Cast Offs

Did you know that British television airs the occasional penis shot?  Cast Offs kind of does, in the first episode, but it pushes the envelope in so many other ways that you almost don't even miss the penis.  This show is six episodes long, and tells the story of six people with disabilities that are dropped off on an island for three months and left to survive on their own.  With cameras watching them, of course.  However, it's not true.  The disabled people aren't REALLY left of their own to survive, they are just disabled actors filming a show about disabled. . .okay, it's a fake documentary.  But a really good one.  The island doesn't involve any contests, or voting.  The episodes follow what is happening on the island, the squabbling, the sex, the politcally incorrect cripple and retard jokes, but each episode focuses on one of the cast members during a series of flashbacks.  We kind of get to know them a little bit before the island, and how each one came to be.  The results are not always pretty. The writers wanted to show that disabled people can be as cruel, selfish, petty, and human as the normal people can.  It worked.  It is very difficult to look away from each episode, so get your snacks ready ahead of time.  The actors all have the real disability that they portray on screen, and most were cast before the show was written.  Mat Fraser, who plays Will, the guy with arms like a seal, has been a drummer for 15 years and is an accomplished Martial Artist, and actor.  Victoria Wright, who plays April, the girl with Cherubism and a HUGE chin, is a first time actor, is studying to be a lawyer, and is married.  The handsome Peter Mitchell, who was planning to play pro soccer before his car accident sent him to a wheelchair, is also a debut actor.  It is as fascinating to look these people up in real life as it is to watch them try to survive the island.  You don't feel sorry for them, that's for sure, and like I said, there is that flash of penis.
(you can watch at casttv.com)