Michael J. Fox Spins New Sitcom - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 08-19-2002, 12:34 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...en_tv_eo/10400

By Bridget Byrne

Michael J. Fox is building a sitcom around a theme he knows all too well.

The immensely popular 41-year-old star, hobbled by Parkinson's Disease ( news - web sites), is in negotiations with ABC to pen and produce a show about a superstar thrust into early retirement.

Fox, a Canadian obsessed with hockey (and a veteran of many celebrity matches himself), will make his main character a former hockey great who spends more time with his family after being forced to quit the rink.

It is unclear whether Fox has any plans to appear on the show. There's also no word on why the show's main character made an early departure from the ice.

Two years ago, Fox quit ABC's hit show Spin City after four seasons, in order to spend more time with his wife Tracy Pollan and their four kids, and to lobby for research into the prevention and treatment of Parkinson's, an incurable degenerative neurological disorder.

Although Fox was diagnosed in 1991, he worked to keep it a secret for several years because he didn't want to feel that he was being pitied. In 1998, after undergoing brain surgery to relieve severe symptoms, he announced he was afflicted with the illness. Parkinson's causes spasms, shaking and gradual loss of coordination and balance.

Fox first became famous with his multiple Emmy-winning turn as the conservative Alex P. Keaton on the 1980s NBC sitcom Family Ties. He headlined the successful Back to the Future trilogy and starred in other feature film projects before Spin City ( news - Y! TV), which earned him an Emmy and three Golden Globes as Mike Flaherty, a staffer in the New York City mayor's office.

He has more recently kept busy behind the scenes, as the voice of both the titular mouse in the Stuart Little movies and nerdy explorer Milo in Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He was also executive producer of Otherwise Engaged, a project for Lifetime television.

Fox recently published a best-selling memoir titled Lucky Man, discussing how he and his family cope with his Parkinson's, but he's never written a sitcom script.

Writer-producer Mitchell Hurwitz will reportedly assist Fox in creating the pilot. Hurwitz' credits include NBC's The Golden Girls and CBS' short-lived The Ellen Show.

"Michael has proven to be as skilled a writer as he is an actor, and that's saying quite a lot," says Susan Lyne, president of entertainment for ABC, a network very much in need of a hit series. She added (in appropriate homage to Back to the Future, we presume), "ABC has been part of Michael's past with Spin City, so we couldn't be more thrilled at the possibility of also being part of his future with this new comedy project."

Fox's show will be developed by his Lottery Hill production company in association with Touchstone Television and DreamWorks TV (which produced Spin City), as part of the actor's first-look deal with ABC.

LucyFan · 08-19-2002, 12:50 AM

Drats . . . you beat me to it!

08-19-2002, 12:34 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,847	Michael J. Fox Spins New Sitcom http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...en_tv_eo/10400 By Bridget Byrne Michael J. Fox is building a sitcom around a theme he knows all too well. The immensely popular 41-year-old star, hobbled by Parkinson's Disease ( news - web sites), is in negotiations with ABC to pen and produce a show about a superstar thrust into early retirement. Fox, a Canadian obsessed with hockey (and a veteran of many celebrity matches himself), will make his main character a former hockey great who spends more time with his family after being forced to quit the rink. It is unclear whether Fox has any plans to appear on the show. There's also no word on why the show's main character made an early departure from the ice. Two years ago, Fox quit ABC's hit show Spin City after four seasons, in order to spend more time with his wife Tracy Pollan and their four kids, and to lobby for research into the prevention and treatment of Parkinson's, an incurable degenerative neurological disorder. Although Fox was diagnosed in 1991, he worked to keep it a secret for several years because he didn't want to feel that he was being pitied. In 1998, after undergoing brain surgery to relieve severe symptoms, he announced he was afflicted with the illness. Parkinson's causes spasms, shaking and gradual loss of coordination and balance. Fox first became famous with his multiple Emmy-winning turn as the conservative Alex P. Keaton on the 1980s NBC sitcom Family Ties. He headlined the successful Back to the Future trilogy and starred in other feature film projects before Spin City ( news - Y! TV), which earned him an Emmy and three Golden Globes as Mike Flaherty, a staffer in the New York City mayor's office. He has more recently kept busy behind the scenes, as the voice of both the titular mouse in the Stuart Little movies and nerdy explorer Milo in Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He was also executive producer of Otherwise Engaged, a project for Lifetime television. Fox recently published a best-selling memoir titled Lucky Man, discussing how he and his family cope with his Parkinson's, but he's never written a sitcom script. Writer-producer Mitchell Hurwitz will reportedly assist Fox in creating the pilot. Hurwitz' credits include NBC's The Golden Girls and CBS' short-lived The Ellen Show. "Michael has proven to be as skilled a writer as he is an actor, and that's saying quite a lot," says Susan Lyne, president of entertainment for ABC, a network very much in need of a hit series. She added (in appropriate homage to Back to the Future, we presume), "ABC has been part of Michael's past with Spin City, so we couldn't be more thrilled at the possibility of also being part of his future with this new comedy project." Fox's show will be developed by his Lottery Hill production company in association with Touchstone Television and DreamWorks TV (which produced Spin City), as part of the actor's first-look deal with ABC.

08-19-2002, 12:50 AM	#2
LucyFan Still Loving Lucy! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 23, 2001 Location: In the Wonderful World of Lucy! Posts: 8,198	Drats . . . you beat me to it!