Set in his hometown of Boyle Co Roscommon, Chris O’Dowd’s show ‘Moone Boy’ launches on Hulu this week.

The charming story follows Martin Moone, played by David Rawle, coming of age in small-town Ireland alongside his imaginary friend Sean Murphy, played by O’Dowd.

O’Dowd co-wrote the show for Sky 1 with Irish screenwriter Nick Vincent Murphy.

The New York Times described the series as the “most charming new television comedy to arrive in America this year.”

The Irish star of "Bridesmaids" spoke to Slate about how much of the show is based on his own upbringing in the West of Ireland.

“Everything that’s very funny happened, and I wrote all the filler,” O’Dowd said.

“Obviously, the kid is very much based on me as a kid—the same three sisters, my parents did the same thing at that time. That’s all very similar. But I didn’t have an imaginary friend, because there was no room in our house.”

One of the early episodes revolves around Mary Robinson’s election as Irish president, this was not accidental O’Dowd says, crediting his mothers and sisters as having a strong influence on him.

“I was always surrounded by strong women. Also, I am conscious of the fact that women are so badly served in comedy most of the time, so I wanted to make sure that the show we wrote had strong female characters.”

O’Dowd remains confident that an American audience will understand the humor of the show.

“I thought it was very important to make a very specific show,” he explained.

“There are moments when I’m conscious of the fact that a British audience, or in particular an American audience, won’t get a reference or a joke that we’re writing, and I just make myself not care.”

He adds, “Audiences are forgiving.”

The six-episode first season of "Moone Boy" is now available on Hulu.