Sitcoms Online - Main Page / Message Boards - Main Page / News Blog / Photo Galleries / DVD Reviews / Buy TV Shows on DVD and Blu-ray

View Today's Active Threads (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / View New Posts (No Chit Chat/Chit Chat Only) / Mark All Boards Read / Chit Chat Board

Spin City links and theme songs at Sitcoms Online / Spin City Photo Gallery


Spin City - The Complete First Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete First Season on DVD
Spin City - The Complete Second Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete Second Season on DVD
Spin City - The Complete Third Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete Third Season on DVD
Spin City - The Complete Fourth Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD
Spin City - The Complete Fifth Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD
Spin City - The Complete Sixth Season

Buy Spin City - The Complete Sixth Season on DVD

Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums  

Go Back   Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums > 1990s Sitcoms > Spin City
Register Community View Today's Active Threads (No CC/CC Only) Search Photo Galleries Calendar FAQ

Notices

SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Headlines Facebook X/Twitter Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube RSS

Apple TV Trailer for Trying; Camp Snoopy Details
Ride or Die Trailer for Prime Video; Scooby-Doo Image Released for Netflix Live-Action Series
Tubi Announces More Comedies; Rivals Returns for More Season 2 Episodes in November
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 8, 2026)
SitcomsOnline Digest: Hulu Orders Cable Guy Comedy Pilot; Netflix Orders Big Box Store Adult Animated Comedy
Prime Video's Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2; Netflix's Devil May Cry Renewed for Final Season
HBO Max Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Six Feet Under; Netflix Orders Dealies


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD) The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)

11/04/25 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11/25 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02/25 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16/25 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16/25 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Search Sitcoms Online:



Donate

Please make a donation if you can help with Sitcoms Online's web hosting costs. Thanks for your support!

We receive a small commission on all DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Books, and any other items ordered through our Amazon.com links as an associate. Thanks for using our links for your online shopping!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-26-2020, 04:00 AM   #1
TMC
Member
Forum Idol
 
Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
Posts: 124,763
Question Was Charlie Sheen the wrong actor to replace Michael J. Fox

To give you a better idea of what I mean:
Quote:
Heather Locklear, who was brought in Season 4 to help Fox with some of the comedic lifting (which she did more than admirably) would also return to the new Sheen-ified Spin City. The two had co-starred in 1997’s Money Talks so there was bound to be some chemistry there.

As Season 5 begins, the City Hall crew is scrambling around wondering where the new deputy mayor is. Then we see him getting dressed after spending the morning in bed with a beautiful blonde stewardess (Kimberley Davies). This is our introduction to Charlie Crawford, New York City’s new deputy mayor: a reformed bad-boy Washington staffer who was run out of town for bad behavior.

This is also the first inclination that this is going to be a different show just in terms of energy. Fox’s Mike Flaherty was a character who never—no, couldn’t sit still for 10 seconds. Mike would jump on desks, hop in the air, flip over on a bed to get dressed, roller-blade through city hall (it was the ’90s), and nervously dance a jig when he met a woman he liked. It was that energy that came to represent the series over four years.


Spin City‘s very first episode in 1996 was directed by famed TV director Thomas Schlamme, director of Friends, ER, Sports Night and The West Wing—some very, very fast-paced, high-energy shows. Schlamme set Spin City’s pace right away and the show never wavered from that (except for Fox’s final emotional episodes).

However, the pace felt off with Sheen right from the start.

Naturally, any show would require some adjusting when the lead character departs. In the first few episodes of Season 5, Spin City felt like a different show. Perhaps this was also due to the fact that production moved from New York to Los Angeles during hiatus in the summer of 2000. Spin City was a series that utilized location filming perhaps more so than any other sitcom up to that time. Central Park, the Empire State Building, Times Square, and more were all used as location spots during the Fox years. New York was just as much a character in the show during its first four years as any of the human principles. With the move to California, that was the end of that. The show’s creative team substituted shots of the Big Apple for shots of models in lingerie (which Season 5 did not fail to showcase).

After the adjustment period, some things fell into place. Sheen and Locklear did develop a nice patter with each other and we can be glad that the writers decided these two worked best as foes and then friends instead of a couple. Locklear’s character, Caitlin, was still dating Mike early on but that ended before long. This is where the door for a Charlie/Caitlin romance would open but fortunately, Charlie falls for Jennifer (Denise Richards), a campaign staffer for a rival candidate competing against Winston for mayor.

Sheen does settle into his role as deputy mayor, no doubt about that, but that Fox energy is very much missed, as are Britton, Chaplin, and Dillard. In addition to Sheen, actress Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time) was added as his secretary, Angie, but her introduction is—wait, there wasn’t one. In episode two, she’s just all of a sudden there as if she’s always been there. It’s a pretty jarring intro especially recounting the major to-do it was when Paul had to hire a new secretary (ultimately played by Jennifer Esposito) for Mike back in Season 2. What’s worse is that Parrilla, a very gifted comedic actress, is given absolutely nothing to do in her role but sit at her desk. Really, this is all she does and it’s such a wasted opportunity.

So, while Sheen does build a nice (but low energy) chemistry with the cast (most notably with Locklear and Bostwick), one wonders what would have happened had producers chose someone different. In one memorable Season 5 episode, Jason Priestley of Beverly Hills, 90210 appears as a cocky, old friend of Charlie’s and Priestley brings an energy to this part that makes one wish he would have gotten the lead. His one episode was way too brief.
TMC is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2021, 12:05 PM   #2
SarahBellum
Member
Forum 3000 Club Member
 
SarahBellum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 15, 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 3,873
Default

So who might have been a better choice to replace MJF?
SarahBellum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2021, 02:20 PM   #3
Chocolate Moose
Member
Forum 4000 Club Member
 
Chocolate Moose's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 21, 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 4,885
Default

He was certainly very different!
__________________
How long a minute is, depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
Chocolate Moose is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-2021, 04:13 AM   #4
TMC
Member
Forum Idol
 
Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
Posts: 124,763
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahBellum View Post
So who might have been a better choice to replace MJF?
Well, the writer of that article suggested Jason Priestley.
TMC is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:23 PM.


Although the administrators and moderators of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards, nor vBulletin Solutions Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message. The owners of the Sitcoms Online Message Boards reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.