And there you were thinking nothing could surprise you anymore. With a name that plays on the famous TV soap ‘Dynasty,’ Downistie is pulling in a daily audience of one million people, as the Netherlands can’t seem to get enough of the cast which is made of actors with Down’s syndrome. Have a look at this short 3 minute episode.

This is what the info under the YouTube clip had to say:

Move over ‘Corky’ and Becky Jackson from ‘Glee’. The Dutch are taking it one step further with a unique weekly soap featuring nothing but actors with Down syndrome. ‘Downistie’ (a Dutch reference to ‘Dynasty’) is broadcasted during ‘De Wereld Draait Door'(DWDD/The World Keeps Turning). DWDD is a prime-time current affairs talk show produced by the VARA, which attracts around a million viewers daily on the Nederland 3 channel. For the next 12 weeks, these viewers can follow the lives of lead characters Thomas, Nina, Rosanne, Hubert and Vicky in ‘Downistie’. Adultery, unwanted pregnancies, budding love stories, jealousy, intense happiness and tragic illness: all the up and downs of life will pass by in three-minute episodes.

The end of that video is quite something. With the mother being upset when she finds out that her baby doesn’t have Down’s syndrome.

Has television gone too far? Or should this be seen as a form of encouragement and hope for families of/and people living with Down’s Syndrome?