A family comedy produced for Apple TV+ based on American author and Paralympian Josh Sundquist’s memoir, Just Don't Fall: How I Grew Up, Conquered Illness, and Made it Down the Mountain.
Josh Dubin (played by newcomer Logan Marmino) is a 12-year-old Middle School student starting the 7th grade at a public school. Home schooled all his life, Josh is eager to experience everything his new school has to offer. Together, with his best friend Kyle and new friend Gabriella, Josh faces his new challenges head-on, perhaps most importantly how to get everyone to see beyond the fact that he has a prosthetic leg.
The series premiered on July 22, 2022, with all 10 episodes available for streaming.
This show provides examples of:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Josh's precocious little sister Luisa is home-schooled and relishes in the extra attention without the boys.
- Based on a True Story: The show is an adaption of Josh Sundquist’s childhood from his memoir.
- Bittersweet Ending: The first season finale, "School Dance."
- Gabriella is stressed out over balancing school, her extra-curricular activities, and being captain of the volleyball team. It gets so bad that she admits volleyball is no longer fun and she quits the team.
- While Josh learns to not expect everything to be perfect and enjoys himself at the dance, he reveals his reason for his high expectations for everything he does to Gabriella. He lost his leg to cancer, and has not quite reached the 5-year mark where he'll officially be cancer-free. Until then, he realizes every first might be his last.
- Bland-Name Product: Josh joins Gabriella's B&B RPG club.
- Creator Cameo: Sundquist appears as a prosthetist in two episodes.
- Education Mama: Up to this school year, Josh's mom, Maggie, home schooled all three of her children. With Josh and Matthew headed off to a public middle school, only their younger sister Luisa remains at home.
- Extracurricular Enthusiast: Not wanting to miss anything, Josh signs up for multiple school clubs.
- Go-Getter Girl: Gabriella is popular, a good student, and captain of the volleyball team.
- Hiding the Handicap: On the first day of school, Josh asks his brother Matt and best friend Kyle not to tell others about his leg, as he wants people to make friends with him because they want to, not because they feel sorry for him.
- High-School Dance: Josh is excited to attend his first school dance, with his expectations largely shaped by this trope including the large bowl of flavorful punch, lots of balloons, and everyone having a good time on the dance floor.
- Homeschooled Kids: All the Dubin kids up to the start of the show.
- Innocently Insensitive: On Halloween, Principal Keifer proudly shows off his pirate costume to Josh, and almost immediately regrets calling attention to his Hook Hand.
- Mistaken Message: Kyle thinks he's texting his mom that his friends think his vest is cool. Unfortunately, he sends it to Josh and Gabriella.
- Outdated Name: A mild example; due to so many character names being shoutouts the kids' names have a collective elder-millennial slant, particularly with the Running Gag of "so many Kyles" rather than Aidan and its' variations which would be more likely the case with a cohort of kids born around 2010.
- Plug 'n' Play Prosthetics: A notable inversion. It takes two visits several weeks apart to replace Josh's broken and outgrown prosthesis, with him using crutches in the interim.
- Pop-Up Texting: Not surprisingly, sprinkled throughout the episodes given that Josh and his friends are middle schoolers with smartphones.
- Prosthetic Limb Reveal: A bully intentionally trips Josh, sending him sprawling on the floor, removing his foot in the process and revealing his prosthetic leg.
- Running Gag: After calling Kyle by the wrong name in the second episode, Principal Keifer remarks that there are so many Kyles this year. Throughout the rest of the first season, he frequently calls out to, or yells at, one of the Kyles.
- Shout-Out:
- In "Elevator," Matt asks Josh if Carmen San Diego needs her hat back.
- Watching Kyle rehearse with the marching band, Josh remarks that he's no Lizzo.
- Many characters' names, starting with Matt who's named after one of Sundquist's real-life brothers.
- Snacksploitation: In "Movie Night," Josh hides a 2-liter bottle of “Liquid Louie” soda by securing it where his prosthetic would have been. A Cool Old Lady he befriended helps him when it accidentally slips out, but the resulting Soda Can Shakeup causes a soda shower in the middle of the theatre.
- Technologically Blind Elders: In "Movie Night," Maggie accidentally orders 20 pizzas using the app on her smartphone. The pizza delivery guy tries to make her feel better by saying that it happens a lot to their older customers.
- Thought They Knew Already: In "Elevator," Josh assumes his dad told his mom about the tripping incident on the first day of school. He didn't.
- The Unfavorite: It takes an innocent comment by Luisa to make Gary and Maggie realize how Matt and Luisa feel with all their time and attention given to Josh.Luisa: But Josh needs more attention.Maggie: Thank you, Louisa.Luisa: It's not Mommy and Daddy's fault they ignore us a lot.
- You Are Grounded!: Josh is grounded after getting detention in "Elevator."
