Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Speechless: "Pilot"

A sitcom about a special-needs kid with cerebral palsy and his eccentric family would seem to have the type of premise that has disaster written all over it. But fortunately, Speechless's first episode managed to avoid the dual perils of bad taste and inspiration porn, thanks in part to a talented cast and an inspired writing staff.

As I noted in an earlier post, Minnie Driver was the most famous cast member in the show and while I have never been a big fan of hers, I must admit that the more I watched the show, the more addicted I got to her voice. (And yet I never considered myself much of an Anglophile.)

The opening of the episode showed Driver frantically driving her son J.J. -- a boy confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy -- to a restaurant in order to use a coupon before it expired. The show soon established that Ms. Driver's character -- Maya DiMeo -- had a reputation in her small town for being a very aggressive driver -- so aggressive, in fact, that the local cops dared not pull her over even when she was obviously speeding. Soon afterwards, we also find out that the DiMeo family had changed residences and school districts several times during the past few years and were in the process of relocating one final time so that J.J. could go to a regular public school.

Unfortunately, Maya soon found out that the new school had no special accommodations for handicapped students and that the only way J.J. could enter his new school was by using a ramp usually reserved for moving garbage cans. Needless to say, she was not happy.

At the same time, her other son Ray discovered a potential love interest in a fellow student who also happened to be an astronomy buff while Maya's daughter Dylan joined the school track team because she liked running.

Because J.J. could not speak, the De Meos hired an aide recommended by the school to help him out but the aide proved totally unsuited for the task. Ironically, J.J. ended up bonding with a school janitor named Kenneth and he ended up becoming J.J.'s new aide -- despite having initially gotten off on the wrong foot with Maya.

Sound confusing? Maybe. But the whole thing played better on the small screen and indeed, the more I watched the show, the more I felt sorry that I neglected the chance to keep up with it for so long. Then again not having time to watch all the good shows out there is hardly the worst problem I could have at my age.

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Speechless: "C-E-- CELEBRITY S-U-- SUITE"

Ah, Speechless is another one of those shows that I watch every now and then but never get around to writing about -- perhaps because I've been so backed up on this blog due to various health problems and other complications that it sometimes seems quite foolish of me to even think of trying to catch up.

That said, I must note that the part of me that still remembers the days when movies like Good Will Hunting and Grosse Pointe Blank were still new releases can't help but feel a bit shocked that actress Minnie Driver is now old enough to be playing a mother. Worse yet, she's playing the mother of teenagers. (I knew it had to happen eventually but still...)

She is still as attractive as ever -- in my eyes, at least -- and has the ability to make her lines seem a lot funnier than they should be. Nor does it hurt that she has a good cast backing her up. Plus this week she has assistance from actress Sarah Chalke -- best known for her starring role on the long-running comedy Scrubs -- who plays the mother of a special-needs child who competes with Ms. Driver's character -- Maya DiMeo -- and her special-needs son J.J. for the use of a celebrity suite at the local hospital.

Confused? Don't be.

The episode starts out with Ms.DiMeo staring at a raw turkey and trying to come up with excuses to not go through with the usual Thanksgiving ritual. Unfortunately, when Ms. DiMeo's obnoxious brother-in-law comes for a visit, she gets her wish when J.J.'s caretaker accidentally gives J.J. a pill of her in-law's heart medicine and forces them all to make an emergency run to the local hospital. Ironically, once they get there, Ms. DiMeo immediately starts improvising an impromptu Thanksgiving banquet only to be stymied by the lack of space and supplies. Then she finds out about the celebrity suites. However, only one is available and to get that, she has to compete Sarah Chalke's character Melanie, which is where we came in...

Of course, a lot more than that happens like an encounter between Ms. DiMeo's youngest son Ray and a young single mother (played by actress Azura Skye, best known to me for a memorable guest role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Since this is a comedy, everything ends on a relatively positive note though I can't help but wonder what happened to Ms. Skye's career that she is now playing such conventional roles. Oh, well. I wish her well regardless.

And I hope my average reader's Thanksgiving holiday goes smoother than that of the De Meo family.