TV

Role models cut both ways in ‘About a Boy’ TV adaptation

Jason Katims isn’t the first name you’d expect to be linked with NBC’s new comedy, “About a Boy.” The Emmy Award-winning writer-producer is best known for creating “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood,” both hour-long dramas with densely populated ensemble casts and tear-inducing storylines.

In explaining his attraction to “About a Boy,” which is based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling 1998 novel of the same name, Katims says he didn’t see the project as a drastic departure from the sort of quality television on which he has built his reputation. “I wouldn’t want to do a half-hour [show] where it’s just a constant barrage of jokes,” says Katims. “I thought I could find poignancy. I thought these could be characters that we could come to care about and be invested in.”

At its core, Katims’ version of “About a Boy” is the Hornby one, as well as the 2002 hit movie adaptation starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult: it’s about how a peculiar, much bullied 11-year-old named Marcus (Benjamin Stockham), with an eccentric mom Fiona (Minnie Driver), stirs protective feelings in Will (David Walton), an otherwise irresponsible thirty-something bachelor.

Minnie Driver plays mom Fiona in the new NBC dramedy.NBC

But what may startle those familiar with the source material, though, is how the pilot briskly compresses most of the high points of the original story line into a single, stage-setting episode. After that, Katims plans for “About a Boy” to be about many things — a boy’s need for a masculine role model, the pitfalls of extreme non-conformity — but mostly he wants it to be about a makeshift family that forms almost accidentally.

“In a weird way, it sort of takes a little bit of Fiona and a little bit of Will to make the best version of Marcus,” is how Katims has put it.

As counterpoint to Will’s lifestyle, Al Madrigal (“The Daily Show”) shows up as his sad-faced best friend Andy, the father of three and husband to Laurie (“Bridesmaids” co-writer Annie Mumolo). Perhaps in a bid to attract “Parenthood” fans, Katims created a mini-crossover for the two shows, both of which are set in Northern California. Recently, on “Parenthood,” Walton showed up at one of Dax Shepherd’s Crosby’s poker parties. In a subsequent “About a Boy,” Crosby will be the guest gambler at Will’s card table.

That said, an impish man-child and a protective figure in charge of an impressionable youngster’s upbringing is still nothing new on the small screen. (See: “Two and a Half Men.”) According to Walton, what makes “About a Boy” different is that his Will is slowly maturing, albeit at a glacial pace.

Benjamin Stockham is the young misfit, Marcus, and David Walton plays dad Will.NBC

“In every episode the undercurrent of the story is: Here’s this guy who is making awful decisions,” says Walton, who, by way of example, describes a story where Will takes Marcus to a pool party thrown by hard-core rapper Lil Jon and lets him roam free amidst live animals and writhing female cage-dancers. “Will’s intentions are always good. But what makes this more dangerous and more rife with comedic potential is that he’s being forced into playing the father role when he’s more suited to be the crazy uncle. There are different styles that those jobs require.”

To prep for the part, Walton admits to poring over Hornby’s book, but deliberately avoiding the movie.

“I thought it would be fun to not be influenced and never accused of trying to be Hugh Grant,” says Walton, adding that he plans to check out the film after Season 1 wraps. “I’ll probably kick myself for not stealing from him — he’s so good.”

Until then, if Walton ever needs to consult an “About a Boy” aficionado, be it novel or movie, he need only look as far as his co-star Minnie Driver.

“I’ve the read book four or five times. Its required reading if you’re British. I’ve seen the film a million times — it’s my go-to happy film,” says London-born Driver, adding that her Fiona is scripted to be decidedly lighter than the one in the movie, who is tearful, chronically depressed and, at one point, tries to kill herself by overdosing on pills.

“You can’t have a suicidal single mother on network television,” says Driver. “[My] Fiona’s fragile, neurotic, a vegan and she is definitely depressed but she’s really just neurotic and anxious.”

“[My] Fiona’s fragile, neurotic, a vegan and she is definitely depressed,” Driver says of her performance.NBC
In many ways, Driver is a perfect fit for her character: Like Fiona, she enjoys belting out a tune and, at 5’ 10”, she radiates a tall person’s aura of remove. Then there is the matter of her own young son, Henry Story Driver, who she is raising herself and no doubt allows her to bring special resonance to the role.

“I know the logistics of being a single parent are exponentially harder than when you’ve got two people,” says Driver. “I think that’s why [Fiona] gravitates to Will, even though she doesn’t particularly like him — it’s amazing having another pair of hands to help you.”

But would Driver let a perennial juvenile like Will be buddies with her 6-year-old? “Henry would love Will,” she says, with a laugh. “But I would never leave my son alone with him. I’d only let him hang out with him if I was there.”