TV Sitcom where principal character has Asperger's

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How would you feel about a new sitcom where the lead, quirky character is identified as an Aspie? It's from her point-of-view... kind of like a female Napoleon Dynamite in a "Malcolm in the Middle." She is a teenager in high school and faced with all the typical situations Aspie teens face... bullying, social faux pas and cluelessness... but in the end the school learns to accept her as one of their own.

Would anyone be offended by a new show like this?

It depends. I would be offended if the writers had no idea what they were writing about (which would be probable).

As long as the portrayal was relatively sympathetic...I would absolutely love it. It's rare that I find a television character I truly relate to.

Actually, it was written by me, an Aspie. I also have 2 sons with Asperger's, so I've been there, done that. You know I've dealt with "serious situations" through humor. It's helped me adapt in the normal world. But a few people I know were offended by some of the scenes I wrote, like when the Aspie teen main character returns to school after paintball practice and doesn't bother changing out of her fatigues and continues carrying her paintball gun onto campus. (She figures why bother changing clothes and be late for class?) The other students misconstrue this siutation and think she's snapped and is going on a killing rampage at school. Another scene is where she is working the drive-thru at a fast-food place and an overweight woman drives up to pick up her large order of food. The Aspie principal character jumps through the drive-thru window and grabs the bag from the customer. She is only concerned about the overweight customer's health. But she gets in trouble for that.

I have a hard time assessing situations if they're offensive or not with my Asperger's. I wrote it so it doesn't bother me. But I don't want to offend my fellow Aspies!

The only time humor offends me is when it has intentional malice. Otherwise, write on. Even if the scene offends some of us, don't worry. It may even make your detractors think about their own behavior.

Thank you all!

It depends on how the character is portrayed. The principal is that the writers have to have knowledge of what Autism/Asperger's Syndrome actually is before they start poking around with the idea.

EDIT: Corrected a grammatical error.

I just hope it'll be showed in New Zealand. Has it been made? And if it has what's its name. I'll reccomend to the TV channels that they buy this particular show.

Not really a sitcom, but Dr. House is definitely an Aspie. It's even implied in an episode with the autistic kid with the worm infestation who give House his Game Boy.

Hmm, I don't think House is an aspie, actually. He just has a personality disorder.

However, I think Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's. I love Sheldon. His inability to grasp when he's crossed a line or why, his introversion, his vast intelligence, his poor social interaction -- all things that make me think of Asperger's. (And some of them make me think of myself.)

I think your sitcom idea is great. I can so see the paintball scene as something I'd have done! Not bothering to change or shower; if I owned the gun, bringing it in intending to put it in my locker, and not seeing why any of it was "weird" or "wrong." Or with the fast-food scene, accidentally saying into the mike, "She shouldn't be eating fast food, not with her weight problem!" That famous (or infamous) "Aspie Honesty" some folks have!

I would love to see that show. Where do you live and how good are your industry connections?