About A Boy
NBC | Release Date: February 22, 2014
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
PopMattersRoss LangagerFeb 21, 2014
Season 1 Review: Walton’s Will is more jovial and goofy, a ladies’ man with at least one good and honest friend his own age in Andy. He’s also the primary reason to give NBC’s About a Boy any sort of chance to develop its formula. Read full review
60
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: The show is a sweetened, Americanized version of the 2002 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant, which was itself adapted from Nick Hornby's 1998 novel. Read full review
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: Cute and occasionally touching, About a Boy gets no points in its early episodes for originality or expanding the single-camera comedy form but it's a decent little show about flawed but essentially decent characters. Read full review
58
HitfixAlan SepinwallFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's not a terrible show, but it's a fairly literal, toothless translation of the source material that doesn't give much indication of working as an ongoing series. Read full review
58
NewsdayDiane WertsFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: About a Boy yearns to be good. Yet it relishes being bad. And Katims--guiding hand to "Parenthood" and "Friday Night Lights"--doesn't fess up to that dichotomy. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubEmily VanDerWerffFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: There are a handful of lines in every episode that are worth a smile or two (as well as a celebrity cameo in episode two that works surprisingly well in this regard), and the acting is largely solid (though everyone seems to be in different shows). But there’s a serious lack of a core to About A Boy. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoFeb 20, 2014
Season 1 Review: The premiere has moments of clever insight into the dating process and how parenthood can change you but the show spins its wheels for the next two episodes sent for press. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraFeb 24, 2014
Season 1 Review: This About a Boy is as subtle as a chain saw. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzFeb 21, 2014
Season 1 Review: To be clear, the problem isn't that Will is in some general sense unlikable, it's that About a Boy rigs the show so that you have no choice but to think of him as a liberating life force who's adorable and ultimately admirable. Read full review
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