“Born This Way,” the A&E reality television series that includes three Orange County residents in its cast of young adults with Down syndrome, pulled off a minor upset at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, defeating bigger and better-known shows to take home the Emmy for outstanding unstructured reality program.
“Born This Way” debuted its first season of six episodes in December and is midway through a second season of 10 episodes. It won the Emmy over shows such as “Deadliest Catch,” which had taken home the trophy the past two years, “Intervention” and “Project Greenlight.”
The series is inspirational, heart-warming and often quite funny as it follows around seven 20-something and 30-something men and women with Down syndrome. The cast includes three from Orange County: Steven Clark, 25, of Irvine; Rachel Osterbach, 33, of Fountain Valley; and Sean McElwee, 22, who lives in Irvine but grew up in Mission Viejo.
The cast is rounded out by a quartet of Los Angeles-area residents, including John Tucker, Megan Bomgaars, Elena Ashmore and Cristina Sanz.
Osterbach said after the Emmys, as the post-ceremony party unfolded, that she was grateful to Bunim-Murray Productions and producer Laura Korkoian for making the show, which she said she hopes will help many other people with Down syndrome and their families as more viewers see it.
“I am so excited about the win for ‘Born This Way,’” Osterbach said. “I cannot believe we got the Emmy! I think this Emmy will change many lives.”
Jonathan Murray of Bunim-Murray talked to FoxBusiness.com last week about the power of a show such as “Born This Way” to make a difference in the lives of people.
“In thinking about the show, we wanted to focus on the ability within the disability, and I think that is what is exciting to see,” said Murray, whose company helped launch the reality TV trend when it created “The Real World” for MTV three decades ago, going on to make “Project Runway” and “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”
“Born This Way” airs on the A&E cable network at 7 p.m. Tuesdays.
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