| Special | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy,LGBTQ |
| Created by | Ryan O'Connell |
| Based on | I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves by Ryan O'Connell |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | Joshua Moshier |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Editors |
|
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 12–34 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) – May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
Special is an Americancomedy-drama television series created by Ryan O'Connell forNetflix.[1] StarringRyan O'Connell, the series is a semi-autobiographical account of his life as a gay man inLos Angeles withcerebral palsy pursuing new friendships, relationships, andself-sufficiency.
It is based on O'Connell's memoirI'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves.[2]
The series premiered on April 12, 2019, and concluded on May 20, 2021, after two seasons.[3][4][5] It received positive reviews and earned four nominations at the71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, one forOutstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and three for the performances of Ryan,Jessica Hecht, andPunam Patel.
Special is "a distinctive and uplifting newLGBTQ series about a gay man, Ryan, with mildcerebral palsy who decides to rewrite his identity and finally go after the life he wants to live."[6][7][8]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Chapter One: Cerebral LOLzy" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Ryan, a gay man with mild cerebral palsy, begins his internship at Eggwoke, an online content creation company. He becomes friends with his coworker Kim. Everyone at his workplace assumes his symptoms of his cerebral palsy is due to a car accident, which he decides to play along with. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Chapter Two: The Deep End" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Ryan and Kim go to their boss’s poolside birthday party. Ryan recognizes one of the guests fromGrindr and they leave to have sex, but Ryan’s inexperience ends the encounter early. Meanwhile, some of the guests make passive-aggressive comments about Kim’s body to Kim. Returning home, Ryan tells his overprotective mother, Karen, that he’s moving out. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Chapter Three: Free Scones" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Kim encourages Ryan to meet a sex worker, Shay, to lose his virginity. Though it is initially awkward, Ryan relaxes and has an enjoyable time with Shay. Karen agrees to help Ryan find an apartment. Phil, the new neighbor, catches Karen staring at him and invites her to a date. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Chapter Four: Housechilling Party" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Ryan invites his old college friends to a housewarming party to celebrate his new apartment. They all bail on him, so he invites Kim over and lies that the party was meant for her. She calls him out on the lie, and they promise not to lie to each other in their friendship. Kim invites her friends over and they all dance happily. Karen and Phil meet and have sex. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Chapter Five: Vagina Momologues" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Karen struggles to maintain relationships with her mother and Ryan. She buys a new dress to impress Phil. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Chapter Six: Straight Potential" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Ryan meets Kim's friend Carey and realizes he is in love with him. Carey invites him to a poker game and discreetly helps Ryan shuffle his cards, which Ryan is thankful for. Unfortunately, Ryan learns that Carey already has a boyfriend. At Phil's encouragement, Karen takes pot and admits to him how grateful she feels to love someone who cares for her. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Chapter Seven: Blind Deaf Date" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
Ryan's boss sets Ryan on a date with her deaf cousin, which doesn't work out. Ryan is shocked to discover that Karen and Phil are dating. Phil breaks up with Karen due to her strong attachment to Ryan. Karen tells Ryan that she broke up with Phil, and is surprised to hear that he accepted their relationship and just needed time to process. Ryan and Karen reconcile. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Chapter Eight: Gay Gardens" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12) | |
It is Karen's 50th birthday and she asks Ryan to pick up a cake for her. Karen attempts to get back with Phil by telling him that Ryan approves of their relationship, but Phil declines, saying he doesn't want to need his approval to date her. At work, Ryan comes clean and admits that his limp is due to his cerebral palsy, not the car accident as everyone assumed. No one cares except for Kim, who Ryan apologizes to for lying again. Ryan gets distracted hanging out with his friends and comes late to Karen and brings the wrong cake. This sets off an argument between them: Karen tells Ryan that she ended her relationship with Phil because of him, but he says he never wanted that; Ryan says that Karen is too dependent on him, but Karen says that he can't survive in the real world without her. Karen tries to apologize for what she said, but Ryan leaves. | ||||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "One Day Stand" | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 10 | 2 | "I Don't Like it Like This" | Anna Dokoza | Mason Flink | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 11 | 3 | "That's The Way The Boys Are" | Anna Dokoza | Liz Elverenli | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 12 | 4 | "Death By a Thousand Cold Cuts" | Anna Dokoza | Leila Cohan | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 13 | 5 | "Ryan Joins the Crips" | Craig Johnson | Keshni Kashyap | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 14 | 6 | "Prom Queens" | Craig Johnson | Leila Cohan | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 15 | 7 | "Why Is No One Ready?" | Craig Johnson | Ryan O'Connell | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
| 16 | 8 | "Here's Where the Story Ends" | Craig Johnson | Ryan O'Connell | May 20, 2021 (2021-05-20) |
On February 5, 2019,Netflix announced that it had given the production a series order for an eight-episode first season.[14] The series is created by Ryan O'Connell, who is credited as an executive producer, alongsideJim Parsons, Anna Dokoza, Eric Norsoph and Todd Spiewak.[14] Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist ofThat's Wonderful Productions and Stage 13.[14] On December 16, 2019, the series was renewed for a second and final season by Netflix.[4][5]
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.[14] In February 2020,Max Jenkins was cast in the recurring role for the second season.[11] In March 2021,Charlie Barnett,Ana Ortiz,Utkarsh Ambudkar,Lauren Weedman, Buck Andrews,Anjali Bhimani,Ajay Mehta, andKaran Soni joined the cast in recurring roles whileLeslie Jordan was cast to guest star.[13]
On March 25, 2019, Netflix released the first official trailer for the series.[15][10] The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on Netflix on April 12, 2019.[3] The second season was released on May 20, 2021.[5]
The first season received positive reviews upon its release. Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 96% with an average rating of 7.30/10 based on 25 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. Alternatively, some critics on Rotten Tomatoes compared the show to a "woke, sappy millennial dream".[16] OnMetacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17] 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 timeSpecial gets to show it."[18] TV Guide gave the show a mixed review saying that, "HopefullySpecial 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 showsSpecial still has a lot of potential."[19]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series | Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak, Eric Norsoph,Ryan O'Connell and Anna Dokoza | Nominated | [20] |
| Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series | Ryan O'Connell | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series | Jessica Hecht | Nominated | |||
| Punam Patel | Nominated | ||||
| 2020 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Short Form New Media – Original | Ryan O'Connell | Won | [21] |
| 2022 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Special | Nominated | [22] |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
