Update: this series never went downhill.
This terrifically funny sitcom has a rather odd structure. It's similar to shows like Fresh Off the Boat and the Real O'Neals, except that since the character the series is built around can't speak, his brother fills the role of POV character.
At the same time, neither of the brothers really powers the series. Instead, Minnie Driver's brilliant performance as their force-of-nature pushes everything forward. She is a complicated character, stubborn, guilt-ridden, neglectful of her other children yet wildly noble in her unstinting efforts to protect her neediest child.
In similar series, the family is often a generic backdrop to the kids, but here, the family itself is quite interesting; a rather bohemian group that functions as their own traveling circus.
When I first heard about a series centered around a disabled kid, I thought, that sounds depressing, but this series is anything but. JJ is severely disabled, but he's likable and funny, and the series does a good job of making disability seem like something you have to deal with rather than something that defines you. It's a series that takes something very serious and makes it fun without making fun of it.
