Switched at Birth

As a Deaf woman who rarely watches any television shows, because CC is not always accurate, and it gets tiring trying to figure out what is being said in English, I have to applaud the writers and producers of this show. Thank you for *finally* bringing a show to television that incorporates the 3rd largest language in Canada (behind English and French) and 3rd largest language in America (behind English and Spanish) into a television show.

I applaud the writers for broaching many touchy subjects that are important in the Deaf Community. Just because we do not hear does not mean we need to be fixed. Nor does it mean we are 'retarded' or somehow less. Sign language is a beautiful dance of the hands and no 'cochlear implant' or 'hearing aide' can change that.

Thank you for bringing this show to Canada even though it is only showing the first season here. I look forward to the launch of 'Spark' so that I can continue to watch the season series as it unfolds, as it is in America.

A very proud Deaf woman from Canada is loving this show.

I had a bias the Switched would be like the other ABCfam TV shows... dull and boring with reeeeaaally bad acting and unrealistic plot lines.

I ignored the first season and over the winter break I found myself with nothing to do. I saw an ad and remembered the series. I looked it up and watched ll of the episodes online.

It is a drama, but a really good one. Not overly dramatic. And the acting is refreshingly good.

Daphne is a quintessential good girl and Bay plays a rebel. And of course Daphne being deaf is a very interesting plot part. As a matter of fact I have started learning sign language because of it.

So I would recommend this series.

The thing that attracted me to this show was, of course, the title. "Pretty original" I thought. As far as I knew, no one else had ever tried to tackle such a profound subject. And yes, the subject is profound. Think about it. What if that happened to you? However, I was troubled when I heard the show was one of the many new shows that ABC Family was adding to their list. Why was I troubled? Because the day before, I had experienced the horror that is Cyberbully. But that's another story, and another review. But, I pushed through my doubts, and watched the pilot of Switched at Birth.

Although the show does not handle the extremity of the topic, it still manages to be a decent show. I enjoy it, I really do. And I think that the lightness which is used to deal with the premise of the show, actually works in its favor. If they tried to take it too seriously, ABC Family would most definitely ruin the entire spectrum of the show. Switched at Birth, while not genius in any way, shape, or form, is still a solid show. Although, for ABC Family, it's astounding.

This TV series shows promise. The actors are fine and the character development and premise of the story is quite involving. If the writers consistently produce solid scripts and story arcs, this show should do well. The idea of the switched at birth formula mixed with the prince and the pauper fable (and the deaf girl embellishment) makes for a rather refreshing plot backdrop. With this set up, they can go anywhere and everywhere with it. Also, there are many details that can make for interesting plot situations, ethnic and cultural diversity, economic class disparity, family situations (one doesn't have a father, the other has a grandmother), so many different things that the writers can play off of. It's good that neither of the two girls are super famous actresses. It would take away attention from the story. The writers have also avoided falling into the stereotypical cliché of everything involved with race and economic diversity. It would be great if the show concentrates on the human drama and that it stays away from politically correct preaching. On the whole, the show does indeed show promise.

Switched At Birth is a fairly good show with a great concept that has been fairly well executed but there is just something that makes me not love this show. There is so much going on with the hospital switch, new boyfriends every week, friend drama, sport drama, parental drama, rebelling drama mixed in with occasional sign language use and honestly I am exhausted. It's so hard to focus on the storyline as it seems to change every week. Sometimes the storyline doesn't have a chance to be explored properly as they are on to the next idea.

It's not all bad though. There really is a great idea behind the execution and the cast is very talented. They all work very hard and genuinely become their characters.

I would recommend that you give this show a go as it is enjoyable and entertaining but I just wish it would stay on track for at least a couple of episodes.