''The Michael J. Fox Show'' is an American

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 ...

television series starring

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 ...

, that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the United States from September 26, 2013, to January 23, 2014, as part of the 2013–14 American television season. Fox made his regular return to television for the first time since he was on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor' ...

''. It was his second NBC series, as he appeared on that network's sitcom ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States ...

'' from 1982 to 1989 as Alex P. Keaton. On February 5, 2014, NBC cancelled the series due to the 2014 Winter Olympics. A representative for NBC later stated in regards to the show, "It's not cancelled. We are looking for a place on the schedule after April 3." Despite this, the remaining episodes never aired in the U.S. and, on May 10, 2014, NBC officially canceled the show after one season. The remaining seven episodes were aired in Australia on Nine Network from March 12 to April 23, 2014.

Premise

After being diagnosed with

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 ...

, Mike Henry had to give up his career as a news anchor for New York's

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

and focus on his health and his family. Four years later, Mike decides to get back to work and struggles between family and career.

Cast and characters

Main

as Michael "Mike" Henry *

Betsy Brandt Betsy Brandt (born March 14, 1973) is an American actress. She portrayed Marie Schrader in ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spinoff show, ''Better Call Saul'' (2022) and played Heather Hughes in the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'' (2015� ...

as Annie Henry, Mike's wife *

Juliette Goglia Juliette Rose Goglia (born September 22, 1995) is an American actress, singer and musician. She is best known for portraying Sierra in the Disney Channel series ''That's So Raven'', Hannah West in the CBS series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' ...

as Eve Henry, Mike's and Annie's daughter * Conor Romero as Ian Henry, Mike's and Annie's elder son *

Jack Gore John Henry Gore (16 June 1899 – 18 March 1971) was a Welsh international rugby flanker who played rugby union for Blaina and rugby league for Salford. His son, Billy Gore, played international rugby for Wales national rugby union team the sa ...

as Graham Henry, Mike's and Annie's younger son *

Katie Finneran Katie Finneran (born January 22, 1971) is an American actress best known for her Tony Award-winning performances in the Broadway play ''Noises Off'' in 2002, and the musical '' Promises, Promises'' in 2010.

as Leigh Henry, Mike's sister *

Ana Nogueira Ana Nogueira is an American actress and playwright. She is known for her roles as Sarah on ''Sarah + Dee'', Penny Ares on ''The Vampire Diaries''. She originated the role of Eliza Hamilton in the original Vassar workshop production of the mus ...

as Kay Costa, Mike's assistant *

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

as Harris Green, Mike's boss and best friend

Recurring

* Anne Heche as Susan Rodriguez-Jones, Mike's coworker *

Jason Kravits Jason Kravits (born May 28, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying A.D.A. Richard Bay on ABC's ''The Practice.'' Early life and education Kravits was born in Passaic, New Jersey. In 1975, his family moved to Rockville, M ...

as Doug, Mike's coworker *

Peter Vack Peter S. Brown (born September 19, 1986), better known his stage name Peter Vack, is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He is best known for portraying Jason Strider in the MTV comedy series ''I Just Want My Pants Back'' (2011–201 ...

as Andreas * Brooke Shields as Deborah, Ian's girlfriend *

Craig Bierko Craig Philip Bierko (born August 18, 1964) is an American actor and singer. Early life Bierko was born in Rye Brook, New York where his mother Pat ran The Harrison Players, a local community theatre. After graduating Blind Brook High School, ...

as Bill, the Henrys' neighbor *

David Furr David Furr is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He received a Tony Award nomination for his role in Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of ''Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael ...

as Andy, the Henrys' doorman * Alice Kremelberg as Reese, Ian's girlfriend (later ex)

Guest

Tracy Pollan Tracy Jo Pollan (born June 22, 1960), is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Ellen Reed on the sitcom ''Family Ties'' (1985–1987). Early life Pollan was born on Long Island, New York, the daughter of Corinne Elaine "Corky ...

as Kelly, the Henrys' neighbor *

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

as Principal McTavish, Annie's coworker *

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...

as Beth Henry, Mike and Leigh's mother *

Charles Grodin Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...

as Steve Henry, Mike and Leigh's father *

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian, known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in ''Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), Andy in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2002 ...

as Mr. Norwood, the Henrys' neighbor and a former mobster * Vandit Bhatt as Kevin, Kay's ex-fiancé * Sting as himself *

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

as himself *

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

as himself *

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...

as himself

Development and production

In August 2012, NBC gave a straight-to-series order for the series.

Episodes

Reception

The show had a positive reception from critics, with many praising

and

's performances. It was called one of six new shows to keep an eye on of the 2013-14 television season by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

''. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' found the show distinctly unfunny, remarking that something felt "off". In Australia the series premiered in double episodes, each scoring the highest rated overnight

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

figures of the night (77,000 and 73,000 respectively). However, successive episodes saw a significant drop in ratings.

Awards and nominations

On June 25, 2013, the series was honored, along with five others, with the

Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series The Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series was one of the award categories presented annually by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. It was introduced in 2011 when the event was first initiated and last presente ...

. Fox was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Broadcast

In Australia, the series premiered on

Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

on January 15, 2014.

Home media

On July 7, 2015, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released ''The Michael J. Fox Show - The Complete 1st Season'' on DVD in Region 1.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael J. Fox Show, The 2010s American mockumentary television series 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2013 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings Television series by Sony Pictures Television English-language television shows Television series about families Television series about television Television shows about disability Television shows set in New York City Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television news sitcoms NBC original programming