*...had most obviously, Michael J. Fox not been forced to leave the series after the fourth season due to his health issues.

*Had 9/11 not happened prior to its final season? It seemed like after that event, it no longer made much sense to do a light-hearted political sitcom set in New York City.

I say yes on both accounts. I know it was hard for Michael to leave that show because it seemed like he really enjoyed it. However I do love him on "The Good Wife".

I've often wondered if Charlie Sheen and to a lesser extent, Heather Locklear deserve blame (https://www.quora.com/Was-Heather-Locklear-and-or-Charlie-Sheen-the-cause-of-the-decline-of-Spin-City?q=heather%20locklear%20charlie%20shee) for the overall decline in quality (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125314/http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/spincity.htm) in Spin City (https://25yearslatersite.com/2019/07/04/how-the-brilliant-spin-city-spun-its-way-to-cancellation/) during its last few years.

Think about it this way, Spin City under Charlie Sheen followed a sleazy guy (as if he was playing a slightly more sophisticated version of his future Two and a Half Men character) with some 'nice' moments. Before this, you can say that Michael J. Fox had been the overall nice guy with maybe a pinch of sleaze. Don't you agree that it was wrong dynamic for this particular show--and production team?

Reading some of the comments (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/qaxkzw/spin_city_is_one_of_the_funniest_tv_shows_but_it/) on Reddit it appears to some that Spin City was probably ahead of its time and probably would've been a bigger hit or made a bigger impact had it come out about five years after it ended.

Also, Spin City was a very New York show (to the point of glorification) not to mention, a political show. What that means is that while it may have been hugely popular in New York, where it was set, it wasn't exactly popular in say, somewhere like Cincinnati.

The abrupt casting changes (Nikki, James, and Jenelle are all written out after Season 4 with no explanation and aren't mentioned again) undoubtedly hurt the show in the long run. Not to mention that Charlie Sheen's tenure was decidedly weaker than Michael J. Fox's.

it was definitely a very different show!

Who might have been a better choice than Charlie Sheen to replace Michael J Fox?

Who might have been a better choice than Charlie Sheen to replace Michael J Fox?

I don't know how true this is, but Patrick Dempsey (https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/86075/13-facts-about-spin-city) and Matthew Broderick (https://tvobsessive.com/2019/07/04/how-the-brilliant-spin-city-spun-its-way-to-cancellation/) were supposedly both considered for Michael J. Fox's replacement before they finally went with Charlie Sheen.