TLC's 'Two in a Million' Introduces People With Rare Conditions

TLC’s new series “Two in a Million” premiered on Wednesday — a show that pairs people who share a rare condition. In each episode, two people with “some of the world’s most unusual disorders” spend a week together “sharing hardships and incredible triumphs, visiting world-renowned doctors and finding answers to important questions,” according to a press release.

In its first episode, Gioavanni, 7, (who we’ve written about on The Mighty before), and Owen, 9, meet. The boys both have Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by abnormalities of the skeletal muscles, abnormal bone development, permanent bending or extension of certain joints in a fixed position, and/or growth delays resulting in short stature, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).

Former Raw TV intern Jonna McIver came up with the show after filming a student documentary on Owen.

“When we saw (the film) in the office, it made us all cry,” Adam Hawkins, senior vice president of development at Raw, told CNN. “We realized that it explored ideas about loneliness and isolation that we then worked up into a bigger series idea. We wondered, what if Owen had ever met anyone else with the same condition — and what it would be like if he did.”

  This season's six episodes will also feature people with ectodermal dysplasia, an inherited multisystem disorder that typically affects the hair, teeth, nails, sweat glands and/or skin; lamellar ichthyosis, a genetic skin disorder; osteogenesis imperfecta, a group of disorders affecting the connective tissue and characterized by fragile bones; Jarcho-Levin syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by distinctive malformations of bones of the vertebrae and ribs; and Goldenhar syndrome, a disorder that involves malformations of the eyes, ears and spine.