Advice for boys, and delight for the child in all of us
New series set to prove that, even in the digital age, there’s still room for do-it-yourself adventure, skipping stones, curiosity, imagination and good oldfashioned father-son activities, writes Greg Kennedy
If anything on Earth has the power to pry young eyes away from smartphones, tablets and gaming screens – and inspire kids towards fresh air fun, creativity, hands-on ingenuity and risk-taking – it’s the new adventure comedy series The Dangerous Book For Boys.
The smart money at Amazon Prime is betting that boys “from eight to eighty” and their families will embrace this series – executive-produced by Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle) and director Greg Mottola (Superbad) – who co-wrote the first two of six episodes to stream on Friday. “The Dangerous Book for Boys
is glorious in its adventure and its spirit,” Cranston says. “Sometimes the parents will laugh, and the kids will go, ‘I wonder what that meant’. And then, on some nights, the kids will laugh, and the parents will smile. Every show is an adventure.”
Lovingly filmed with its heart on its sleeve, this series is sweetly Spielbergian in its affection for the precious days of boyhood with its forays into fantasy and poignancy – and should resonate with children and adults of all ages.
The series follows the McKenna family, still grieving as they struggle to come to terms with the untimely passing of Patrick, their patriarch and a whimsical inventor who touched the lives of everyone who knew him.
He’s portrayed here by the Canadian actor and comedian Chris Diamantopoulos, known for Good Girls Revolt. A chameleon-like actor of startling range, he’s played leading parts on Broadway in The Full Monty and Les
Misérables and run the emotional gamut from playing the suave cool of Frank Sinatra in The Kennedys miniseries to the slapstick of chief knucklehead Moe Howard in The Three Stooges movie.
Here, however, his character Patrick’s death has left the family reeling, until hope appears in the form of a book called The Dangerous Book for
Boys that he created as a handbook to help his three sons.
The book is a how-to guide for childhood that inspires fantasies for his youngest son, Wyatt, played by Gabriel Bateman, previously of Lights
Out. While in his fantasy world, Wyatt reconnects with his departed dad – who plays many roles from the historical to the fantastic – as Wyatt learns the life skills he needs to cope with reality.
“He put together this Dangerous Book For Boys of all the things he wasn’t going to have a chance to teach them or guide them through in life,” Diamantopoulos says. “How to fix a bicycle. How to talk to girls. Every time Wyatt turns to the book, we go into his fantasy.”
Whether it’s a chance to hide inside the Trojan Horse, pilot a spaceship to the Moon, tackle science with Einstein, time-travel to the Wild West or trek to the South Pole, “in every fantasy, their father is there,” Cranston says. “It’s like peace for him, because he gets to see his Dad,” Bateman says.
The series also stars Erinn Hayes (Children’s Hospital) as Beth, the matriarch of the family who has her hands full as a single parent. Drew Logan Powell (Rockaway) and Kyan Zielinski (The Lunchbox
Brigade) play Wyatt’s brothers Dash and Liam, respectively. Swoosie Kurtz of Mike & Molly fame plays their grandmother Tiffany, while Diamantopoulos does double-duty as Terry, Patrick’s twin brother.
“At the first table read, we all clicked. We felt like brothers and just jumped into it right away,” says Zielinski. “[The set] really felt like a home. We all created such a helpful, kind environment. And we all worked so well together.”
“Liam is the oldest brother of the three. He’s very smart – and he’s not afraid to share with the other brothers that he is the smartest. When his father passes, he is experiencing new emotions that he hasn’t really felt before. It’s uncharted territory. It’s hard for him, but he wants to set a good example for his brothers. He wants to stay strong and be a real good role model.”
The series, created by Cranston and Mottola, is inspired by the 2006 British best-selling novel of the same name, written by Conn and Hal Iggulden as a guide on how to navigate childhood with advice to boys on a range of topics including fishing, building a tree house, histories of famous battles and other childhood touchstones. It has sold more than 1.5 million copies, and even attempts to answer the ageold question – what is the big deal with girls?
For Zielinski, only one thing could top his personal fantasy of rocketing to the Moon – acting opposite Cranston on the show. “Hands down, it’s Bryan Cranston,” he says. “I’d love to have him on the show. He’s an excellent writer and producer, and he’s such a nice guy and such a brilliant actor. It would be so fun to share the screen with him. I would just love to.”
The Dangerous Book For Boys is available for streaming on Amazon Prime from Friday
The book has sold more than 1.5 million copies and even tries to answer the question – what is the big deal with girls?