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“He’s not a monster. He’s just a baby.” This month we look at two related scenes involving Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series “Game Of Thrones”. My guest is Alice Wong, and together we explore deep and at times contradictory ideas and feelings about disability and childhood. Episode Transcript

A short episode this time, explaining another change in format … Full Episode Transcript The Disability Reason The Accessible Stall Bones Take Action Ask the producers of “Bones”, encourage them to fully develop their depiction of spinal cord injury. Subscribe to the podcast: iTunes Stitcher Podbean Feedback: Email: apulrang@icloud.com Twitter: @AndrewPulrang Facebook: www.facebook.com/ [...]

“Norma, this chair … is my white cane. Where’s yours?” — Chief Robert Ironside There’s more nostalgia this month at Disability.TV, as we re-visit one of the most intriguing episodes of the original Ironside, in which Chief Ironside solves another murder, while helping a young woman understand her own disability, and realize her potential. Full epi [...]

“His mind is as active as yours and mine but it’s trapped inside a useless, vegetating body. He’s kept alive mechanically - a battery-driven heart.” — Commodore Mendez Indulge your inner Trekkie and join me for some vintage Star Trek, as I examine the weird disability themes and depictions in “The Cage” and “The Menagerie,” centering on Captain Christopher Pike and the planet Talos IV. Is an intolerable cage for us an escape for a disabled man? [Full episode transcript] Star Trek (IMDB) Season 1, Episode 1 and Episodes 12 & 13, view on Netflix Purchase DVDs of Star Trek Season One Standard Orbit, Episode 26: You Just Touc [...]

“Lift with your knees son, not your back.” — President Josiah Bartlett The podcast is back at last! Join me aboard Air Force One for one of my all-time favorite disability-themed TV episodes, The West Wing’s “Impact Winter.” [Full episode transcript]

Announcing a new format, new scheduling, and new approach to disability on TV. In short, a reboot! Transcript. Subscribe in iTunes.

“Expertly plotted and beautifully written, Seinfeld was, above all, a celebration of juvenility, a paean to the sense of community that can arise when a group of wholly irresponsible inadequates bonds over a shared scorn for / loathing of the outside world.” — Sarah Dempster, The Guardian In this episode of DIsability.TV and the next, we will examine how the show handles disability themes and disabled characters. What should we make of potentially offensive and upsetting disability stories, in a comedy about dispicable people? When is bad behavior on TV a satire and co [...]

Update on changes to the Disability.TV Podcast. Transcript Disability.TV PodcastOnline Visitor Survey Subscribe in iTunes

In this episode, we focus not on a whole TV series, but a short storyline within a series … the Jessa and Beedie story on HBO’s “Girls.” It starts off as an assisted suicide story, but doesn’t quite end that way. “Girls” … IMDB. Photo of Jessa. Photo of Beedie. < [...]

What happens when a new TV show you’re looking forward to turns out not to be quite the show you were expecting. That’s what happened when I watched the short-lived, cancelled new series, “Red Band Society.” In this episode, We talk about what the show got right and what it got wrong about disability, and how we felt about the show overall, with Christina Stephens, known on YouTube as Amputee OT, and creator of the Lego Leg. Plus, her friend Adrian chimed in with his perspective on the show. Red Band Society (IMDB)

I am joined by my favorite podcasters, Kelly Anneken and Tom Schneider of the “Up Yours, Downstairs Podcast,” to discuss disability on the hit ITV / PBS Edwardian Era drama, “Downton Abbey.” Downton Abbey (IMDB) Up Yours, Downstairs: A Downton Abbey Podcast The Palm Court: A Mr. Selfridge Podcast Kelly and Tom on Twitter: @5maggiesmiths Edwardian Era (Wikipedia) World War I (Wikipedia)

Show Notes Disability.TV Star Ratings Google Doc … See star ratings for every show reviewed on the Disability.TV Podcast. #DaredevilDVP Live Tweet … Hashtag discussion about the new Netflix show, Daredevil. Friday, April 10, 8:00 PM Eastern

Reality Shows Need a Little More Diversity Emily Ladau, The Disabiligy Dialog Believe It Or Not – Media Constantly Perpetuates Freakish Disability Stereotypes Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - August 19, 2014 Emily also mentioned another article by her blogging colleague, on little people having their pictures taken by strangers in public:

Back to podcasting after another long hiatus. In this Mini-Cast, I list possible TV shows for upcoming discussions, and introduce a new disability on TV scoring system. Show Notes #FilmDis … Twitter hashtag, hosted Saturday evenings at 9:00 PM Eastern, by @dominickevans. BBC Ouch! Disability Talk Show: Oscars, acting, and singing on the tube - February 4, 2015 … Panelists discuss non-disabled actors dominating disabled roles in movies and TV.  TVTropes.com … Search “disability” to find dozens of disability “tropes” or clichés.

“Don’t you get it? This place is as good as it gets for folks like us … but we take care of each other.” “The way they look at us. The way they treat us. It ain’t right!” “That’s showbiz.” American Horror Story: F [...]

In which I count down the Top 5 Disability on TV Happenings of 2014. Not necessarily the best … just the most consequential. 5. Red Band Society 4. Cancellations 3. Asperger’s on Parenthood 2. Tyrion’s jail cell conversations on Game Of Thrones

In which I return from a long hiatus to talk about some listener feedback, ask you for input into what shows to cover next, and generally attempt to get back into a weekly podcasting routine. Link to Amanda’s YouTube video comments - Talkin Big Bang Theory - Is Sheldon Cooper disabled? Link to Disability.TV Podcast Direction Survey at SurveyMonkey.com.

Sheldon Cooper’s mom may have had him tested, but that doesn’t stop Sarah Levis and I from discussing the now-familiar question of whether The Big Bang Theory’s breakthrough character is, or is not a disabled character, and whether his portrayal is a positive or negative influence on how people view autism and Asberger’s Syndrome today. More than with any previous podcast, I welcome comments and disagreements, especially from listeners who are autistic. You can email me at apulrang@icloud.com, leave comments on the Disability Thinking blog, or send an audio file … whichever you prefer. And please do let me know wh [...]

In this Mini-Cast I, fish for feedback, check on who’s listening to the podcast from where, and once again appeal for hosts to talk with me about disabled characters on TV shows. Plus, all about the Disabled TV Character Face-Off! Read more about disability issues at the Disability Thinking Blog. Send an email to: apulrang@icloud.com. Subscribe at iTunes or Stitcher.

Kamilah Proctor and I conduct a postmortem on the short-lived 2013 remake of Ironside, starring Blair Underwood. We discuss our histories with the original Ironside and the new, compare notes on what we liked and didn’t like in the new version, and speculate on what might have been … and what still could be with this still vital TV character with a disability. Special thanks to Rebecca Coakley of the National Council on Disability for suggesting Kamilah as a guest host. You can find Kamilah on Twitter @KamilahProctor, and at the Martin M.S. Alliance Foundation. If you haven’t already, listen to my solo review of the original Ironside, in