# Special (TV series)
**Special** is an American semi-autobiographical comedy series created by, written by, and starring Ryan O'Connell, which streamed on Netflix from 2019 to 2021. Adapted from O'Connell's 2015 memoir *I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves*, the show centers on Ryan, a mildly cerebral-palsied gay man who chooses to reinvent himself as the survivor of an accident and at last pursue the life he has wanted.[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Eight-episode short-form comedy ordered by Netflix; episodes of about 15 minutes[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) |
| Premiere | April 12, 2019[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) |
| Source material | O'Connell's 2015 memoir *I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves*, published by Simon & Schuster[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) |
| Production | Jim Parsons' That's Wonderful Productions and Warner Bros.' Stage 13; executive producers Parsons, Eric Norsoph, and Todd Spiewak; Anna Dokoza executive producer and director[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) |
| Cast | Ryan O'Connell, Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel, Marla Mindelle, Augustus Prew, and Patrick Fabian[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) |
| Recognition | Surprise Emmy nomination for O'Connell at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards (2019)[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-07-22/netflix-special-ryan-oconnell-emmys) |
| Run | Two seasons, 2019 to 2021; the second season was its last[3](https://www.asifmag.com/story/ryan-oconnell-special) |
| Reception | 98% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and 7.6 on IMDb[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/special) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and autobiographical basis
The series centers on Ryan, a Millennial gay man with mild cerebral palsy who tells co-workers that his limp comes from a car accident rather than his CP, a fiction that gives him the confidence to pursue a new job, his own apartment, and a sex life.[5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title) He takes a job as a blogger for a pop culture lifestyle website called Eggwoke, which specializes in confessional entries; O'Connell based this on his own work at Thought Catalog, where he wrote pieces such as "An Open Letter To My Only One-Night Stand" and "5 Valid Reasons To Get Drunk With Someone."[5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title)
The story tracks O'Connell's own life closely. He came out as gay to family and friends at 17, but hid his cerebral palsy diagnosis from friends and co-workers until he was 27; in the series, as in life, he explains his limp as an injury from a car accident.[6](https://www.mycil.org/new-netflix-series-special-unpacks-the-evolution-of-self-love-alongside-having-a-disability/) He has described his CP as a mild form that manifests physically in a limp, along with motor skills issues and facial awareness issues.[5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title) Across the eight 15-minute episodes of the first season, Ryan learns to love himself as he is.[6](https://www.mycil.org/new-netflix-series-special-unpacks-the-evolution-of-self-love-alongside-having-a-disability/)
### Seasons
Season 1 premiered on April 12, 2019, with eight short episodes whose titles run from "Chapter One: Cerebral LOLzy" to "Chapter Eight: Gay Gardens." In the finale, conflicted by how he is being defined, Ryan decides to come clean at work and with his friends.[9](https://www.netflix.com/title/80987458?source=35) Reviewers noted the unconventional format: each episode is only about 15 minutes long, which made the show feel, to one critic, like "a collection of YouTube videos more than a Netflix series."[10](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/5/3/special-review/) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide)'s review judged that the first season fell short of its potential, partly because of the limited budget, and hoped for a second season with a bigger budget and a writing staff.[11](https://www.tvguide.com/news/netflix-special-review/)
The second season premiered in 2021 and was announced as the show's last.[3](https://www.asifmag.com/story/ryan-oconnell-special) It features an autistic love interest, Henry, played by Buck Andrews, a queer autistic actor.[12](https://time.com/6080754/atypical-autism-representation/) One season-two episode shows Ryan on a date with an actor named Mark who fetishizes his disability, turned on by his scars and the fact that he used to wear leg braces; O'Connell framed the season as tackling the desexualization of the disabled community.[13](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/film-tv/specials-ryan-oconnell-all-i-ever-wanted-was-to-be-sexualised-but-society-never-saw-me-that-way-302763/)
## Development and production
**A four-year path to Netflix.** O'Connell began pitching the show in 2015 and no one would buy it. It went to Stage 13, a digital branch within Warner Bros., which commissioned him to write eight 15-minute episodes; once the scripts were finished, his producer slipped them to Netflix. "It sounds really short when I say it, but it took four long years," O'Connell told EDGE.[5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title) He has said that in 2015 a gay disabled lead was a hard sell: "They weren't ready for this intersectional jelly, and the show was really hard to pitch."[3](https://www.asifmag.com/story/ryan-oconnell-special)
The memoir reached television through [Jim Parsons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-parsons), who was launching a production company and optioned the book for a TV project.[7](https://time.com/5562895/ryan-oconnell-special-disability-representation/) Netflix ordered the series from Parsons' That's Wonderful Productions and Stage 13 in February 2019.[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix)
**O'Connell as star.** O'Connell had never acted before and had no intention of playing the lead; in the initial pitch he was not attached to star. A limited budget put him front and center: "When I went to Stage 13 it was understood that I was going to play myself because we had no money."[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-07-22/netflix-special-ryan-oconnell-emmys) • [5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title) His television writing background included MTV's *Awkward*, NBC's revival of *Will & Grace*, and the *90210* reboot.[1](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix) • [8](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2019/05/09/ryan-oconnells-special-on-netflix-is-a-relatable-story-told-by-a-never-before-heard-voice/)
## Representation and reception
The series was described by EDGE as the first to deal with an LGBTQ character with disabilities.[5](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title) It arrived amid thin representation on television: according to GLAAD figures cited in 2019, TV featured only 18 characters with a disability, about 2% representation, and more than 95% of characters with a disability were played by actors who do not have one.[6](https://www.mycil.org/new-netflix-series-special-unpacks-the-evolution-of-self-love-alongside-having-a-disability/) TIME called the series the biggest stage in recent memory for a creator with a disability, with an unprecedented platform putting him in control of the storytelling.[7](https://time.com/5562895/ryan-oconnell-special-disability-representation/)
Three days after the 71st [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards) nominations were announced in July 2019, the Television Academy pulled *Better Call Saul*'s short "Employee Training: Madrigal Electromotive Security" from the short-form categories for not meeting the minimum running time, revoking its nominations; O'Connell's nomination in the short-form comedy or drama category was a surprise replacement, and his first acting role had earned it.[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-07-22/netflix-special-ryan-oconnell-emmys) The completed series holds a 98% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.6 on IMDb.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/special)
## References
1. [Ryan O'Connell and Jim Parsons' Special Is Coming to Netflix, About Netflix (6 February 2019)](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/ryan-oconnell-and-jim-parsons-special-is-coming-to-netflix)
2. [Netflix's 'Special' lands Ryan O'Connell a surprise Emmy nomination, Los Angeles Times (22 July 2019)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-07-22/netflix-special-ryan-oconnell-emmys)
3. [AS IF Magazine interviews "Special" Creator and Star Ryan O'Connell](https://www.asifmag.com/story/ryan-oconnell-special)
4. [Special (2019), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/special)
5. [Being 'Special': Talking with Ryan O'Connell about his Breakthrough Netflix Series, EDGE United States (17 April 2019)](https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/275013/title)
6. [New Netflix Series "Special" Unpacks the Evolution of Self-Love Alongside Having a Disability, MyCIL (25 April 2019)](https://www.mycil.org/new-netflix-series-special-unpacks-the-evolution-of-self-love-alongside-having-a-disability/)
7. [Ryan O'Connell Came Out of the Disability Closet. Now, He's Changing the Conversation, TIME (3 April 2019)](https://time.com/5562895/ryan-oconnell-special-disability-representation/)
8. [Ryan O'Connell's 'Special' On Netflix Is A Relatable Story Told By A Never-Before-Heard Voice, Forbes (9 May 2019)](https://tollbit.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2019/05/09/ryan-oconnells-special-on-netflix-is-a-relatable-story-told-by-a-never-before-heard-voice/)
9. [Special, Netflix official site](https://www.netflix.com/title/80987458?source=35)
10. ['Special' is Just as Unique as Its Name Suggests, The Harvard Crimson (3 May 2019)](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/5/3/special-review/)
11. [Netflix Special Season 1 Review: Shortform Series Falls Short of Potential, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/netflix-special-review/)
12. [Atypical Fell Short as Both Autistic Representation and Entertainment, TIME (2021)](https://time.com/6080754/atypical-autism-representation/)
13. [Special's Ryan O'Connell: 'All I ever wanted was to be sexualised', Attitude](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/film-tv/specials-ryan-oconnell-all-i-ever-wanted-was-to-be-sexualised-but-society-never-saw-me-that-way-302763/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › LGBT-related web series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license