Catch the latest BUZZ on Michael!
Michael and Tracy were featured in the March edition of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, O. You can either go to Oprah's website to listen to parts of her interview with the both of them or read the actual article!
****
As of July 22, 2002, Michael's book has not been on the Top 10 since week 7! You never know though, Lucky Man could just pop back on the Best-Seller list again! Here is the low down to his placing on the list since week 1:
Week 1: No. 1
Week 2: No. 1
Week 3: No. 3
Week 4: No. 3
Week 5: No. 6
Week 6: No. 1
Week 7: No. 4
There are 705,000 copies in print after four pressruns. WAHOO!
You can order Michael's autobiography at Amazon.com!
I must also recommend that you purchase the audio book on CD or cassette! He actually reads the book to you! A MUST for any die hard fan!!! :)
People Weekly
July 29, 2002
One day before the L.A. premiere of Stuart Little 2, Stuart Little himself, Michael J. Fox, squired wife Tracy Pollan and former Spin City costar Heather Locklear to his annual benefit in L.A., a dinner wich raised $250,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
People Weekly
April 15, 2002
"Back in the late '70s, budding actor Michael J. Fox starred in a Canadian sitcom called Leo and Me. In the years that followed, Fox, 40, and three other colleagues from the series were diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder with no universally accepted cause that afflicts victims with debilitating tremors.
The startling coincidence of four people from the same show contracting the illness--one expert put the odds at 1 in 20,000--is explored in The Parkinson's Enigma a documentary that airs April 7 on Canadian TV.
'This is like a detective story,' says Dr. Donald Calne of Vancouver's University of British Columbia Hospital, who treats Fox's three former coworkers. 'We have to find the culprit. We have to consider a virus or a toxin.'
Although he can't think of any environmental links, Don S. Williams, 64, a former dirctor on Leo and Me who developed Parkinson's in 1993, says the study of his case gives him hope. 'I try not to get too excited,' he says, 'but I want to see if this leads to a cure.'
US Weekly
December 31, 2001
"'I am the greatest, and Parkinson's must fall,' said Muhannad Ali, who made a surprise appearance at a benefit for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research at New York's Roseland Ballroom on December 8. During the emotional evening, Chris Rock, Denis Leary and Jon Stewart provided comic relief, while Tony Bennett and Gladys Knight serenaded the 900-plus crowd with some of their signature hits. Fox, who arrived with his wife, Tracy Pollan, and his mother, Phyllis Fox, was overwhelmed by the turnout. 'It has been amazing, the support that has come from every corner,' he told Us Weekly."
People Weekly
December 24, 2001
"Taking the stage at a Parkinson's research benefit on Dec. 8, organizer and host Michael J. Fox acknowledged his various tics and twitches. 'On the outside I may look like I'm in a lot of trouble,' Fox, 40, told the 900-strong audience at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, 'but I've never been more focused.' His efforts were well rewarded. Supporters from Kevin Kline to Heidi Klum turned out to enjoy performances by Tony Bennett, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock and other entertainers in an evening that netted $4.5 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Accompanied by his mother, Phyllis, and his wife, actress Tracy Pollan, 41, Fox gave thanks for more than mere money. 'I realize that thousands of people pray for me,' the actor, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991, told PEOPLE. 'It energizes me and gives me a sense of commitment and purpose.' Fox says that working without the structure of a daily routine--like filming a sitcom--allows him to focus his strength on important tasks. 'I still have a lot of energy,' says Fox. 'I feel good.' Which comes as no surprise to his mom. 'He always looked on the bright side of things,' says Phyllis Fox. 'Even as a kid, because he was shorter, he was always teased but it didn't bother him.' Adds Pollan: 'I'm not always so optimistic, but together we even each other out.'
Though all agreed the cause was noble, most guests acknowledged they came for one reason. 'Michael asked,' says his former Spin City costar Barry Bostwick. 'We do it for Mike."
From People Weekly
November 26, 2001
"Family Tie: In New York City, Michael J. Fox squired his mom, Phyllis Fox, to ceremonies inducting him into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame."
People Weekly
November 19, 2001
"Helping the pregnant Tracy Pollan decorate a new nursery for what would be her fourth child with husband Michael J. Fox, interior designer Marc Charbonnet realized the project wouldn't be as simple as choosing between blue and pink: Pollan couldn't tell him if the child she was carrying was a boy or a girl. 'They didn't want to know,' says Charbonnet. 'They wanted it to be a surprise.'
Think pink: Esme Annabelle Fox--weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz.--was delivered shortly after noon on Nov. 3 in a Manhattan hospital. 'Everyone's doing great,' says Fox's spokeswoman. When the former Spin City star, 40, phoned the show's executive producer, Gary David Goldberg, a couple of days following the birth, the actor's joy was apparent. 'Michael was thrilled,' says Goldberg. 'And that's a great sign of hope for the future.'
Fox's faith in family has always been a flag of optimism in his now-famous battle against Parkinson's disease. ('On a scale of 10,' says longtime friend Severin Morin, 'his kids are a 14.') He was diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disorder in 1991, two years after the birth of son Sam, now 12. (He went public with his condition in 1998.) That medical verdict didn't stop Fox and Pollan, 41, his wife since 1988, from having twin daughters, Aquinnah and Schuyler, now 6, in 1995. Experts say there's virtually no risk of Fox--who devotes most of his time to working on Parkinson's issues, as well as writing a memoir, due next spring--passing the disease on to his children.
One other new guest has joined the celebration at Fox's four-bedroom apartment on New York's Upper East Side. 'It's a little mutt Michael got at a shelter,' says Charbonnet. 'So now they have two additions to the family.'"
US Weekly
October 15, 2001
Michael J. Fox suited up for the Hollywood All-Stars, who squared off against former members of the Boston Bruins on September 30 at the second-annual Celebrity Hat Trick event at the Centrum Centre in Worcester, Massachusetts. Fox scored a goal to give the All-Stars an 11-10 lead with 1:59 left in the game, but the contest ended in an 11-11 tie. This year's event raised more than $350,000 for actor Denis Leary's Firefighters Foundation, which will donate the money to the families of New York firefighters. Among the thousands of spectators were seven New York firefighters on a day's leave from Ground Zero. "The goal was to get money," Leary said, "but we also put a smile on the firefighters' faces."
US Weekly
October 16, 2000
"Michael J. Fox and friends faced off with former pro hockey players in Worcester, Massachusetts, on October 1 for a good cause. Elizabeth Hurley acted as 'coach' of the Hollywood All-Stars team, which included Fox, Tim Robbins, Denis Leary, Kiefer Sutherland, Rick Moranis and Scott Wolf, while Hall of Famers Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and John Bucyk led the Boston Bruins alumni team. Leary, a Massachusetts native, organized the game as a tribute to the six firefighters who died in a Worcester warehouse fire last December, one of whom was his cousin Jeremiah Lucey. Leary said that putting together the All-Stars was no problem. 'I had to turn people down,' he said. 'I called Michael...and asked him if he would just come to the event. But he said, 'I'm coming. And I'm skating.'' Fox received a standing ovation when he entered the rink. The event raised more than $200,000 for the victims' families and the Worcester Fire Department. Early in the day, hockey fanatic Robbins predicted that Coach Hurley would lead the team to victory 'through subtle means like a woman...subtle yet powerful.' But in the end, the Bruins beat the team of actors, 15-14. The British Hurley had never seen a hockey game before and clearly hadn't dressed for one. She wobbled onto the ice wearing stiletto heels, purple leather pants and a matching suede coat. Later, she lamented her choice of footwear, explaining 'I was hung over. Better luck next year.'
Entertainment Headlines
Wednesday February 9, 2000
"Producers of the hit ABC sitcom "Spin City" have approached actor Charlie Sheen to keep the show alive following the departure of star Michael J. Fox at the end of the current season, a source close to the show said on Tuesday.
Sheen has been in talks with the show's production company, DreamWorks, about possibly replacing Fox as a new character on the political comedy series if it were to remain on the air, the source said.
Fox, who stars on the show as Deputy Mayor Michael Flaherty, announced last month he plans to leave the series this spring, at the end of its fourth season, to fight Parkinson's disease. The news has left the future of "Spin City" in limbo at a time when it is enjoying higher ratings with a new time slot.
One catch: The show is currently filmed in New York, where Fox lives, and would have to move to Los Angeles to accommodate Sheen."
Tribute:"Michael J. Fox plans to give up the weekly sitcom grind. He'll be sorely missed." by Ken Tucker
From the February 4, 2000 Entertainment Weekly Magazine
"The news that Michael J. Fox will leave his sitcom Spin City after 100 episodes to deal with his diagnosed case of Parkinson's disease signals the effective end of Fox as a regular television personality. While he has said he will continue to act occasionally and perhaps produce and direct, Fox has ruled out the daily grind of starring in a weekly series, a chore that exacerbates the symptoms of his degenerative malady.
This is a sad but, of course, understandable decision, one that I would venture to guess has caused Fox no small amount of pain in itself, because, like the hockey players this 38-year-old native of Alberta, Canada, has long admired, he has always prided himself on have a long, hardworking career. And while he has had sporadic success as a feature-film star--most notably in the Back to the Future movies and The American President, as well as the underrated dramatic performance he gave in the 1989 Brian De Palma non-hit Casualties of War--Fox's most consistent talent has been as a weekly TV actor.
He became a star on Family Ties, the 1982-89 sitcom in which he portrayed Alex P. Keaton, the wily young-Republican son of ex-hippie parents. It's no small measure of his skill that Fox took a role that, on paper, was little more than that of a scheming shnook and turned Alex into a clever, likable young man, charming in spite of his naked greed and lack of scruples: the perfect Reagan-era sitcom youth.
Politics of an only slightly different sort brought Fox his second major TV role, as Michael Flaherty, deputy mayor of New York City in Spin City. Flaherty is Alex Keaton grown up, gone Democratic, but with his wit and his wiles intact.
It ain't easy being a welcome weekly presence in millions of homes; scores of far bigger-name actors have flickered when they brought their too-bright star wattage to the small screen. But Fox, like James Garner and Michael Landon, to name just two, is an authentic TV star: His low-key affability, combined with a nimble way with a line reading and a not-often-noted gift for physical slapstick, made Fox ideal company, week in, week out. Spin City also stands as a testament to Fox's generosity and shrewdness as a team player--he has been unfailingly willing to let his supporting cast get laughs as big as or bigger than his own.
If this appreciation of Fox's gifts is taking on the air of an elegy, it shouldn't. According to medical reports, Fox can live a good long life with his Parkinson's, and, once again, he does plan to continue in show business in various capacities. (Among many other things, he can be the voice of Stuart Little in as many sequels as the market will bear.) But Michael J. Fox will now be denied his true calling as a weekly sitcom performer, and for that loss, we express our regret and extend our best wishes."
From the January 31, 2000 People Magazine
"In 1998, after telling the nation that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, Michael J. Fox said he'd continue in his lead role on ABC's Spin City---and he did, until now. On Jan. 18, Fox announced at a cast meeting that this season will be his last, although he'll continue acting in other areas. 'He said that ... he was perfectly capable of doing the show, [but] it took a little too much away from other areas of his life,' says costar Michael Boatman. 'Family and kids come first.'
ABC hasn't commented on the future of Spin City, but it's hard to imagine the show without Fox, 38, who has won Golden Globe Awards as best comedy actor for his role as a deputy mayor. 'He's the heartbeat of the show,' says Philadelphia Inquirer TV comlumnist Gail Shister. Or, in the words of Diane Werts of Long Island's Newsday, 'he's the entree, and the other guys are the spices.'
No matter what the future holds, Fox's castmates will pour their hearts into the rest of this season. 'We're going to give him the best Spin City we can,' Boatman says. 'Everyone is fired up to make a slam-bang show.'
After Fox's announcement, 'there was long applause, two or three minutes,' Boatman says. '[But] he's so private. He kept his head down and was quiet and then he walked off, back to his dressing room.'"
#17 Alex P. Keaton
from Family Ties
From the Oct. 16-22, 1999 issue of TV Guide
"Nakedly and proudly ambitious, Alex was the main reason Family Ties was Ronald Reagan's favorite show. (The admiration was mutual, although an autographed picture of Richard Nixon dominated Alex's room.) This young go-getter embraced the self-sufficient, trickle-down values of the '80s over those of his hang-loose, stuck-in-the-'60s parents. Alex (played with double-espresso verve by Michael J. Fox) was a pure-and funny-conservative, but he was no yuppie stereotype. In one memorable departure from his rock-ribbed persona, he saw a psychiatrist after a friend was killed in a car accident and, without benefit of familiar props or easy jokes, tried to make sense of death, God, the universe (and his small place in it). In the end, he fulfilled his destiny by leaving Columbus, Ohio, for a big job on Wall Street. But we like to imagine that he occasionally stops into a museum or even gives some loose change to a homeless person."
#41 Diet Pepsi 'Apartment 10G'
From the July 3-9, 1999 issue of TV Guide
"Year: 1987 Agency: BBDO New York. A top Pepsi commercial of the 1980s. Michael J. Fox, then appearing on Family Ties, triumphs over rainstorms, traffic and some menacing hoods to secure a Diet Pepsi for the lovely Gail O'Grady (who would later star on NYPD Blue). Panelist Vada Hill says the ad 'epitomized Diet Pepsi as '80s cool.'"
"As a teenager, Michael J. Fox played the guitar. And like a lot of ex-teenagers, he never made it in the music business. But as a well-paid actor, Fox now enjoys collecting the instruments of his rock and roll heroes. At a charity auction June 24 at Christie's New York headquarters, Fox, 38, paid $79,300 for two guitars once caressed by guitar god Eric Clapton. Said Fox: 'Mr. Clapton has meant a lot to me.'"
"Prizefights are now family fare, judging by the star-stuffed crowd who watched Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis go 12 rounds (to a controversial draw) at Madison Square Garden March 13. Denzel Washington and son John David; Michael Douglas and son Cameron; Matthew Broderick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker; and Keith Richards and wife Patti Hansen saw the bout, a semi-bust. 'No knockdowns, no great rallies, not nearly as exciting as everyone hoped,' opined Donald Trump."
"Michael J. Fox soaked up some more real City Hall atmosphere that might come in handy for his TV series. This time, the subject was marriage.
Fox, who plays a deputy mayor on Spin City, went to City Hall on Tuesday to watch New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani officiate at a wedding.
"He takes it very seriously," Fox told the Daily News.
The wedding was for two of Fox's friends, Danelle Black and John Fortenberry. Black is head of Fox's production company, and Fortenberry directs for television."
The Roush Review
From the December 12-18, 1998 issue of TV Guide
"Before the season began, it was anyone's guess which sardonic sitcom would triumph in the critical Tuesday night time slot of 9 P.M./ET: ABC's Spin City, emerging from a year of ratings-poor obscurity on Wednesdays, where it aired too early at night or NBC's Just Shoot Me, riding a wave of buzz from repeated exposure on the network's top-rated Thursday juggernaut.
The good news/bad news answer is that this contest is something of a draw. Both are holding their own, solid performers, with good demographics, but by appealing to and splitting (some would say cannibalizing) the same audience, neither is achieving breakout status.
Even so, this is a happy time for Spin City, which at least can enjoy being part of an unusually strong lineup that includes first-year critical fave Sports Night and the resurgent, gripping NYPD Blue (after Just Shoot Me, NBC goes instantly south with the shrug-inducing Working and the umpteenth version of the tiresome Dateline).
If it's sometimes hard to get a handle on Spin City, blame it on the show's split personality as a busy ensemble comedy that is also designed to be a star vehicle for Michael J. Fox, who recently revealed that he has been battling Parkinson's disease for a number of years. In Spin City, he's New York City's romantically challenged Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty.
Much of this season has been devoted to his poor excuse for a love life, starting with an ill-fated multiepisode fling with supermodel Heidi Klum.
His obvious attraction to the long-pining co-worker Nikki (Connie Britton) has been complicated recently by her new boyfriend, a prince of a fellow named Arthur (Sam Robards) of whom Mike naturally is jealous. Arthur's take on Mike: "Nice guy but obsessed with his work and can't deal with his feelings, so you make a lot of snide remarks about other people under your breath."
True enough. Meanwhile, the show rather dizzyingly tries to service an embarrassment of richly drawn characters, including Barry Bostwick's dim-bulb mayor, Richard Kind's cheapskate buffoon of a press secretary, Jennifer Esposito's slinky Brooklyn bombshell of an assistant and, most notably, Michael Boatman and Alan Ruck as the odd-couple roomies Carter and Stuart, a gay activist yoked to an obnoxious lout who has been likened to "Satan in a crew cut." (Can hardly wait for the December 15 episode, when Carter and Stuart encounter senior-citizen versions of themselves.)
Also good for a laugh: Carter's suicidal dog, Rags, a grody old mutt whose dour thoughts have been voiced by the likes of David Letterman and Tim Allen. While Rags may have a death wish--who could blame him, clad in pj's that match Carter's?--Spin City is more alive than ever."
The 25 Most Intriguing People of the Year (1998)
Michael J. Fox
Sharing a private battle, he offered a lesson in courage
"I don't look at myself as a paragon of stoicism," says Fox. "I'm just a guy who one day went to the doctor and was told something that wasn't the best news you could get."
For all the personal and professional risk his decision entailed, when it came right down to it, Michael J. Fox found the idea of unloading the weighty secret of his battle with Parkinson's disease strangely comforting. "The fact is, I'm seven years down the line with this thing, putting one foot in front of the other, and I haven't mentioned it [to the press]," he told People in November in his first public interview about his illness. "It might be easier if I did." What the 37-year-old actor, who artfully quelled a National Enguirer story and closed a lucrative syndication deal for his popular ABC series Spin City before he made his revelation, didn't expect was the extent of the resultant outpouring of affection and support. Hundreds of well-wishers called and wrote Fox's office, a testament to the sheer likability of the former Family Ties and Back to the Future star. "I think Michael showed great courage," says the Reverend Billy Graham, a fellow Parkinson's sufferer, while activists like Parkinson's Action Network president Joan Samuelson cheered because Fox's name recognition would likely boost research funding. "He's so very young and alive and vital, everything people assume Parkinson's victims aren't," she points out. Fox's disclosure, wrote Dallas Morning News columnist Ed Bark, "is cause to pause, reflect and then root hard for him."
"I was really moved that people cared and expressed that emotion," Fox later told Barbara Walters in a 20/20 interview. But he was also struck by the melodrama of some media accounts. After seeing a retrospective of his career on one show, he told Walters, "None of us will ever get to read our obit. In a way, I kind of got to. And it was strange." Hitting such tragic notes, the actor says, is inappropriate because his life and work go on, and all is well. "He hasn't missed a beat," says Bill Lawrence, coexecutive producer of Spin City. "It's not like people here are going, 'Wow, it looks like he's really hurting.'" In fact, Fox remains active in body and spirit, romping with his three children, riding horses and believing fully that a cure for his condition will exist by the time he's 50. "He's just the ultimate optimist," Fox's wife, actress Tracy Pollan, told 20/20. Which is the best thing for a risk taker to be.
Taken from People Online dated December 15, 1998.
In his first public appearance since revealing to People Magazine shortly before Thanksgiving that he has Parkinson's Disease, an upbeat Michael J. Fox hosted Monday night's New York Magazine awards in Manhattan. "Now, you might have heard a few things about me in the last couple of weeks," Fox, 37, told the crowd. "And all I can say is, 'Boy, talk about being misquoted.' I tell one reporter that I went to the park with my son, and the next thing I know I'm on the cover of People magazine." Fox, in a more serious moment, said, "The way the city has reached out to me has been overwhelming."
A guide to notable parties, premieres, and happenings
DECEMBER 14, 1998: Michael J. Fox hosts the third annual New York Awards, honoring Big Apple citizens who've had an extraordinary year, at Manhattan's Cipriani 42nd Street. Honorees include Lauryn Hill.
Ladies and gentlemen, we face a serious problem in our TV nation: overpopulation. Put simply, too many shows have too many characters. As inflation strikes ensembles, fan favorites are forced to compete with extraneous regulars whom the writers must shoehorn into the script. As a result, we never get enough of the cast members whom we really want to see. Fear not, my fellow Americans. I'm proposing a comprehensive piece of legislation that will resolve this situation.
No show can overstuff it's cast in the name of gender equality. Apparently concerned that Connie Britton was its only female regular, Spin City added two more last season, Victoria Dillard (as Barry Bostwick's nondescript secretary) and Jennifer Esposito (as Michael J. Fox's Brooklynite secretary). Trouble is, their characters aren't funny. Yet they get screen time at the expense of Michael Boatman and Alan Ruck (not to mention Fox). Possible solution: Give Boatman and Ruck's odd-couple roomies the Spin-off they so richly deserve.
Read the article from the December 7, 1998 issue of People and the transcript from 20/20 with Barbara Walters [Dec. 4].
Ailing. Michael J. Fox, 37, film and TV actor; of Parkinson's disease. Fox, who stars in ABC's Spin City, disclosed to People that the disease was diagnosed in 1991 after he noticed a twitch in his finger during the filming of Doc Hollywood. Fox underwent brain surgery last March for the illness--a progressive degeneration of the central nervous system with no known cure. "I think I can help people by talking," he said.
"Parkinson's disease is known as mainly an ailment of the elderly. So actor Michael J. Fox was surprised to learn seven years ago at the age of 30, while he was shooting the movie Doc Hollywood, that he had the degenerative neurological disorder. Fox, now starring in the ABC sitcom Spin City, underwent brain surgery near Boston last March, a procedure he credits with reducing major tremors. The disease, Fox told People magazine, made him realize that 'I'm vulnerable, that no matter how many awards I'm given or how big my bank account is, I can be messed with like that.' "
."
"Michael J. Fox is famous for his boyishness--even at 37, he still looks like Alex P. Keaton of "Family Ties." So there was a cruel irony last week when he revealed that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, a condition mostly associated with the elderly. Fox's revelation will draw attention to the neurological disorder, which eventurally totally disables its victims. Drugs help, but Fox had brain surgery in March. The "Spin City" star has been privately coping since 1991, but now tells People magazine, "I'm not crying 'What a tragedy,' because it's not. It's a reality, a fact." He'll say more to Barbara Walters on ABC Friday." See the 20/20 transcript.
Michael J. Fox featured in the November 1998 issue of Faces on TV
"Spin City was one of the last season's legitimate hits and ABC is banking on the show to continue its prime time comeback. After some early tinkerings with the show's focus (early episodes ventured more into Mike's personal life) that put more emphasis on the office dynamic and the comedy that could come from the fast-paced demands of big city government, the show is a consistent laugh-getter.
Thanks in large part to co-stars Barry Bostwick (as the bumbling mayor) and Richard Kind (as the mayor's paranoid and squareball spokesman), Spin City follows in the fine tradition of such strong ensemble sitcoms including Cheers and The Mary Tyler Moore Show,, with the mayor's office replacing the familiar Boston bar or the WJM newsroom.
With an entire city's problems, as well as the mix-up social lives and interactions between the characters, Spin City is never short for material. Tightly-written, the show sets several storylines in motion and in true sitcom tradition brings them all to an end by the episode's close.
Throughout, the show offers bits of political humor--at times using the day's headlines and hot topics to get the action going--or centers on Mike's struggles as a single thirtysomething looking for love.
Initially, an interesting relationship between Mike and a City Hall reporter added some hot sparks, but the heat and interest soon fizzled and continuing attempts to give Fox a regular main squeeze have also failed.
The show works best when portraying the ever-confident Fox being able to handle the problems and needs of an entire city but still has difficulties working out the obstacles of his personal life. Although many comedies today feature the inner battle of young professionals balancing career and love, Spin City does it with a quick and clever wit.
Some may view Fox's return to TV as a demotion. However, he's again in the spotlight, the buzz is enveloping him, and he's actually at the front end of a new trend, with many successful "movie" stars including Melanie Griffith and Nathan Lane heading to TV for the increased creative freedom and livable work schedule.
On Spin City, Fox also carries the show's executive producer title, giving him the power to make the type of creative choices Fox believes are best for the show. It's the kind of clout he could never dream of having on a multi-million dollar feature film, and perhaps it's why the show is such a success and fits Fox so well. He know the character and knows how and why audiences react to him. In other words, Michael J. Fox knows what's good for Michael J. Fox, and if you let him do what he does best, he'll come out on top."
Children's Museum to Open in Baltimore
Michael J. Fox headlines 'First Families' party
"The New 'Kid-Powered' Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, will open to the public on Tuesday, December 29, at noon following a three-week celebration kicked off by syndicated talk show hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Montel Williams and actor Michael J. Fox.
The nation's only children's museum designed in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering, Port Discovery brings new meaning to the concept of children's museums with its focus on problem-solving, risk-taking, team building and fun.
The museum's opening celebration gets underway the week of December 6. Headlining the First Families party on Saturday, December 12, will be actor Michael J. Fox, star of the ABC-TV sitcom Spin City. First Families are Port Discovery charter members who have made significant contributions to the museum's fundraising campaign.
The celebration will culminate on December 29 with an elaborate grand opening marking the official debut of the museum. Children from across the state will be invited to participate.
Port Discovery advance ticket sales will be available through Ticketmaster: adults - $10, children (ages 3-12) - $7.50 and children under 3 -- free. Starting December 1, tickets can be reserved by calling 410-481-SEAT.
Located in the historic Fishmarket building on Market Place and in walking distance of Baltimore's world-renowned Inner Harbor, the mission of Port Discovery is to help children explore their dreams and use their imagination. It will be one of the largest children's museums in the United States."
Exerpt from "Seinfeld: The Totally Unauthorized Tribute" by David Wild
Michael J. Fox on Seinfeld
"On the day he was nominated for an Emmy in 1997 to honor his fine work in the ABC series Spin City, Michael J. Fox took time out to pay tribute to one of his own favorite shows, Seinfeld. Later, at the Emmys, Jerry Seinfeld would comment memorably on Fox taking away his slot in the Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nomination. "I guess last year you people didn't buy me as me," Seinfeld joked. Fox definitely buys Seinfeld big time, as he makes eminently clear.
Seinfeld radically altered the framework of situation comedy. For me it was interesting, because I was on TV for seven years with Family Ties, then I went away. And when I came back it was a whole different and much more exciting ball game for him having been here. The idea of busting out all the walls really came from Seinfeld. In Family Ties, we used to do three scenes, then an act break, then three scenes and then Alex apologizes. And when I came back with Spin City, we now do like twenty scenes. The ability to sort of free-associate with scenes--completely out of the standard decrepit structure--is Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David's doing. There was almost a feeling--and it was thrilling for me as a member of the audience--that I was kind of irrelevant. What my expectation was, or whether I was being patronized, or condescended to or being spoken up to, I didn't get the sense they gave a shit. That was a thrill. It was like, we're going to do this regardless.
I think Seinfeld raised the bar on what writers could do. If you've ever seen a table of sitcom writers, there was always a time when it deteriorated into silliness, a period when it's like eleven o'clock and the Chinese food has hit like a bomb and they start getting goofy and doing a lot of stuff that doesn't go anywhere. Then the executive producer usually comes in. But you sense with Seinfeld, that's when the writers start working. That was the stuff they brought to the audience. Writers were told not to do that stuff--we don't talk about soup nazis and masturbation, but they said, "That's funny." My favorite episode is the one with George banging the cleaning lady on his desk. The classic scene is the one with George and the boss afterwards, and the boss being outraged, with George saying something to the effect of, "Oh, that's not allowed then. So now I know." Then he gives her the marked-down sweater. I thought that episode was just great.
So do you consider yourself a George man?
I love the show as a whole in the same way that you love the Beatles as a whole. Would George be John? Because I was always a Lennon guy, I think George would be John because on some level he didn't give a shit. Kramer is Ringo. Dreyfus would be George. And that would mean Jerry is Paul, right?"
Excerpt from Entertainment Weekly's "The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" (1998)
Family Ties Makes it in Top 100
"Greed was good--and very funny--thanks to the sly appeal of Michael J. Fox
When NBC Entertainment president Brandon Tartikoff first saw the pilot for Family Ties in 1982, he loved everything about it--except Michael J. Fox. Thankfully, creator Gary David Goldberg fought for the unknown Canadian actor he had chosen for the role of young Republican Alex P. Keaton. And it's a good thing he did: After struggling in the ratings, Family Ties got a big boost in 1985 when Fox appeared in a little film called Back to the Future.
But it wasn't just Fox's movie stardom that made Family Ties a hit. It was his winning personality. Fox took a potentially obnoxious character and made him seem charmingly vulnerable. Soon, a sitcom that had started out being about ex-hippie parents (Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross) and their Reaganite offspring (Fox, Justine Bateman, and Tina Yothers) became a showcase for Fox's impeccable timing.
Not that it was a one-man show. In addition to the Keaton clan, there was a stellar backup cast, including Tom Hanks (who was on the verge of making his big Splash) as the kids' no-account uncle Ned; Marc Price as Alex's gloriously doofy pal, Skippy; and Tracy Pollan (Fox's future wife) and Courteney Cox (cutting her sitcom teeth nearly a decade before Friends) as two of Alex's girlfriends.
Along with The Cosby Show (which it followed on Thursday nights from 1984 to '87), Family Ties made '80s materialism seem appealingly all-American. More important, it introduced a star perfectly suited to the small screen, which Fox still demonstrates as the Alex P. Keatonesque deputy mayor on ABC's Spin City."
Get your own Free Home Page