Un niño grande

A very different show, 2 seasons, 30 20-minutes episodes - short & simple.

I'm a Nick Hornby fan, loved the movie, and was shocked to see it come to the US and be made into a TV series. While I thought the source material was geographically re-locatable, I wasn't convinced that the characters would still resonate. Will, especially, is such a great British misanthropic womanizer, I felt sure that that they'd drop the ball with him.

I was really happy to find that my fears were unfounded.

This version of About A Boy retains the laughs and the poignancy of the original. While Hugh Grant was on career best form in the film (and the Badly Drawn Boy music was pitch perfect), David Walton's Will is a well-realized modern man-child with a heart of gold. Minnie Driver is excellent, although she's definitely less out there than Toni Collette's version, and you do get a sense that they may start a "will they/won't they" thing with Will and Fiona, which you always knew was off the table in the novel and movie.

The "boy", Benjamin Stockham, is good, although there are a couple of moments where he seems to strike the wrong notes. But the chemistry between him and Walton is excellent, and that's by far the most important component.

Whenever Al Madrigal and Annie Mumolo show up, they strike a different tone, reminiscent of the Paul Rudd/Leslie Mann combo in Knocked Up. Definitely not a bad thing, and it keeps it from getting too predictable.

They could get a huge amount of mileage out of this show, as Marcus grows up and starts becoming a man. Definitely fertile soil and after the promising start, I'd love to see what these characters get up to.

I really enjoyed the pilot of this show, which surprised me a little. It was unexpectedly clever and made me chuckle.

I thought all three of the main actors had good screen chemistry with each other, which is hard to find.

While it does have several clichés in it (I dare anyone to find something that doesn't), that doesn't matter because the actors pull it off.

I enjoyed every moment of the pilot, and I have high hopes for the rest of the episodes we get.

My concern is that NBC axes things willynilly sometimes, so I don't have a lot of optimism that they'll keep it on the air (much like Bent, which was hilarious and starred the same man as this show). I'll enjoy it while I can, and you should too. :)

Will Freeman (David Walton) is a carefree womanizer living off of the royalties of his one hit song. Weird new-age Fiona (Minnie Driver) and her odd son Marcus move in next door and turn Will's life upside down. Will forms a tight bond with Marcus despite his misgivings. Fiona is horrified at first but grows to see the good in their relationship. Will's best friend Andy (Al Madrigal) is married to bossy lawyer Laurie.

'About a Boy' is a very good movie but it means nothing for a TV adaptation. The story is reasonably set up for a TV sitcom as long as the actors are good. I like all three actors and I love their chemistry. I don't always love Al Madrigal but he's more like a side character. The kid is adorably dorky and Walton is fun. Minnie Driver is a no-brainer. I love the chemistry especially between Walton and the kid.

It follows the steps of the 2002 Hugh Grant movie. It's not a laugh out loud comedy, but it's endearing, funny and has a lot of heart. Or at least it did in the first season.

In the second season it seems that the writers ran out of things to say, and the situations became too forced and not that funny. It still had its moments, but there were too far between. Rates plummeted and the last season was swiftly canceled, with the last 6 episodes being released months later on video on demand.

The series finale was quite good, although all in all I prefer to keep the memory of the fresher first season.