First episode impressions: ‘About a Boy’ (TV review)

Although I’m a big fan of the Nick Hornby novel and the Hugh Grant movie, when I heard that “About a Boy” (8 p.m. Central Tuesdays on NBC) was being made into a TV series, I wasn’t all that excited. It seemed like the book and the movie effectively told the full story of how a cool 30-something and an uncool 11-year-old boy helped each other find what was missing in their lives.

Still, I couldn’t dismiss “About a Boy” out of hand, because it comes from Jason Katims, the executive producer responsible for three of my favorite something-else-to-TV adaptations: “Roswell” (originally young adult books), “Friday Night Lights” (originally a book and movie) and “Parenthood” (originally an older TV series). There wasn’t a good reason to think he’d fail with “About a Boy,” although I was surprised to find out that it’s a half-hour long, unusual for an American TV drama, which usually clock in at an hour. (Even though it has comedy elements, “About a Boy” can’t really be classified as a sitcom, and in fact, main character Will was introduced in the poker game in a January episode of the hour-long drama “Parenthood.” Both shows are set in San Francisco.)

So by the time the first episode aired, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, “About a Boy” hasn’t found its stride through two episodes. I knew David Walton would have a successful career playing the effortlessly cool guy ever since 2007’s “quarterlife,” and indeed, he’s a good fit for taking over Grant’s role as Will. Likewise, Minnie Driver fits the Toni Collette role of Fiona, the struggling single mom who wants what’s best for her kid, Marcus, but doesn’t realize she’s helping to make him uncool. They sing songs together and don’t realize how bad they are, she raises him vegetarian, and her fashion choices get him picked on at school.

Through two episodes, the directors haven’t gotten a particularly convincing performance from Benjamin Stockham as Marcus. I don’t think it’s merely because he’s a young actor. Rather, the whole tone of the show is off, which is unusual for a Katims production – and I suspect it might be because of the half-hour format, something the producer isn’t accustomed to. The first episode retells the story of the movie, where Marcus keeps coming over to neighbor Will’s place – sometimes to escape bullies, sometimes because Will is having Marcus pose as his kid in order to attract women – and eventually they are genuine friends (and, through the kid, Will and Fiona get along better despite their extremely different lots in life). The episode seemed rushed, almost as if everyone resented having to retell the movie story.

But episode two – where Will takes Marcus to an adult pool party — also seemed rushed, with the humor not quite landing and the dramatic beats skimmed over. Will emphasizes that Marcus must not tell his mom about the party. Yet, as soon as they see Fiona, Marcus tells her. And she’s fine with it. Although “About a Boy” is built upon conflicts between extremely different personalities and lifestyles, frankly there’s not much genuine conflict to it.

And the character’s lives seem too easy, aside from the picked-on Marcus — but even he gets a big break when Will makes him look cool at the school talent show. Will is a former music star, which allows him a spectacular level of financial freedom (and apparently he parlayed that into owning a successful bagel shop, too); whereas Grant’s Will got his hair “carefully disheveled,” Walton’s Will looks forward to Asiago cheese bagels on Thursdays. He lives in a nice place.

Meanwhile, Fiona and Marcus live right next door in pretty much an identical unit; it’s a duplex, essentially, as Marcus finds a secret panel that connects the houses in episode two. But she’s jobless. While no TV show does a perfect job of exploring the realities of family finances, “Parenthood” at least takes an honest stab at it. But it looks like “About a Boy” will take the exact opposite tack of ignoring money issues. It’s kind of a slap in the face to viewers in 2014, but maybe the writers are playing the “escapism” card.

All told, “About a Boy” isn’t jelling through two episodes, and it also has exhausted the premise from the source material, confirming my suspicion that Hornby’s story didn’t need to be made into a TV show. Still, with Katims producing, I’ll stick with it a while longer to see if it finds interesting new plots and a groove of some kind.