# Speechless (2016)

> A fiercely protective mom battles injustice and searches for the right way to give her son with special needs a voice in this family sitcom.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/59020

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 63
- Episode runtime: 21 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Scott Silveri
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Minnie Driver, John Ross Bowie, Mason Cook, Micah Fowler, Kyla Kenedy, Cedric Yarbrough, McKaley Miller, Jack Guzman
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5592146/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: warm, breezy, affectionate, irreverent, heartfelt

## What critics say

Audiences warmly embraced the first season's sharp, big-hearted take on a family raising a son with cerebral palsy, but enthusiasm fell away sharply in later seasons.

## Synopsis

Speechless (2016-2019) is an American family sitcom created by Scott Silveri for ABC. Minnie Driver plays Maya DiMeo, a determined mother who will do almost anything for her husband Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) and their children, especially her eldest son JJ, who has special needs and cannot speak. Mason Cook, Micah Fowler, and Kyla Kenedy round out the household as Ray, JJ, and Dylan, while Cedric Yarbrough adds a sharp presence as the family's neighbor Kenneth. The engine of each episode is Maya wading into school disputes, neighborhood politics, and bureaucratic obstacles, often fueled by real injustice and sometimes by her own overreaction, while the family hunts for a new home and for the right way to give JJ his voice. Ensemble comedy and quick, ribbing banter carry the half-hour episodes, which move between broad slapstick and heartfelt moments about inclusion and belonging. The show runs three seasons and sixty-three episodes in a case-of-the-week structure with a continuing family arc. Its tone is warm, breezy, and affectionate, and it has a clear comic debt to family sitcoms such as Modern Family and The Middle, with fans of Atypical likely to find similar resonance in its disability-centered humor.

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