'About A Boy' TV Series And Untitled Relationship Docu-Comedy Sold To NBC

NBC has a couple of new comedy projects in the works and we have the details here at TVRage.

While all of his shows contain his signature sense of humor, Friday Night Lights and Parenthood developer/executive producer Jason Katims has been wanting to work on a half-hour comedy for a while and he has finally found the right one. Set to write and executive produce, the Emmy Award winning Katims is adapting the 2002 movie About A Boy into a single-camera comedy series, based on the book by Nick Hornby and the film starring Hugh Grant.

Produced in part by Working Title and Tribeca Productions—the companies behind the feature film—About A Boy focuses on the relationship between a bachelor man-child and the young boy who moves in next door with his kooky single mother. This represents the second time that a network has attempted to develop About A Boy as a comedy series. In 2003, FOX ordered an adaptation starring Patrick Dempsey, but opted not to pick it up.

The Peacock has also purchased an hour-long original series from prolific pilot director Marc Buckland entitled This Thing Called Love. This project is described as a comedic documentary that explores the minutae of modern relationships through the eyes of several very different couples. Buckland will write, direct and executive produce under his development deal with Universal TV.

Under the pact, Buckland made his pilot-writing debut last season with single-camera comedy RIP, which also was set up at NBC. The previous pilots that Buckland directed for NBC over the past two seasons—drama Grimm and comedy Next Caller Please—both went to series. In addition, he earned an Emmy Award when he directed the pilot for another NBC series, the single-camera comedy My Name Is Earl, in 2005.

Depending on the style and the cast of This Thing Called Love, that could be an interesting project. I've never seen the movie About A Boy and the premise doesn't appeal to me, but it sounds like it would find an audience. What do you guys think?