About a Boy (2014)

About a Boy was a 2014 NBC mid-season replacement sitcom loosely based on the 2002 film of the same name and the Nick Hornby book that inspired both the film and the TV show. Critically successful despite lasting only two seasons, the show follows the exploits of Will (David Walton), a slacker who has lived his entire life off the royalties of a song his dead father wrote. He's your basic beer and video game loving man-child who refuses to grow up, but his life takes a drastic turn when his new neighbor Fiona's (Minnie Driver) eleven-year-old son Marcus (Benjamin Stockham) hides in Will's house to escape some bullies, and the two become fast friends. With his real dad off living in Antarctica, Marcus desperately needs a male figure in his life to help him deal with dude issues, learn about sports, and escape his overbearing, hippy-dippy Vegan mother. Even if he doesn't fit the bill of a great father figure, Will is able to help Marcus with all his issues, while chasing Dr. Sam (Adrianne Palicki) and using his pseudo-fatherhood to show her he's worthy of going out with. This half hour sitcom just never caught on, perhaps because Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult were too strongly linked to the roles thanks to the hugely successful flick. Mr. Man's all about the boys, so he was really hoping to see as much skin as NBC would allow. We don't get much, but the pilot episode does feature star David Walton in nothing but his underwear after being stripped by a woman who then runs out of his house! He chases her in her underwear, and Fiona and Marcus get a pretty erotic introduction to their new neighbor. The show would've been a lot better if it were just called About a Bulge!