U.S. television network ABC will work with Chris O'Dowd to adapt his Irish television show Moone Boy for an American audience, according to The Hollywood Reporter. O'Dowd will not star in the show but will pen the script and serve as executive producer.
The network has handed out a put-pilot commitment to O'Dowd. This means that ABC will air the pilot episode or pay monetary penalties to the studios who will produce the pilot: Sony, 3 Arts Entertainment, and original producers Sprout Pictures Limited, Baby Cow Productions and Hot Cod Productions.
For those of you keeping score at home, if you are not familiar with Moone Boy, O'Dowd plays Sean, the adult imaginary friend of Marin Moone, a 12-year old boy who lives in Boyle, Ireland. Along with his mom and dad and three sisters, Martin navigates life in Ireland in the late 80s and early 90s.
So this is the part where you either gnash your teeth with fury or express joy because you tried watching the original and did not understand a single word anyone was saying. Let's be honest, adapting comedies from the U.K. rarely, hardly ever, a snowball's chance in Hell, work.
We were aghast when footage of an attempt at Spaced surfaced. MTV's attempt at The Inbetweeners should have resulted in someone's arrest and incarceration. The article in THR lists many of ABC's failed attempts over the previous years to adapt U.K. shows with only a couple of successes.
Personally, I do not welcome any adaptation of any U.K. sitcom. Yes, it is a sweeping generalization to say that people in the U.K. and people in 'Merica find different things funny. Because of our ties to the Throne, we Canadians have fared better. We have been weaned on a steady diet of U.K. television since birth. But the failed attempts speak for themselves. The senses of humor are just too different.
On the other hand. As we say with any adaptation, be it on the large screen or the small screen, one of the positive outcomes is that more people are exposed to the original material. And if you have not found out yet then you will discover that the original Moone Boy is a very good thing.