TV

‘Atypical’ Trailer: A First Look at Netflix’s New Autism Comedy

It’s a coming of age story with a very modern twist.
By  · Published on July 18th, 2017

It’s a coming of age story with a very modern twist.

Netflix debuted today the first trailer for its upcoming series Atypical, which stars Keir Gilchrist as an 18-year old on the autism spectrum “searching for love and independence.” The show, which also stars Michael Rapaport and Jennifer Jason Leigh as his parents, is said to be a heartfelt comedy and you can feel it a bit in the first trailer. The show, which comes from creator Robia Rashid (a veteran of How I Met Your Mother) and producer Seth Gordon, is set to debut on August 11.

Here’s the official pitch from Netflix: “Atypical is a coming of age story from the point-of-view of Sam (played by Keir Gilchrist), an 18-year-old on the autistic spectrum searching for love and independence. While Sam is on his funny and emotional journey of self-discovery, the rest of his family must grapple with change in their own lives while exploring the question: what does it really mean to be “normal”? Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Sam’s mother, Elsa, who is on a life-changing path as her son gains more independence. Michael Rapaport plays Sam’s father, Doug, who desires to better connect with and understand his son. Brigette Lundy-Paine plays Sam’s scrappy sister, Casey, and Amy Okuda plays his therapist, Julia.

With eight, half-hour episodes filmed in Los Angeles, Atypical was created and written by Robia Rashid and Academy-Award winning producer Seth Gordon. Together, Rashid and Gordon serve as executive producers alongside Mary Rohlich, with Jennifer Jason Leigh as producer. Michelle Dean, who received her PhD from UCLA and worked at the UCLA Center for Autism and Research and Treatment before joining the faculty of CSU Channel Island, was also brought into the production to help guide an accurate depiction of autism spectrum disorder. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television for Netflix.”

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Neil Miller is the persistently-bearded Publisher of Film School Rejects, Nonfics, and One Perfect Shot. He's also the Executive Producer of the One Perfect Shot TV show (currently streaming on HBO Max) and the co-host of Trial By Content on The Ringer Podcast Network. He can be found on Twitter here: @rejects (He/Him)