‘Accessible’ Teen Comedy From Ryan O’Connell, Jim Parsons & Todd Spiewak In the Works At HBO Max
EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max has put in development Accessible, a half-hour comedy from Special creator, writer and star Ryan O’Connell, Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak’s That’s Wonderful Productions and Warner Bros. TV, where That’s Wonderful is under a deal.
Written by O’Connell, Accessible is a half-hour “traumedy” that follows Clare, a 15-year-old girl who’s recently been in an accident and is forced to attend a boarding school for people with all kinds of disabilities. There, she discovers the usual teenage dilemmas of sex, love, and friendship are even more complicated in a wheelchair. It’s like if a John Hughes movie had a handicapped orgy, per producers.
O’Connell executive produces with Parsons and Spiewak via That’s Wonderful Productions. Eric Norsoph, That’s Wonderful’s Head of Development and Production, will co-executive produce and oversee the project for the company. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.
Accessible continues the relationship between O’Connell and That’s Wonderful Productions. The company produces Special, a semi-autobiographical series based loosely on O’Connell’s own upbringing and experience as a gay man navigating the world with cerebral palsy. O’Connell received four Emmy nominations as writer, producer and star of the Netflix series, which is based on his memoir I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves.
O’Connell also has written for publications including The New York Times, Vice and Vulture, as well as for television, including MTV’s Awkward, Will & Grace, and Netflix’s The Babysitters Club. He’s won a GLAAD award, an HRC award, and this year made the list of the Time 100 Next as one of the rising up-and-coming artists who is shaping the future of their industry.
In addition to Special, That’s Wonderful is producing the upcoming Fox comedy series Call Me Kat, based on the British format Miranda, starring Mayim Bialik, written by Darlene Hunt, and directed by Beth McCarthy Miller. Additionally, Parsons and Spiewak serve as executive producers, and Norsoph is a co-producer on CBS’ comedy series Young Sheldon.
O’Connell is repped by Management 360. That’s Wonderful Productions is repped by CAA, Principal Entertainment LA, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown.
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