A special life
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | A special life |
| Original title | Special |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | since 2019 |
| Production company |
Warner Bros. Television That’s Wonderful Productions Campfire Stage 13 |
| length | 12-17 minutes |
| Episodes | 8 in 1+ seasons |
| genre | Comedy |
| idea | Ryan O'Connell |
| music | Joshua Moshier |
| Initial release | April 12, 2019 on Netflix |
First publication in German |
April 12, 2019 on Netflix |
| occupation | |
A special life (Original title: Special ) is an American television series that premiered on April 12, 2019 on the video-on-demand provider Netflix . It is based on the 2015 autobiography I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves by the American writer Ryan O'Connell , who plays the lead role in the series, wrote the scripts for all eight episodes so far and is executive producer . Another producer on the series is Jim Parsons , who co-finances it through his own production company That's Wonderful Productions .
On December 16, 2019, Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.
action
Ryan Hayes suffers from a mild form of infantile cerebral palsy . He still lives with his mother Karen, but would like to gradually lead an independent life. He takes an unpaid internship at Eggwoke , a website. There he has to endure the whims of his superiors Olivia, who shows bossy and extremely strict behavior. In his work he befriends Kim, who has Indian roots and is a little corpulent.
Not only does Ryan want to start working, he also wants to be in a relationship for the first time. Ryan is homosexual and often meets men he finds attractive, but mostly doesn't dare to speak to them because of his introverted nature. Not only Ryan is looking for true love, Karen also falls in love again after a long time: She feels drawn to her new neighbor Phil.
occupation
The synchronization of the series is in the Berliner Synchron for a dialogue book by Andreas Pollak and the dialogue director created by Klaus Bauschulte.
main characters
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Hayes | Ryan O'Connell | Christian Pointer |
| Karen Hayes | Jessica Hecht | Sabine Falkenberg |
| Kim Laghari | Punam Patel | Marie-Isabel Walke |
| Olivia | Marla Mindelle | Marieke Oeffinger |
| Carey | Augustus Prew | Michael Baral |
| Phil | Patrick Fabian | Jaron Lowenberg |
Minor characters
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Caitie | Kat Rogers | |
| Keaton | Jason Michael Snow | Philippa Jarke |
| Shay | Brian Jordan Alvarez | Dirk Stollenberg |
| Samantha | Gina Hughes | Melinda Rachfahl |
Episode list
| No. | German title | Original title | Director | script |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter one: Cerebralpa-lol-e | Chapter One: Cerebral LOLzy | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 2 | Chapter two: into the deep end | Chapter Two: The Deep End | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 3 | Chapter three: Free Scones | Chapter Three: Free Scones | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 4th | Chapter four: Housewarming | Chapter Four: Housechilling Party | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 5 | Chapter Five: Vagina Momologist | Chapter Five: Vagina Momologues | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 6th | Chapter Six: Poker Whisperers | Chapter Six: Straight Potential | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 7th | Chapter Seven: Blind Date | Chapter Seven: Blind Deaf Date | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| 8th | Chapter Eight: Cake Shop Hierarchy | Chapter Eight: Gay Gardens | Anna Dokoza | Ryan O'Connell |
| On April 12, 2019, all episodes of the season were released simultaneously on Netflix. | ||||
reception
The first season received a 7.9 out of ten star rating based on 2,352 votes in the Internet Movie Database. At Rotten Tomatoes , the critic rating is 93 percent based on 15 votes (an average of seven out of ten points), the audience rating is 89 percent (an average of 4.5 out of five points) (as of April 26, 2019). The critic rating on Metacritic is 66 out of 100 based on 8 critic votes, the audience rating is 6.6 out of ten based on 20 votes.
Ben Travers, an editor of the website IndieWire, criticized the fact that some scenes were sometimes "lengthy", but praised Ryan O'Connell, who has a talent for slapstick and is quite good at acting for a newcomer. He was also positive about Jessica Hecht , who stands out in every scene she appears in. Travers closed his criticism by saying that the series could still improve, but that its "heart was already in the right place".
Caroline Framke wrote in Variety that Due to the short length of the episodes and the protagonist's job , A Special Life looks like a "web series from 2015". She still praised the series, which treats "timeless subjects with compassion and wit," particularly mentioning a scene in which Ryan Hayes has sex for the first time, saying that the sequence is both "patient and funny." Framke was also positive about the characterization of the female characters Karen Hayes and Kim Laghari and said that the series would be even more "satisfactory" if the episodes were longer.
“(...) For eight quarter-hour episodes, author Ryan O'Connell not only makes his autobiographical non-fiction book I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves the basis of a light-footed comedy series about the emotional awakening of a 32-year-old with celebratory palsy. He plays the unusual title character of an unusual format himself. And in the opinion of the trailer, that is so refreshingly believable because the gay Ryan O'Connell was born with this muscle disease. The result is a beacon of self-initiated inclusion, which, using the example of the show runner, shows how unreservedly allegedly impaired people master their existence if you let them. "
Nominations
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2019
- Nomination : Best Short Series - Comedy or Drama
- Nomination : Best Actor in a Short Series - Comedy or Drama, for Ryan O'Connell
- Nomination : Best Actress in a Short Series - Comedy or Drama, for Jessica Hecht
- Nomination : Best Actress in a Short Series - Comedy or Drama, for Punam Patel
Writers Guild of America Awards 2020
- Award : Best New Short Series
Web links
- A special life in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A special life on Netflix
- A special life at Fernsehserien.de
Itemized list
- ↑ Erik Pedersen: Midseason Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series: 2019 Edition. In: Deadline.com . December 26, 2018, accessed April 15, 2019 .
- ↑ Denise Petski: Netflix Orders Ryan O'Connell Comedy Series 'Special' Produced By Jim Parsons. In: Deadline.com. February 5, 2019, accessed April 15, 2019 .
- ↑ Lesley Goldberg: 'Special' Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix. In: The Hollywood Reporter . December 16, 2019, accessed December 17, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c A special life. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous file , accessed on April 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Special: Season 1. In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved April 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Special. In: Metacritic . Retrieved April 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Ben Travers: 'Special' Review: Netflix Delivers a Quick Hit of Comedy in Ryan O'Connell's Inviting Adaptation. In: IndieWire. April 12, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 .
- ↑ Caroline Framke: TV Review: 'Special' on Netflix. In: Variety . April 8, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 .
- ↑ Jan Friday: Just no pity . In: tagesspiegel.de . April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
- ^ 71st Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners. In: emmys.com. July 16, 2019, accessed December 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Dave McNary: Writers Guild Unveils 2020 TV Award Nominees. In: Variety. December 5, 2019, accessed December 10, 2019 .