Physically-Challenged Series - The daily 15-minute serial MISS SUSAN broadcast from Philadelphia from March-December 1951 was the first TV series to tackle the day-to-day struggles of a handicapped character. The program told the story of Susan Peters, a wheelchair-bound attorney with a spinal injury practicing law in the rural town of Martinsville. Susan Peters (who played herself) was actually paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a hunting accident in 1945 (gun went off). In the summer of 1986, the MacDonald's Corporation released the first national television commercial featuring two deaf people. Beth Ann Bull and Andrew Rubin, both whom had never acted before, were cast in the "Silent Persuasion" television commercial about two young people who conversed in sign language while enjoying MacDonald's hamburgers. See also - PHYSICALLY-CHALLENGED.