''Leo and Me'' is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that was produced in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and aired in 1978. It starred a 15-year-old

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American retired actor. Beginning his career in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1 ...

, in his television acting debut, playing Jamie, the 12-year-old younger nephew of Leo (

Brent Carver Brent Carver (November 17, 1951 – August 4, 2020) was a Canadian actor best known internationally for performances in both London's West End and on Broadway in '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' as Molina, for which he won the Tony Award for Best L ...

). ''Leo and Me'' was produced by Don Eccleston, directed by

Don S. Williams Don S. Williams (February 11, 1938 – October 28, 2018) was a Vancouver-based Canadian producer, director, actor, choreographer, and writer. Biography Early life Williams was born Donald William Schlit in Edmonton, Alberta in February 1938. ...

and written by Marc and Susan Strange.

Synopsis

Leo (Brent Carver) was a carefree, hard-living Italian adventurer who had won a large, decrepit yacht in a poker game, and had taken his orphaned nephew Jamie (Michael J. Fox) to live with him. Leo and Jamie lived on the yacht moored in the harbour. Leo's charm and good luck guided him through tricky but humorous situations and his young sidekick's adept mind helped the pair get out of trouble.

Parkinson's disease

In 2002, an investigation was launched into ''Leo and Me'' after an unusual cluster of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

cases was noted among former cast and crew members of the show. Fox and director Don Williams were among the four with the disease, along with a writer and a cameraman. When asked about the cluster by

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...

in a September 25, 2013, interview on ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'', Michael J. Fox stated, "Believe it or not, from a scientific point of view, that's not significant." Donald Calne, a Vancouver neurologist, said the incidence of Parkinson's in society is about 1 in 300, but that four of the 125 people on the Vancouver set of ''Leo and Me'' developed the disease. Calne said, "It could be coincidence. But it's intriguing, it might be something they were exposed to."

References

External links

* 1970s Canadian sitcoms CBC Television original programming 1978 Canadian television series debuts 1981 Canadian television series endings Parkinson's disease {{Canada-comedy-tv-prog-stub