A - sure - special show

   “Special” is indeed special.  The Netflix comedy, which premiered April 12, is, overall, quite remarkable and sort of amazing.  As a friend remarked, who knew my life would be a T.V show! 

   Not quite.  Ryan (Ryan O’Connor, who is also the writer and for whom I presume this is an autobiographical project) is able to walk, although with a significant limp, and doesn’t have a speech impediment – much in his favor – but he is disabled with Cerebral Palsy and is gay. Although far less disabled than I am or even was before two years ago, he is a disabled man, and one with unsexy C.P, making his way in the hyper-judgmental gay world and dealing with all the insecurity that entails.  Who, indeed, knew there would ever be such a show, let alone a comedy! 

   The mini-episodes, each running about 15 minutes and making for almost too easy binge-watching, are “big fun,” as my friend also said.  From what I’ve seen so far, the show manages to make some not-so-tasty medicine go down quite easily, without the sugar being too, too sweet.  There are some over-the-top, simplified scenes and characters, like the super-over-protective mother, not to mention the unbearably obnoxious boss, but this is typical in television comedies, and there really isn’t so much.  More notable are the surprisingly, even uncomfortably real scenes, such as when Ryan meets up with a sex worker, who he makes a point of telling he will “soon not pay for sex.” (I should also note that there is considerable profanity and nudity.) And the acting is sometimes not the best, but, again, it could be worse and certainly isn’t a turn-off.       

   I may want to write more after I’m done watching the series.  This is just my off-the-cuff, initial reaction and is in no way a full review. For now, at least, “Special” is definitely a show to watch – and not just because it’s remarkable, even amazing and, okay, special, that it’s on.