‘Atypical’ is another hit from Netflix
Netflix keeps batting shows out and for a high average.
After being impressed with Jason Bateman and being engrossed in “Ozark,” and enjoying the combination of graphics, gag lines, and evolving characterizations on “Disjointed,” in spite of it depending a lot on the mellowing effects for humor, I’m attraction to another show, “Atypical.”
The easy way to describe “Atypical” is to say it’s about an 18-year old boy on the autism spectrum who wants to be more independent and would specifically like to have a girlfriend and have sex.
The show is more than that. Sam, the young hormonal lad who takes things too literally and doesn’t understand the nuances of teen mating rituals, is a member of a family and community in which everyone is struggling in some way to find partnership and fit in. Sam’s challenges are the most pronounced, and the source of comedy, empathy, and charm, but you also see his parents dealing, not always too well, with their marriage, and his younger, supremely smart and adjusted sister wend her way through what looks like the first serious romance of her 16-year-old life.
The family in “Atypical” might be considered totally typical as they cope in meeting individual needs while trying to coalesce as a family. I find “Atypical” both funnier and more pointed than other sitcoms, such as “Modern Family” or “The Goldbergs,” the second of which I’ve never been drawn to at all, even though I live near and do most of my shopping and breakfasting in the town where the show is set and grew up in a similar household.
“Atypical” has a lot of plot dynamics and uniformly excellent acting, especially from Keir Gilchrist as the teen who knows everything about Antarctica and penguins but pushes the first girl who deigns to accept a date with him off he bed because Sam does not like to be touched.
Any performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh is sure to be intelligent and interesting, but as Elsa, Sam’s mother, she excels as a woman trying to do as she’s always done while facing changing situations as her children mature.
Elsa has been dedicated to everything Sam since his diagnosis 13 years before the show begins.
Elsa is the one who joins peer groups, learns all she can about autism, takes on authorities and others who try to limit or pigeonhole Sam, and soothes his various confusions, tantrums, and other episodes.
The situation is Sam is having thoughts beyond being mama’s protected and unusual boy, Character after character, starting with his father and including his sister’s boyfriend, tell him no one is normal, but Sam sees other teens enjoying a lifestyle he isn’t, and he wants to be a part of them.
The more interested Sam is in a social life, even to the point to choosing his own clothing, the less he is willing to depend on Elsa. Elsa needs a life of her own, and pursues it in a way her husband thoughtfully suggests, but ends up meeting a hotter, younger man and goes full tilt into an affair.
Meanwhile, husband and father, Doug, played with appealing understanding by Michael Rapaport, is attending to his son for the first time and finding warmth, satisfaction, and vindication in how well Sam responds to him. Doug has always been close to his daughter, Casey, and like Elsa with Sam, has to adjust to her growing up, dating, and even having a boyfriend, one with a mildly delinquent past and of the kind Doug would not have expected Casey to choose.
Brigette Lundy-Paine, who plays Casey, is particularly canny in her portrayal. She is the teen who is instinctively wise and able to handle any situation. She also has her family’s independent streak. It’s refreshing to see a young actress play someone so assured and competent with a hint of selfconsciousness.
General complications include Sam having good old Freudian transference and developing a crush on his psychologist, Julia, played well by Amy Okuda. He also gets better avoided encouragement and advice from a coworker in a – where else? – electronics store.
“Atypical” gained and keeps my attention because it shows the growing pains of each of its characters.
Gilchrist is particularly winning, playing the tics and reactions of Sam while also showing his character’s encyclopedic knowledge of subjects he’s researched, and even some charm. Most important, Gilchrist’s Sam seems real and drawn from life, rather than some exaggerated characters on the autism spectrum, “Big Bang Theory’s” Sheldon Cooper and “Mr. Robot’s” Elliot.
Speaking of Sheldon, CBS is debuting a “Big Bang” spinoff, “Young Sheldon,” which shows the physics genius as a nineyear-old.
Autism also gets another look this season, as ABC offers “The Good Doctor,” about a surgeon whose bedside manner and personal relationships suffer from social awkwardness. It premieres on Monday, Sept. 25.
New surprise on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Oh my, my. A surprise from last year is repeating itself. And all because of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” seen locally on Channel 10.
The surprise is seeing my cousin, Arlene Zoren on the show. Arlene has always been attracted to show business and, in her retirement, began teaching tap and other dances to seniors at the ONEgeneration Senior Center in the Los Angeles suburbs.
Last year, one of her 90-year-plus students was featured on “AGT,” and the show came to Arlene’s class to tape a segment. For a decent chunk of time, you see Arlene leading her troupe and talking about dancing with the oldies.
This year the “AGT” folks returned to ONEgeneration, this time to do a video involving contestant Darci Lynne Farmer, a 12-year-old ventriloquist who has become my reason to tune in or catch up with this season’s competition.
Darci Lynne is just amazing. She sings with range, never coming close to moving her lips, while giving expression and song styling genius to a collection of dummies that are usually stuffed animals decked out in nihgt club attire and ready to croon or belt as needed. My favorite of the lot so far is Oscar, who looks like a combination of Elvis Costello and Kermit the Frog with colorful mouse ears. Oscar and friends allegedly delivers the pop standards of various eras, but it is Darci Lynne doing the vocals, and she is magnificent.
As someone who grew up wanting to be Jerry Mahoney’s friend, I put Darci Lynne in the company of Paul Winchell and Danny O’Day and ahead of Edgar Bergen and Waylon Flowers who perceptibly moved their lips.
Whatever bit Darci Lynne is doing with the seniors, it involves Arlene, who sent a picture of Darci Lynne and her via Facebook and who will be making her second annual appearance on “AGT” when it airs tomorrow night.
Arlene has had a big TV year. She was also a contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal” this season, bargaining well with Wayne Brady to win $700 in cash. She also gave Brady a dance lesson.