Atypical

Terrific and moving family comedy, which can make you laugh out loud then choke back tears with the manipulative panache of This Is Us. [7-20 Aug 2017, p.17]

The series is as compassionate as it is snarky, pairing a deep understanding about everyday life on the spectrum with a sense of humor rarely found in productions that deal with autism. “Atypical” risks offending some, but it does more good than harm by demystifying a sensitive and painful subject with an unapologetic candor.

It isn’t cute, but it’s mostly sharp and engaging.

At its best, Atypical allows its drama and comedy to come from that genuine, relatable place. It may have a rocky start, but stick with it. Atypical lives up to its title.

Its tone can be inconsistent. With a couple of actors’ actors--Leigh and Rapaport--and Gilchrist at the helm, Atypical still manages to mostly stay on track. It’s a good newcomer with the potential to get better.

What it lacks in originality it makes up for in charming performances and affection for its messy, refreshingly human characters. [11 Aug 2017, p.51]

A show like this sinks or swims on the lead performance, though, and Gilchrist (who previously played gay son Marshall on United States of Tara) makes the whole thing work as Sam. ... Gilchrist’s performance is so strong, in fact, that Atypical suffers a bit whenever Sam’s off-screen.

In its finest moments Atypical is warmhearted, sincere, funny, and shrewd. It’s hard to tell whether its inconsistency is due to a blurry conception of what tone it should strike, or whether producers simply wanted to appeal to as broad a swathe of potential viewers as possible--the show skews so wildly from slapstick to gritty drama to teen soap to family sitcom that it should come with Dramamine.

All of the performances in the show are great, which is helpful since the writing occasionally slips into predictable rhythms.

There’s a very important, delicate line that a comedy like this can’t cross: the one where it could be seen as inviting viewers to laugh at Sam’s many quirks (his obsession with penguins and all other things Antarctic, for instance). Atypical never crosses it--Gilchrist’s performance is too sincere and vulnerable to allow it--but at times a lot of the whimsy is generated from how exasperated his loved ones are at dealing with him.

Sam’s through-line is solid, and his supporting players offer more pleasant surprises than frustrating distractions.

Watchable but uneven, the half-hour series dilutes its genuine pathos with characters and situations that seem to have parachuted in from a different show.

When Atypical keeps its focus on the teen characters, including Sam’s ready-to- leap-to-his-defense younger sister, Casey (an outstanding Brigette Lundy-Paine), the series is at its best if sometimes most familiar. The show turns more annoyingly soapy when it turns to Sam’s father, Doug (Michael Rappaport), and mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

Atypical presents a point of view and a lead character that are, well, atypical in the TV landscape. But its sweetness and predictability make it a little too typical to be great.

Atypical takes a while to get used to. The transitions from humor to heft can be jarring. The voice-overs from Sam are supposed to take us into his world, give his perspective, and they do, but in a surface sort of way.

[Show creator Robia Rashid has] twisted characters and plot elements in service to message first and art or entertainment second. The last of the eight episodes sets up a second season with a completely artificial and manipulative story twist. Fortunately, Gilchrist and several supporting cast members hold our interest and justify a second season for the show in spite of its flaws.

In trying to make autism fit into the sitcom formula, rather than the other way around, Rashid and her creative team have essentially just made another mediocre sitcom, which even at its worst isn’t worth getting too riled about.

Gilchrist's performance is so good it can steer away from much of the tone trouble. The same is mostly true for Rapaport. But Atypical keeps backsliding, becoming unbelievable and poorly written and executed faster than you can say "ABC Afterschool Special." Repeatedly wrongheaded decisions, mostly from Elsa, turn Atypical into a contrived mess shockingly fast; you watch it go from potential Netflix gem to no-thanks network hash in roughly four episodes.