Article first published as SPEECHLESS Review on Seat42F.
SPEECHLESS is a new sitcom on ABC that
you may have heard of. As the previews make very clear, this is your
typical family sitcom with a mom, dad, three kids, and one outside cast
member to mix things up. As you may not have heard, there’s something
about the show that makes it not quite your typical family sitcom, and
yet, the very way in which this something is handled is what makes it so
typical.
The family unit is made up of an
overbearing mother, Maya (Minnie Driver, About a Boy, Good Will
Hunting), a calm and supportive father, Jimmy (John Ross Bowie, The Big
Bang Theory), a competitive daughter, Dylan (Kyla Kenedy, The Walking
Dead), and a nerdy son, Ray (Mason Cook, Legends). Sounds normal enough,
right?
Where things veer off a little bit is
with the other son, JJ (Micah Fowler, Labor Day), who happens to have
severe cerebral palsy. We’re talking a condition so bad that the poor
kid can’t talk, having to use a laser pointer on a headset to point to
the words on a card that he wants to say, on his way towards Stephen
Hawking territory. I can’t recall the last time we’ve seen someone like
JJ on a broadcast network sitcom.
What’s remarkable and laudable about
SPEECHLESS is how little a deal it makes of JJ. Yes, JJ is a driving
plot point, the family having to move schools frequently in order to
find the best situation for him. And Ray’s first arc is all about
feeling overlooked by Maya, who spends so much of her energy doing what
is best for JJ. But this is by no means the only thing going on in
SPEECHLESS.
The best part is how JJ himself is
handled. He bullies Ray a little bit. Jimmy cracks jokes at JJ’s
expense. Basically, he’s a part of the family, and no one in this clan
treats him any differently on a regular basis. Sure, Maya might go out
and fight harder for him, but in their dynamic, JJ is just like Ray and
Dylan.
This should not be a revelation; shows
have been trying to include more diversity for years. From Parenthood’s
Max, who had Asperger’s (though the actor does not), to Glee’s Becky,
who had Down Syndrome (which the actress does have), it’s not a
completely brand-new thing to see this sort of character on television.
And yet, it still feels fresh because so few regular series take the
time to include a player with such challenging disabilities who
contributes to the story in such a pedestrian way. This is a very good
thing.
If JJ was all SPEECHLESS had going for
it, I’d dismiss JJ as a gimmick, as sad as that would be. Thankfully,
that is not the case. It’s a strongly written, well-acted comedy. Driver
and Bowie are absolutely terrific, as they always are, but especially
so in this particular setting. Cook, Fowler, and Kenedy are great, too,
certainly able to keep up with the adults. Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!)
rounds out the cast as Kenneth, the custodian-turned-aide for JJ, who
easily integrates into the group from the first moment we, and the
characters, meet him.
I’m sure the team behind SPEECHLESS
doesn’t want to be known as “that family comedy with the cerebral palsy
kid,” or at least I hope they don’t. They won’t be able to help that for
awhile, and it’s impossible to write up an initial review without
dwelling on it. But given the steady quality and amusing laughs, nudging
it towards the top of the typical family sitcom heap (of which there
are a few too many on right now), hopefully it’ll soon be talked about
as “one of the better family sitcoms” period. It deserves that, and I
love that I can say that about it. This would be a very different review
if I could not.
As Joss Whedon said when asked why he
writes so many strong female characters, “because you ask that
question,” SPEECHLESS helps us along the path to answering a question
about why you include an actor with a disability in the ensemble with
“because you ask that question.” The more comfortable viewers can get
with a wide variety of people on their screens, the better for it we all
are.
SPEECHLESS premieres Wednesday at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.
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