Spin City

I only consider this show great during the Michael J. Fox years. Between those four delicious seasons, political satire and humor were at a peak on television. Fox and his assorted cast of friends and co-workers were exceptional, making this one of the best sitcoms in the history of television. People will disagree, but come on. Friends? Seinfeld? Please!!! In an age where reality TV is becoming a norm, I can always look back to this show in syndication and watch one of the last good shows that hasn't been stretch thinner than a Hollywood actress' waistline. The most underrated actor in the show wasn't even an actor. The lovable rat/dog/wombat "Rags," a scene stealer everytime he was carried onto the screen. All of my favorite episodes have Rags in it, especially the episode when Rags rediscovers his libido and the episode when he brought back to life by Christopher Lloyd. Good stuff all around, and its too bad Fox had to leave the show.

I used to love spin city; set around the Mayor of New York and his staff, it provided a lot of laughs and politics in comedy actually quite works.

The mayor's deputy Mike was one of the best and brilliantly played by one of my favourite actors, Michae J. Fox who has so much screen charisma. The way Mike interacted with his staff was great; his relationship with Carter was hilarious and the way he mentored James was often touching. So many of the characters were great including James, Stuart, Carter, Paul, Nikki and Stacey.

Then they ruined it by casting Heather Locklear as Caitlin. I hated Caitlin, she was so annoying and she replaced the fiesty brooklyn gal, Stacey who was far superior.

When Stacey left it started to go wrong, then Mike, James and Nikki left too and Charlie Sheen couldn't be good enough to replace the loss of three great characters. Charlie was good, not as good as Mike but still a great actor, but Caitlin seemed to be the focus, it should have been called the Charlie Sheen and Heather Locklear show at the end as it was always about their relationship, just like it had been with Caitlin and Mike.

The later episodes are not as memorable, James was such a good character that the show suffered without him, everyone else was so self assured but James was the innocence of City hall and without him it was a bunch of big shot Caitlin's who wanted to rule the world.

Another one of the few sitcoms on TV I find very funny and quite witty. The cast is packed with talented performers. Now, don't get me wrong, Michael J. Fox was great in the role of Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty, but Charlie Sheen does just as good a job at replacing the lead role as Deputy Mayor Charlie Crawford. Rarely, do I watch a show where a lead character is replaced by another actor, and that actor is just as good as his/her predecessor. I have nothing against Charlie Sheen, I really appreciate him as an actor. But I was very pessimistic about him filling Fox's shoes. Well, he succeeded with flying colors!

Anyone who has seen "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (one of my all-time favorites) should be familiar with Alan Ruck--who played Cameron Frye, Ferris's anal retentive best friend. He pretty steals the show as the witty, perverted Stuart Bondek. I guess I would say he's my favorite on the show. He definitely brings in the biggest laughs! That episode was classic where he was hired as a screenwriter for porno films. Every time someone would utter any sort of sexual innuendo, he would jot it down on his typewriter. Ruck is a superbly talented comic actor. His facial expressions alone, which reveal exactly what he's thinking, just make you want to crack up.

Michael Boatman is funny in sort of straight role--which is a very ironic statement, being that he's playing a gay character. He never tries too hard for a laugh, yet knows exactly the right timing and delivery. But I did notice a plot hole, concerning his character. In one episode, he's trying desperately to quit smoking. Yet they never showed him smoking in previous episodes. That should be listed in the "goofs" section.

Richard Kind has the goofiest role as Paul, the bumbling speechwriter. I can't imagine anyone playing the part better than him.

Barry Bostwick is also quite funny as the Mayor. His deadpan delivery makes his dialogue all the more funnier.

I have to admit, sometimes the show gets too farcical and out of control. Virtually all sitcoms suffer from this--the characters end up saying or doing something ironic for a cheap laugh, even if it doesn't make sense.

But even though the show has its share of lame gags, I'm often dying with laughter every episode. As goofy as it gets, as senseless as it gets, "Spin City" never fails to make me laugh. The cast is excellent and the writing is often sharp. There's not much more I can ask for. I hope the show continues to be a success and lasts about five more seasons!

My score: 8 (out of 10)

That's one of the best and most funny sitcoms I've ever seen. Michael J Fox is unbeatable in his part as the Deputy-Mayor of New York. I strongly recommend this sitcom to everybody who like that kind of entertainment.

"Spin City": Network: ABC; Genre: Sitcom; Content Rating: TV-14 (for language and strong sexual content); Available: syndication; Classification: Contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4);

Season Reviewed: Seasons 5 & 6

To keep this little project manageable I have roped off the new millennium as a starting point to look at television. The trap door in this rule is that if a show was on the air at all after that time I can review the whole thing - except in the instances where that show underwent a change, for better or worse. Unfortunately, as with 'The Drew Carey Show' and 'The Daily Show', 'Spin City' is one such series whose glory days lie before the year 2000 and out of my jurisdiction. Thus, this review is really of a version of 'Spin City' that isn't the heart of this show. It is of a show that had lost it's lead, reshuffled the cast and was on it's dying legs. The change in the show is undeniable, and it would be irresponsible to simply ignore it, but this is not what 'Spin City' really was about.

Created by Bill Lawrence and Gary David Goldberg, 'Spin City' is a traditional sitcom about the womanizing deputy mayor and his staff of spin-masters struggling to save and protect the image of flaky New York City mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick). The real 'Spin City' was driven about Michael J. Fox's terrific lead performance and absolutely impeccable comic delivery (for which he garnered a well-deserved Emmy award and 2 Golden Globes). It crackled with sharp, adult and always laugh-out-loud writing and an awesome ensemble cast to contend with any other on TV. Michael Boatman, Alexander Chapman as James, and Jennifer Esposito's hot Stacey are just 3 of my favorites. And the reunion episode with Christopher Lloyd was superb. Truly one of the funniest shows on the air, It probably gets my vote for the most underrated sitcom of the 90s. During the first 4 years, 'Spin City' was a 4 ½ star show by my scale. It was that good.

At the close of the 2000 season, Fox made a classy exit to fight a private battle with Parkinson's disease. At that signal, the rest of the cast (save for Boatman, Bostwick, Richard Kind and Alan Ruck) jumped overboard like rats form a sinking ship. But all was not quite lost as replacement Charlie Sheen - reportedly hand picked by producer Fox himself - stepped in and stepped up, filling the new role with surprising success and agility. Sheen has picked up Fox's mannerisms for the arrogant Mike Flaherty and incorporated it into his own completely new character, Charlie Crawford (like Fox, taking his own first name). In fact, with this his first project after coming out of rehab, Sheen is something of a revelation here. As hard to believe as it may be for the purists, but he almost comes up to par with Fox.

The fast and steep decline of the series really has nothing to do with Charlie Sheen. I believe it had more to do with the rest of the ensemble leaving and the show making the suicidal decision to shoulder the series on Heather Locklear. 'Spin' then quickly became a 2-person series in which we are supposed to agonize over the sexual tension between the leads and wonder if Sheen and Locklear's characters will get together. It should have occurred to Lawrence that it's fans where smarter than that. Locklear is a black hole that sucks every remaining ounce of life out of 'Spin City'. Sheen's efforts to save the show and the legacy of it's name deserve far better than this. Forget about this. Stick with seasons 1 through 3, and 4 as a bonus, and you will be in good hands.

* ½