promo) is really not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't NBC promoting that Jason Katims from "Parenthood" & "Friday Night Lights" is involved?
ReplyDeleteI do not care about Sitcoms and this one even less do I care.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried about the impact of Growing Up Fisher on NBC's ratings, this show is going to repeat The Michael Fox Show effect, people will feel sorry for the blind lead character and will tune out, I wonder how this show may hut Chicago Fire's ratings at 10 (despite Fire being a self-starter), because things won't be pretty if it starts getting low 1s like the thursday lineup. I believe this is the reason why NBC is still holding Undateable
ReplyDeleteAbout a Boy will see a second season airing all episodes behind Voice unlike Go On and The New Normal last season, I hope this show will be good as I like the film but NBC's family sitcoms have been a disaster on audience and quality.
Parenthood isn't that popular anymore, and FNL never caught on either.
ReplyDeleteChicago Sun-Times gave it a star while AAB earned 3 stars!
ReplyDeletewww.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/25554378-421/lori-rackl-what-to-watch-on-television-this-week.html