''Special'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series created by

Ryan O'Connell Ryan O'Connell is an American writer, actor, director, comedian, LGBTQ activist, and disability advocate. He is known for his 2015 memoir, ''I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves'', about his life as a gay man with cerebral palsy, which h ...

for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. Starring O'Connell, the series is a semi-autobiographical account of his life as a gay man with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

pursuing new friendships, relationships, and self-sufficiency. It is based on O'Connell's memoir ''I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves''. The series premiered on April 12, 2019, and concluded on May 20, 2021, after two seasons. It received positive reviews and earned four nominations at the

71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2018, until May 31, 2019, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ...

, one for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and three for the performances of O'Connell,

Jessica Hecht Jessica Hecht is an American actress and singer who played Gretchen Schwartz on ''Breaking Bad'', Susan Bunch on ''Friends'', and Carol on '' The Boys''. She has also made numerous Broadway appearances. Early life and education Hecht was born ...

, and

Punam Patel ''Punam'' is a 2006 documentary film about nine-year-old girl Punam Tamang from Bhaktapur, Nepal. It was directed by Natasa Urban and Lucian Muntean (aka Lunam Docs), a Serbian independent documentary production duo specializing in telling the ...

Synopsis

''Special'' is "a distinctive and uplifting new series about a gay man, Ryan, with mild

who decides to rewrite his identity and finally go after the life he wants."

Cast and characters

Main

as Ryan Hayes, an unpaid intern at Eggwoke *

as Karen Hayes, Ryan's mother *

as Kim Laghari, Ryan's friend and co-worker at Eggwoke * Marla Mindelle as Olivia, Ryan and Kim's boss *

Augustus Prew Augustus Prew (born 17 September 1987) is an English film and television actor. He is known for his roles in '' About a Boy'' (2002), ''The Secret of Moonacre'' (2008), '' Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010), '' The Borgias'' (2011), '' Kick-Ass 2'' (20 ...

as Carey, one of Kim's best friends. *

Patrick Fabian Patrick Fabian (born December 7, 1964) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is known for his role as attorney Howard Hamlin in ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). His film roles include '' End Game'' (2006), ''The Last Exorcism' ...

as Phil, Karen's new neighbor and love interest * Max Jenkins as Tanner (season 2), Ryan's love interest who is in an open relationship with a man named Richard

Recurring

* Gina Hughes as Samantha, Ryan and Kim's co-worker at Eggwoke * Buck Andrews as Henry (season 2), a neurodiverse love interest of Ryan

Guest stars

* Kat Rogers as Caitie * Jason Michael Snow as Keaton * Brian Jordan Alvarez as Shay *

Shalita Grant Shalita Grant (born August 28, 1988) is an American actress best known for portraying NCIS Special Agent Sonja Percy on '' NCIS: New Orleans.'' She is also known from her roles on ''Mercy Street, You, Santa Clarita Diet,'' and '' Search Party.'' ...

as Rae * Charlie Barnett as Harrison (season 2), Kim's love interest. He comes from a poor and difficult background. After the sell of his company he becomes quite wealthy but it comes with a struggle with his family, who wants part of his money. *

Ana Ortiz Ana Ortiz (born January 25, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Having pursued a career in ballet and singing from a young age, she eventually attended University of the Arts. Ortiz began her acting career in theatre, in early 2000s starred ...

as Susan (season 2), Phil's new girlfriend *

Utkarsh Ambudkar Utkarsh Ambudkar ( ; born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including '' Pitch Perfect'' (2012), '' Game Over, Man!'' (2018), ''Blindspotting'' (2 ...

as Ravi (season 2), a childhood friend and romantic interest of Kim * Lauren Weedman as Tonya (season 2), a longtime friend of Karen * Anjali Bhimani as Bina Laghari (season 2), Kim's mother *

Ajay Mehta Ajay Mehta ( ) () is an Indian actor based in North America, known for his deep baritone voice. Early life and education Mehta was born in New Delhi, India and he was educated in New Delhi, in Mayo College and St. Stephen's College. Accordin ...

as Vijay Laghari (season 2), Kim's father *

Karan Soni Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films ''Deadpool'' (2016) and its sequel ''Deadpool 2'' (2018). Born in New Delhi, ...

as Dev Laghari (season 2), Kim's brother *

Leslie Jordan Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...

as Charles (season 2) *

Jeremy Glazer Jeremy Glazer (born November 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Letters from Iwo Jima'', '' Save Me'', ''On the Ride'' and ''Rust Creek''. Glazer's performances include big-budget blockbusters and indepe ...

as Marc Miller (season 2), second love interest of Ryan

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2021)

Production

Development

On February 5, 2019,

announced that it had given the production a series order for an eight-episode first season. The series is created by Ryan O'Connell, who is credited as an executive producer, alongside

Jim Parsons James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, he played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom '' The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead ...

, Anna Dokoza, Eric Norsoph and Todd Spiewak. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of That's Wonderful Productions and Stage 13. On December 16, 2019, the series was renewed for a second and final season by Netflix.

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Ryan O'Connell, Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel, Marla Mindelle, Augustus Prew, and Patrick Fabian would star in the series. In February 2020, Max Jenkins was cast in the recurring role for the second season. In March 2021, Charlie Barnett,

, Lauren Weedman, Buck Andrews, Anjali Bhimani,

, and

joined the cast in recurring roles while

was cast to guest star.

Release

On March 25, 2019, Netflix released the first official trailer for the series. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on Netflix on April 12, 2019. The second season was released on May 20, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

The first season received positive reviews upon its release. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 95% with an average rating of 7.29/10 based on 22 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Honest and genuinely affecting, ''Special'' lives up to its name with a funny—if a bit too concise—first season brightened by Ryan O'Connell's infectious charms. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Variety gave the show a positive review calling the main character "quick and snarky, deeply insecure and sometimes more selfish than he's willing to admit. He makes mistakes and pays for them, undergoing a hell of a lot of change in the short time ''Special'' gets to show it." TV Guide gave the show a mixed review saying that, "Hopefully ''Special'' gets a second season with a bigger budget, a writing staff, and more time to plan. The way Season 1 improves as it goes along shows ''Special'' still has a lot of potential."

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2019 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings American LGBT-related web series Gay-related television shows English-language Netflix original programming Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Works about cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes Films about disability