When this sit-com first was promoted, Henry Winkler and Jeffrey Tambor asked why a comedy could not have as its central character a person who happens to be blind. The initial equality seemed noble, but there soon was a good answer to their question: sighted people wrote the show for a sighted audience and resorted to sight gags at the blind character's expense. It just seemed wrong to laugh at this character when all he was doing was trying to function in a sighted world.
Although the acting and production values were of quality, the plots and situations into which the character was thrown too often bordered on cruel slap stick, and the altruistic freshness of the show's concept quickly faded.
Although the acting and production values were of quality, the plots and situations into which the character was thrown too often bordered on cruel slap stick, and the altruistic freshness of the show's concept quickly faded.