Michael J. Fox was a major box office draw in the 1980's - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 09-26-2018, 04:22 AM

Let me try to explain outside of the Back to the Future franchise, the modestly successful Teen Wolf (delayed and released immediately in the wake of the first BTTF's mega-success), the charming Doc Hollywood, where Fox plays another variation on his on-the-make yuppie persona, is it agreed upon that he really didn't seem to have many big movie hits?

I didn't forget The Secret of My Success, which was the seventh highest grossing movie of 1987. I've heard the argument that The Secret of My Success was lucky enough to be released in-between the Back to the Future films and during the height of the Yuppie era.

And while BTTF's deserved success was attributable to MJF's easy-going charisma (imagine if Eric Stoltz played Marty McFly instead) that same nonthreatening likability made it difficult for him to translate to darker movies, such as Casualties of War. What perhaps didn't help that so many of his key characters, such as Alex P. Keaton, and persona were so inextricably linked to the 1980s zeitgeist.

jets4life · 09-09-2019, 03:37 AM

Family Ties was a huge hit in the 80s,and if it were on today, I am not sure if it would last a season. It was a product of the 80s and has not aged all at all. It just has not withstood the test of time like Cheers, Seinfeld, or many other sitcoms. If Family Ties has somehow continued past 1989, it would have inevitably fell from the radar by 1991. Fox was definitely not the star he was in the 80s.

Michael J Fox was a product of the 80s. His lass successful film was Doc Hollywood in 1991. Even if he did not develop Parkinson's Disease, his film career would consist of supporting roles, not as the lead actor as he was in the 80s.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 09-14-2019, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jets4life

Family Ties was a huge hit in the 80s,and if it were on today, I am not sure if it would last a season. It was a product of the 80s and has not aged all at all. It just has not withstood the test of time like Cheers, Seinfeld, or many other sitcoms. If Family Ties has somehow continued past 1989, it would have inevitably fell from the radar by 1991. Fox was definitely not the star he was in the 80s.

Michael J Fox was a product of the 80s. His lass successful film was Doc Hollywood in 1991. Even if he did not develop Parkinson's Disease, his film career would consist of supporting roles, not as the lead actor as he was in the 80s.

Yeah, it's really shocking. It was a big hit in the 80s and even compared to the Brady Bunch for being such a wholesome family sitcom. Yet decades later most everyone today knows who the Brady Bunch are while most people today probably don't know what Family Ties is!

Schmoopie · 09-15-2019, 05:40 AM

I loved Teen Wolf (especially the ending-I watch it over and over) and I loved BTTF of course but also Doc Hollywood. I just watched that a few days ago and it's hilarious!

Schmoopie · 09-15-2019, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

Yet decades later most everyone today knows who the Brady Bunch are while most people today probably don't know what Family Ties is!

Probably because the Brady Bunch is shown a lot more often than Family Ties

SitcomsHeydayfan · 09-15-2019, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmoopie

Probably because the Brady Bunch is shown a lot more often than Family Ties

That's because the Brady Bunch has lasted and remained relatively popular over the decades while Family Ties hasn't.

jets4life · 09-16-2019, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

That's because the Brady Bunch has lasted and remained relatively popular over the decades while Family Ties hasn't.

The Cosby Show has not aged well either. Of course, the Cosby Show will never have a chance to age well after Bill Cosby's convictions.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 09-17-2019, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jets4life

The Cosby Show has not aged well either. Of course, the Cosby Show will never have a chance to age well after Bill Cosby's convictions.

The Cosby show should be renamed to "The Serial Rapist's sitcom".

Hawkee · 11-18-2020, 04:26 AM

When you look at the general picture when you mention Michael J. Fox to your friends the show that they will probably associate him with is most likely Family Ties because that was the show that made Michael J. Fox a huge star in TV. But prior to that he was a child actor who got his start doing commercials and that made him a superstar to prepare him for what was to come which was Family Ties. But while Family Ties was a hit and going strong Michael added movies to his resume and if it wasn't for the films The Secret Of My Success and the Back To The Future series Michael J. Fox would not be a mega movie star while still going strong in TV. But I think ever since the movies Doc Hollywood and Life With Mikey were released in the 90's Michael J. Fox was still a hit movie star but when he announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's he knew that he still had the true grit to star in movies and so ever since he provided the voice of Stuart Little in the movie of the same name he knew he would also become a voiceover actor. But I think now that he plans to retire I think Michael J. Fox will be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest actors
Bestie

80s Dude · 11-24-2020, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBestia

When you look at the general picture when you mention Michael J. Fox to your friends the show that they will probably associate him with is most likely Family Ties because that was the show that made Michael J. Fox a huge star in TV. But prior to that he was a child actor who got his start doing commercials and that made him a superstar to prepare him for what was to come which was Family Ties. But while Family Ties was a hit and going strong Michael added movies to his resume and if it wasn't for the films The Secret Of My Success and the Back To The Future series Michael J. Fox would not be a mega movie star while still going strong in TV. But I think ever since the movies Doc Hollywood and Life With Mikey were released in the 90's Michael J. Fox was still a hit movie star but when he announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's he knew that he still had the true grit to star in movies and so ever since he provided the voice of Stuart Little in the movie of the same name he knew he would also become a voiceover actor. But I think now that he plans to retire I think Michael J. Fox will be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest actors
Bestie

Michael J. Fox had another hit show in the 90s called Spin City, before Parkinson's forced him to be off the show. He finally got an adult role instead of one of being a kid.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 11-25-2020, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Michael J. Fox had another hit show in the 90s called Spin City, before Parkinson's forced him to be off the show. He finally got an adult role instead of one of being a kid.

Trump guest starred on an episode!

I never saw that show but I saw a compilation of Trump guest appearances.

80s Dude · 11-25-2020, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

Trump guest starred on an episode!

I never saw that show but I saw a compilation of Trump guest appearances.

It was a good show. He had both of his Family Ties parents make guest appearances there. He was replaced by Charlie Sheen.

TMC · 11-30-2020, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

The Cosby show should be renamed to "The Serial Rapist's sitcom".

Convictions aside, if one would say that The Cosby Show hasn't aged well it's likely because quite rarely did the episodes have any real plot. The characters seemed to wander in and out while Bill Cosby mugged non-stop. Without dwelling into politics too much, it was simply product of its time (namely, the Ronald Reagan era) but nonetheless, most agree it was culturally important.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 11-30-2020, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

Convictions aside, if one would say that The Cosby Show hasn't aged well it's likely because quite rarely did the episodes have any real plot. The characters seemed to wander in and out while Bill Cosby mugged non-stop. Without dwelling into politics too much, it was simply product of its time (namely, the Ronald Reagan era) but nonetheless, most agree it was culturally important.

Like Bill Maher said, the Cosby show was NOT funny.

Regardless of Cosby's criminal behavior or even if he was a SAINT!

jets4life · 12-05-2020, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBestia

But I think ever since the movies Doc Hollywood and Life With Mikey were released in the 90's Michael J. Fox was still a hit movie star but when he announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's he knew that he still had the true grit to star in movies and so ever since he provided the voice of Stuart Little in the movie of the same name he knew he would also become a voiceover actor. But I think now that he plans to retire I think Michael J. Fox will be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest actors
Bestie

Michael J Fox will never be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest actors. He did not have the range to play roles that would have made him a superstar. In other words, he was no Robert DeNiro.

Fox was huge from around 85-91, but he was really a product of his time, and the roles that he played were of similar characters.

09-26-2018, 04:22 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,313	Michael J. Fox was a major box office draw in the 1980's Let me try to explain outside of the Back to the Future franchise, the modestly successful Teen Wolf (delayed and released immediately in the wake of the first BTTF's mega-success), the charming Doc Hollywood, where Fox plays another variation on his on-the-make yuppie persona, is it agreed upon that he really didn't seem to have many big movie hits? I didn't forget The Secret of My Success, which was the seventh highest grossing movie of 1987. I've heard the argument that The Secret of My Success was lucky enough to be released in-between the Back to the Future films and during the height of the Yuppie era. And while BTTF's deserved success was attributable to MJF's easy-going charisma (imagine if Eric Stoltz played Marty McFly instead) that same nonthreatening likability made it difficult for him to translate to darker movies, such as Casualties of War. What perhaps didn't help that so many of his key characters, such as Alex P. Keaton, and persona were so inextricably linked to the 1980s zeitgeist.
	Last edited by TMC; 09-16-2019 at 01:02 AM.

09-15-2019, 05:40 AM	#4
Schmoopie Keep Calm and Love Snoopy Forum Star Join Date: Jul 13, 2008 Location: Lynnwood, Washington Posts: 15,697	I loved Teen Wolf (especially the ending-I watch it over and over) and I loved BTTF of course but also Doc Hollywood. I just watched that a few days ago and it's hilarious!
	__________________ In memory of my wonderful husband. I love and miss you more than words can say, but I will always and forever keep you in my heart. September 23, 1961-January 14, 2019

11-18-2020, 04:26 AM	#9
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,815	When you look at the general picture when you mention Michael J. Fox to your friends the show that they will probably associate him with is most likely Family Ties because that was the show that made Michael J. Fox a huge star in TV. But prior to that he was a child actor who got his start doing commercials and that made him a superstar to prepare him for what was to come which was Family Ties. But while Family Ties was a hit and going strong Michael added movies to his resume and if it wasn't for the films The Secret Of My Success and the Back To The Future series Michael J. Fox would not be a mega movie star while still going strong in TV. But I think ever since the movies Doc Hollywood and Life With Mikey were released in the 90's Michael J. Fox was still a hit movie star but when he announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's he knew that he still had the true grit to star in movies and so ever since he provided the voice of Stuart Little in the movie of the same name he knew he would also become a voiceover actor. But I think now that he plans to retire I think Michael J. Fox will be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest actors Bestie
	__________________ Hawkee and Aguilar, Hoping to be a great team

09-09-2019, 03:37 AM	#2
jets4life Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 02, 2009 Location: canada Posts: 366	Family Ties was a huge hit in the 80s,and if it were on today, I am not sure if it would last a season. It was a product of the 80s and has not aged all at all. It just has not withstood the test of time like Cheers, Seinfeld, or many other sitcoms. If Family Ties has somehow continued past 1989, it would have inevitably fell from the radar by 1991. Fox was definitely not the star he was in the 80s. Michael J Fox was a product of the 80s. His lass successful film was Doc Hollywood in 1991. Even if he did not develop Parkinson's Disease, his film career would consist of supporting roles, not as the lead actor as he was in the 80s.