Episode 19: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

TRANSCRIPT OF “THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR”

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MALE VO [00:03]
This is Bad Attitudes.

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LAURA [00:20]
Hello friends and strangers! Welcome to another episode of Bad Attitudes: An Uninspiring Podcast about Disability. I’m your host, Laura.

For most people, the most wonderful time of the year is Christmas. For me, it’s TV’s fall premiere season.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Mary. Thank you, Mary!

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As always, I want to remind you that disability is not a monolith. Although some aspects are universal, my experience as a disabled person is going to be different from the experiences of other disabled people. I am one voice for the disabled community, but I am not the only voice.

[01:53]
I am a television junkie. I love TV. More specifically, I love GOOD TV. Especially good TV with quality disabled characters who are played by disabled actors. Unfortunately, those are few and far between.

However, I have been pleasantly surprised this season that some new shows have introduced disabled characters that substantially contribute to the storyline. And even MORE pleasantly surprised that these characters are portrayed by actually disabled actors!

So, in today’s episode, I’m going to run through some TV shows that have integrated disability into their stories. Some are new; some are not so new. Some have hired disabled actors and some have not, and I’ll tell you which are which. 

All of these shows are currently airing and releasing new episodes, either on network television or on streaming platforms. I have also watched at least a couple of episodes of each. Because I’m only talking about shows that I’ve watched that are currently airing, I’m sure there are more I could talk about. Drop your suggestions in an email or on social media.

I will be giving you my opinion of these shows, but I’m not telling you what to watch. Make your own decisions on that.

Also, there will be spoilers! Just be aware! If you aren’t caught up on some of these shows or want to watch them but haven’t, I will be spoiling them.

Without further ado, let’s jump into the shows!

[03:26]
ORDINARY JOE - Ordinary Joe is a new offering in NBC’s fall lineup. It is also the show of which I’ve watched the fewest episodes. Per IMDB, the show “centers on Joe Kimbreau as he makes a pivotal, life-changing decision at his college graduation and follows him on three parallel timelines: as a police officer, as a music star, and as a nurse.” In each of these timelines, he also has a disabled son, played by John Gluck, who has Collagen VI Muscular Dystrophy. Additionally, Shane Burcaw, a blogger, author, and activist with Spinal Muscular Atrophy works on the show as a disability consultant.

I’ve only watched a couple of episodes of Ordinary Joe because it just didn’t capture my attention. In the first place, I don’t buy the lead as either a cop or a rock star. The nurse storyline I buy. And, honestly, I think the show would be better if they solely followed this timeline: a nurse trying to win back his estranged wife as they raise their disabled son.

It’s unfortunate because the concept of the diverging parallel timelines is an intriguing one. I’m a big fan of time-bending and this show should have my name written all over it. But that just isn’t the case. In the few episodes I’ve watched, nothing felt high-stakes. Nothing made me care about these characters. It couldn’t keep my attention long enough for me to be able to even keep the few lead characters straight.

What I did see of the interaction with the kid was quality. They didn’t make a big deal about his disability, but they didn’t ignore it. His parents talked about concerns with his going back to school. It’s a part of the story, not an ignored element. But that’s only in one timeline. The one that I think would make this show worth watching.

[05:23]
LA BREA - La Brea is another new show from NBC. I confess, I only decided to watch this show because it stars Eoin Macken, whom I love. Macken starred in Night Shift, an NBC medical drama from a few years ago, but I discovered him as Sir Gwaine in BBC’s Merlin, which aired from 2008 to 2013.

Again from IMDB, “A massive sinkhole mysteriously opens up in Los Angeles, separating part of a family in an unexplainable primeval world, alongside a disparate group of strangers.” Macken plays Gavin, the father of the aforementioned family, whose wife and son were sucked into the sinkhole, leaving Gavin and his daughter behind in LA.

In the first episode, it’s revealed that the daughter, Izzy, is an amputee with a prosthetic leg. I immediately assumed it was a CGI prosthetic because that’s the norm, but I was happy to find that the actress who plays Izzy, Zyra Gorecki, is also an amputee. She experienced a logging accident as a teen that necessitated the amputation. Her role makes her one of the first actors with a limb difference to be cast in a recurring role on network television.

Personally, I think it would have been hella interesting to strand Izzy and her mom in the world beyond the sinkhole, leaving Gavin and his son behind, for two reasons. One, the sheer difficulty of trying to survive in a primeval world as an amputee would have made compelling television! Secondly, we learn in the first episode that Gavin and his wife are currently separated and their son clearly backs his mom in this situation, while Izzy is an undeniable daddy’s girl. Pitting two opposing forces together in a stressful situation would have added another layer to the drama.

Again, this is a show that should have my name written all over it — time travel, science fiction, Eoin Macken, I’m here for all of it. But the first two episodes didn’t really draw me in. The third and most recent episode got a little more interesting, but it is definitely a slow burn. And I hope if the show is a success, the network will invest more in its CGI budget. But, for the moment at least, I’m only tuning in to see Macken on my screen.

[07:45]
TITANS - Titans is not a new show, but it is new to me. I just recently binged all the episodes through the newest episode from the current third season. Allow me to make a small digression: Titans airs on HBOMax, a streaming platform. Yet, it releases episodes on a weekly basis. This is a pet peeve of mine. I do not pay for streaming services to have to wait for new episodes every week like a peasant! I want all the episodes RIGHT NOW. Had I known ahead of watching that all of season three’s episodes weren’t yet available, I would have waited.

Back to IMDB: “Titans follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging in a gritty take on the classic Teen Titans franchise.” 

Yes! Superheroes! This ABSOLUTELY has my name on it and it did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded my expectations. However, I do tend to keep them low. 

The show begins by introducing us to a grown-up Dick Grayson, aka Robin, aka Nightwing, as he works as a detective in Detroit. Over the course of the show, we are introduced to Superboy, Wondergirl, and Aqualad, among others.

But the introduction that brings us here comes in season three: Barbara Gordon, formerly Batgirl, currently police commissioner of Gotham. Now, I’m not a big follower of comic books, but even I know that the Joker shot Barbara Gordon and left her paralyzed and using a wheelchair. In the show, Barbara is not paralyzed, but she has had a leg amputated and uses a wheelchair, just like Savannah Welch, the actress who portrays her.

And she is a badass! She has a fight scene in one episode and wins! This is all I have ever wanted, y’all, a badass disabled female superhero who conceals weapons in her mobility aids! WHO IS ALSO SEXUALLY DESIRABLE TO THE LEAD SEXY SUPERHERO. In this case, Dick Grayson aka Robin, aka Nightwing. I mean, actor Brenton Thwaites is a little baby-faced for my taste, but I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers, know what I’m saying?

This is what we need more of. Not JUST strong female characters. But strong DISABLED female characters in lead roles. Strong disabled female characters who are not treated as asexual because of their disability but ONLY if the character itself is asexual.

Do more of that, TV!

[10:26]
A MILLION LITTLE THINGS - A Million Little Things is currently airing its fourth season on ABC. As per IMDB, the show is about “a group of friends becom[ing] motivated to [live] fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend.” Of course, if you’ve watched the show, you realize that that was the primary premise for the first season, but the show has become less focused on the imminent aftermath of one man’s death.

At the end of the second season, primary character Eddie Saville was hit by a car and left paralyzed. Of course, they didn’t hire a disabled actor to play Eddie because Eddie became disabled in the course of the show. Makes sense.

For the most part, I’m fine with the depiction of Eddie as disabled. But, from my perspective, it all felt too easy. If a person becomes paralyzed, they spend considerable time in the hospital and then move to rehab, but the show completely skipped this process. Eddie does work with physical therapists once home, but the show simply eliminated a lot of the reality of becoming disabled.

A recent storyline has shown Eddie seeking an accessible apartment and he magically found one. A nice one. Of course, it helps that Eddie is a former rockstar who likely has plenty of disposable income. TV makes it look so easy to find accessible, affordable homes, doesn’t it?

I acknowledge that it makes sense that Eddie isn’t played by a disabled actor, but I was pleasantly surprised that when they introduced Russ, Eddie’s new physical therapist, the show DID hire Michael Patrick Thornton, an actor who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. I’ve really liked the addition of the character, who seems to be sharing some realities for Eddie as to his new status as “disabled.”

[12:23]
So there ya go, four shows that have disabled characters at the center of their stories. There are other shows I didn’t discuss in detail because the disabled characters are secondary or tertiary characters. For example, in 911, firefighter Eddie Diaz has a son with cerebral palsy, played by disabled child actor Gavin McHugh. In This Is Us, Kate and Toby’s son Jack is blind, although, being a baby, we don’t get a whole lot of interaction with him. However, in the season four premiere, we got to see baby Jack all grown up, played by legally blind actor Blake Stadnik.

It’s still so unusual for disabled characters to be played by disabled actors that I assumed that Stadnik and most of the other actors I mentioned in this episode weren’t. I think that proves we still aren’t seeing enough representation of disability in popular, mainstream media. Because it is surprising to discover that a disabled actor has been cast and they are being treated not as an object of pity, not as an object of inspiration, not as an object at all. To see disabled stories being treated as equal to non-disabled stories is still so rare.

What are some of your favorite depictions of disabled characters in mainstream media? I’m always looking for new TV shows to binge!

Thanks for listening and I’ll talk to you in the next one.

[13:54]
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