I saved Speechless for one of the last pilots to watch because I thought I was going to hate it. They say you save the best for last, and turns out I did with the comedy that debuts tonight at 8:30p on ABC.
Maya DiMeo (Minnie Driver) will do anything for her kids especially her son JJ (Micah Fowler) who has Cerebral Palsy. She has moved her family around so that he can get the best education possible and she has built herself her a reputation for not taking any sh!t from anyone. Which is great for him, but not as much for other son Ray (Mason Cook) who has finally made some friends and fallen in love for the first time.
Since Maya found a school that will give JJ a voice, as in a person who will read his personal computer, she picks the family up and moves again. A voice JJ can’t stand because she is so cheery and sweet, the opposite of his mom. And his new voice isn’t exactly OK with their ways either.
Things are looking like Ray will get his way, and he gets some encouragement from his dad (John Ross Bowie) that he will try to work with him to keep his old life alive. How long will that last? Will he like his new school? Will JJ get a new voice? That one I will answer, he does and it is with the hysterical Cedric Yarbrough.
I don’t think I can sum this up brilliantly enough, so what I will say is that is loved this show so much, I re-watched it immediately after my first viewing. It is that good! Thus, you will want to DVR it, so you can watch the feel good comedy again and again!
https://youtu.be/N_f1v0Nx5Sw
While Speechless was the last pilot I watched, Designated Survivor was the first. The show that debuts at 10p, set the bar so high no other show even came close to the excellence of this one.
Kiefer Sutherland plays a Cabinet Member, who is fired just hours before the State of the Union. As a departing gift, he becomes the go to Designated Survivor in case anything were to happen while everyone who is anyone in DC all die at the same time. As he is watching the speech on live television, the screen go to hash and people come running into the room. He opens the blinds to see the Capitol engulfed in fire. It is then that he realize he is the next President of the United States. Now, he has to convince the survivors that he is up for the job, something they are not on board with.
Out of all of the new shows, this is the only on where you can see where it is going and you can’t wait to see what happens next. At least I know that is how I fell and I have been waiting months for the next move.
Talking about moves, Kal Penn has scene in the premiere with an expression that is so spot on, you will applaud him. Granted he is an actor turned White House employee who is now an actor playing an White House employee, so how much of a stretch is it for him.
