Watch: First trailer for Netflix’s Special

Updated 26-03-19 | 10:12 AM | Staff Reporter

Reading time: 2 mins

Why be normal when you can be Special? That’s the question asked by Netflix’s new comedy, Special.

Based on Ryan O’Connell’s part-memoir, part-manifesto, I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, the series follows Ryan, a gay man with mild cerebral palsy who decides to rewrite his identity and finally go after the life he wants. After years of dead-end internships, working in his pajamas as a blogger and communicating mostly via text, Ryan eventually figures out how to take his life from bleak to chic and began limping towards adulthood.

The offbeat comedy is written and executive produced by O’Connell, who also stars in the show. Jim Parsons serves as an exec-producer alongside him. The result premieres on 12th April. Here’s the trailer:

Netflix picks up Special from Ryan O’Connell and Jim Parsons

7th February 2019

Netflix has commissioned Special, a new comedy series from Jim Parsons and Ryan O’Connell.

Based on O’Connell’s part-memoir, part-manifesto ‘I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves,’ the hilarious and heartwarming story centers on a gay man with mild cerebral palsy who decides to rewrite his identity as an accident victim and finally go after the life he wants.

O’Connell stars in this semi-autobiographical series, which he also wrote and executive produced. The series also stars Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel, Marla Mindelle, Augustus Prew, and Patrick Fabian.

The eight-episode series is produced by Jim Parsons’ That’s Wonderful and Stage 13 – the Emmy-nominated original content studio based at Warner Bros. that showcases a new generation of distinctive, multi-dimensional voices in unscripted and scripted storytelling. Parsons, Eric Norsoph and Todd Spiewak serve as executive producers for That’s Wonderful Productions, alongside EP and director Anna Dokoza.

The series will premiere on Netflix on Friday 12th April.