Extraordinary is a British superhero comedy television series created by Emma Moran. It premiered on the Disney+ Star platform internationally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the United States, on 25 January 2023. It received generally positive reviews, and was renewed for a second season on 23 January 2023, ahead of the series premiere. Season 2 became available to stream 6 March 2024 on Hulu in the US and on Disney+ in other markets. The premise is that everyone in the world develops a superpower at the age of 18, and the show follows Jen, who, six years after turning 18, still hasn't discovered her superpower. The series was cancelled after two seasons.
Emma Moran developed Extraordinary while completing her Master of Arts in Screenwriting at the University of Manchester, from which she graduated in 2020. Alongside Wedding Season, Extraordinary was on the first slate of UK productions to be commissioned by Disney+ under the Star brand, as announced in April 2021. Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, and Charles Dawson of Sid Gentle Films as well as Johanna Devereaux of Disney+ executive produced the series. Charlie Palmer served as producer. Toby MacDonald and Jennifer Sheridan directed across both series'. Episode six in series one was directed by Nadia Amrani.
The cast were announced in December 2021, with Máiréad Tyers set to lead the series alongside Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, and Luke Rollason. Also joining the cast were Siobhán McSweeney, Safia Oakley-Green, and Robbie Gee. At the 2023 Edinburgh Television Festival, it was announced Julian Barratt, Rosa Robson, and Kwaku Mills had joined the cast of Extraordinary for its second season. Derek Jacobi would also make a voice cameo.
Principal photography took place in London.
First look images of the television series were released in November 2022. It was later followed by a trailer in December. The first season was released on 25 January 2023 and consisted of eight episodes.
In late 2023, Disney+ struck a deal with media company ITV to licence Extraordinary (amongst other shows) to the company's UK streamer ITVX. The show is also set to get a linear broadcast on ITV2. The first season was released on ITVX on 12 February 2024.
Series 2 debuted on March 6, 2024.
The series was discontinued after two series.
For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Amiable and cleverly constructed, Extraordinary grounds the fantastical and makes it all the more accessible and thrilling as a result." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Judy Berman of Time called Extraordinary an "instant classic among superhero comedies", writing, "True to its title, Extraordinary combines and tweaks familiar tropes into something genuinely unique." Keith Watson of Metro gave Extraordinary a grade of 4 out of 5 stars, saying, "Every once in a while there's a superpower show that promises to breathe fresh life into the over-exploited arena and Emma Moran's fresh comedy Extraordinary, which slyly exploits the genre in much the manner of The Boys (with way less budget), stands out from the crowd." Polly Conway of Common Sense Media gave Extraordinary a grade of 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as an "amusing teen comedy".
The series was one of 200 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2022 to 2023. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of colour, in four out of eight key roles for their production.
Extraordinary won Best Comedy Programme at the 2023 Broadcast Digital Awards. The series was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy and Tyers was nominated in the Best Female Comedy Performance category at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March 2024.