The family of a special-needs teen is good at dealing with the challenges he faces--and excellent at creating new ones.The family of a special-needs teen is good at dealing with the challenges he faces--and excellent at creating new ones.The family of a special-needs teen is good at dealing with the challenges he faces--and excellent at creating new ones.
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- TriviaMicah Fowler explained on Twitter that his character, JJ Dimeo, has a more severe form of cerebral palsy than he does in real life. His character, JJ, is nonverbal and uses a power wheelchair for independence; Micah uses a wheelchair most of the time but can walk short distances with a walker, and he can talk clearly enough for most people to understand him.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The History of Comedy: The Comedy of Real Life (2017)
Featured review
Funniest sitcom of the season; Minnie Driver is terrific
Update: this series never went downhill.
This terrifically funny sitcom has a rather odd structure. It's similar to shows like Fresh Off the Boat and the Real O'Neals, except that since the character the series is built around can't speak, his brother fills the role of POV character.
At the same time, neither of the brothers really powers the series. Instead, Minnie Driver's brilliant performance as their force-of-nature pushes everything forward. She is a complicated character, stubborn, guilt-ridden, neglectful of her other children yet wildly noble in her unstinting efforts to protect her neediest child.
In similar series, the family is often a generic backdrop to the kids, but here, the family itself is quite interesting; a rather bohemian group that functions as their own traveling circus.
When I first heard about a series centered around a disabled kid, I thought, that sounds depressing, but this series is anything but. JJ is severely disabled, but he's likable and funny, and the series does a good job of making disability seem like something you have to deal with rather than something that defines you. It's a series that takes something very serious and makes it fun without making fun of it.
This terrifically funny sitcom has a rather odd structure. It's similar to shows like Fresh Off the Boat and the Real O'Neals, except that since the character the series is built around can't speak, his brother fills the role of POV character.
At the same time, neither of the brothers really powers the series. Instead, Minnie Driver's brilliant performance as their force-of-nature pushes everything forward. She is a complicated character, stubborn, guilt-ridden, neglectful of her other children yet wildly noble in her unstinting efforts to protect her neediest child.
In similar series, the family is often a generic backdrop to the kids, but here, the family itself is quite interesting; a rather bohemian group that functions as their own traveling circus.
When I first heard about a series centered around a disabled kid, I thought, that sounds depressing, but this series is anything but. JJ is severely disabled, but he's likable and funny, and the series does a good job of making disability seem like something you have to deal with rather than something that defines you. It's a series that takes something very serious and makes it fun without making fun of it.
helpful•117
- cherold
- Nov 29, 2016
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![Minnie Driver, John Ross Bowie, Cedric Yarbrough, Kyla Kenedy, Mason Cook, and Micah Fowler in Speechless (2016)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjUzMzUwMjE4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODEyNDI0NjM@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)