NBC Thursdays @ 9:30pm ET
One of NY's most beloved news anchors, Mike Henry, put his career on hold to spend more time with his family and focus on his health after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. But now five years later, with the kids busy growing up and Mike growing restless, it just might be time for him to get back to work. Having never wanted Mike to leave in the first place, his old boss Harris Green jumped at the chance to get him back on TV. The trick, as it's always been, was to make Mike think it was his idea. After several - okay, many - failed attempts, Mike's family, anxious to see him out of the house, finally succeeded in getting him to "run into" Green. Now their plan is in motion. He'll be back to juggling home, family and career, just like the old days - only better.
"The Michael J. Fox Show" is, surprisingly, probably the least funny of the new comedies that have premiered this season. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the worst comedy (no one will steal that dubious honor from CBS' "Dads"). But it definitely has the lowest ratio of running-time to laughs thus far. In the first episode, at least, the tone is much more subdued than some of the fall's other, zanier comedies ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine", "Trophy Wife"), feeling more like a family dramedy with a few chuckles than an outright sitcom.
Definitely the best part of the show is -- obviously -- Michael J. Fox. He's clearly very comfortable playing a barely-fictionalized version of himself, as a famous media personality who wants to get back in the spotlight after developing Parkinson's Disease. The barely-aliased Mike Henry is a fun, quirky character who's not above making fun of his own disease. (The sheer number of Parkinson's jokes in the pilot alone are transparently designed to let the audience know it's okay to laugh at the disease -- see, Michael J. Fox is laughing about it, too!) It's refreshing to see a family show where the father isn't either a boorish man-child or the exasperated straight man surrounded by a sea of quirky family members. Here, Mike Henry is just as quirky as everyone around him -- the other television dad he probably has most in common with is the goofy Phil Dunphy on "Modern Family".
The quirky supporting cast that surrounds Mike Henry includes Betsy Brandt, who is visibly relieved to be participating in such a light-hearted endeavor post-"Breaking Bad". Here she plays Annie, Mike's sassy, clever wife who's not above manipulating her husband to get him out of the house. Katie Finneran ("I Hate My Teenage Daughter") is Mike's filter-free sister, who thinks nothing of sporting massive cleavage around his college-dropout son. And Wendell Pierce ("The Wire"; also taking a break from heavy drama) is Harris, Mike's pushy former boss.
Speaking of similarities to "Modern Family", "The Michael J. Fox" show also borrows from that now-tired format of family members speaking to the camera documentary-style. In the first episode, these "interviews" are supposedly part of a video project Mike's daughter is putting together for school -- but this lame excuse for the format will likely be completely forgotten past the pilot. The unoriginal structure reveals how surprisingly generic this show really is. Apart from the proliferation of Parkinson's jokes, there's nothing all that unique going on here. The sad reality is that if "The Michael J. Fox Show" had starred anyone but Michael J. Fox, it wouldn't be getting much attention at all. Thankfully, Fox is a captivating performer and he definitely still has it, in spite of his disease. But he deserves better material than he was given in the first episode. Hopefully the writers will be able to keep up with the talents of their star and provide him with higher-quality scripts.
Tweet us @Stagebuddy and let us know what you though about "The Michael J. Fox Show"!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXl-krlLoxg[/youtube]
