CNN logo
navigation

Search


Pathfinder


Main banner advertisement
rule


Fox returns to TV with "Spin City"

Michael J. Fox

September 17, 1996
Web posted at: 6:00 a.m. EDT

From Correspondent Jim Moret

(CNN) -- After a seven-year hiatus from network television, Michael J. Fox returns to the medium that made him famous with a new series this fall, "Spin City." (20/sec 878K QuickTime movie) movie icon

And ABC is hoping the sitcom, in which Fox portrays the deputy mayor of New York City, scores the same ratings magic that "Family Ties" did a decade ago.

"I came to this realization that I'm like this grizzled old veteran," Fox said, adding, "that with people of this caliber, they would kind of follow my lead or respect what I might think about the direction that somebody might go. It's just a great experience."

Family Ties

Fox became a star in the early 1980s playing the conservative Alex P. Keaton on the NBC show "Family Ties." But after branching off into movies with the successful "Back to the Future" trilogy, Fox's subsequent films never attained the same level of success.

On "Spin City," Fox not only is reunited with "Family Ties" producer Gary David Goldberg, but he also serves as the show's executive producer.

"Somebody was asking me the other day about being executive producer," he said. "(They said) 'is that because it's your show, so you get to be executive producer?' I wish I was being patronized. I really do. I'd be a lot less busy."

Spin City

Unlike most sitcoms, "Spin City" is shot in New York, enabling Fox to remain on the East Coast, where he and his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, are raising their three children.

While Fox hopes he has another hit on his hands, he is also mindful that despite a strong buzz about the show's potential, success means more than a great pilot episode.

"All this show is right now is 22 minutes of film," he said. "That's all it is."



To the top

© 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.