'About a Boy'

“About a Boy” is NBC’s newest exercise in laziness.

The new show is based on the 2002 film of the same name, starring Hugh Grant. It’s based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. The pilot episode stuck to the standard plot exactly — to a fault.

Will (David Walton) finds a woman he wants to have sex with, lies and tells her he’s a single father to win her over, then uses his new neighbor’s son, Marcus (Benjamin Stockman), to play his son. Will teaches Marcus how to be cool, eat meat and stand up to bullies. Marcus goes along for the ride and pretends to be Will’s son so Will continues to get laid.

This is brave, considering the movie and book delve into beautiful observations about depression, growing up and how family can support you in different way.

Jamming all of this into 22 minutes leaves us with blanket statements about Marcus’s mother (Minnie Driver) being sad and near-comically crying over dinner. Will is just painted as a general douchebag.

Character development is out the window, and the show depends on stock sitcom devices to get through its pilot.

Cramming the entire plot of the movie into the sitcom is a bold move. It could have
been a sweep of bravado to acknowledge the source material, get it out of the way and continue on with a new style.

There might be time to save the show, but with their work on the pilot I say don’t waste your time when you could be watching basically any other show.