Spin City

Last updated

Spin City
Spin City - title.jpg
Season 1 intertitle
Genre
Created by
Starring
Theme music composer Spin Doctors (seasons 2–3)
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes145 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Camera setup Film; Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseSeptember 17, 1996 (1996-09-17) 
April 30, 2002 (2002-04-30)

Spin Cityis 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 fictionalized version of the New York City mayor's office, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York. Fox departed in 2000 at the conclusion of Season 4 due to symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and Charlie Sheen became the new lead as Charlie Crawford for the final two seasons. The series was cancelled after six seasons in May 2002.

Contents

Premise

The series presents a fictionalized version of the local government of New York City, and follows its mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) and his staff as they run the city, although the main person in charge is Deputy mayor Mike Flaherty (Fox). Mike is talented at his job, dealing with political spin and office chaos, but not so good managing his personal life, which he neglects. Other members of staff at City Hall include press secretary Paul Lassiter (Richard Kind), the office snitch and a manipulative coward, who has a habit of being a troublemaker and is often kept in the dark about things; chief of staff Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck), who thinks of himself as a lothario and is highly sexist; and head of minority affairs Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman), a gay black man with a suicidal dog named Rags.

Also on the staff are speech writer James Hobert (Alexander Chaplin), who is weak-willed and gullible; Mike's secretary Janelle Cooper (Victoria Dillard), who is no-nonsense, pragmatic, and slightly apathetic towards the general chaos of her work; and accountant Nikki Faber (Connie Britton), who has a comically healthy relationship with her mother and often talks to her openly about sex and other taboo subjects. Janelle later becomes the mayor's secretary and Stacey Paterno (Jennifer Esposito) joins the show as Mike's secretary and Paul's nemesis. Together, this group helps run City Hall, improves the Mayor's image, and covers for his frequent mistakes—while sorting out their own personal issues.

At one point in development, the show was simply called Spin, which was changed when ABC was unable to secure rights to the name from the similarly-named magazine. [1] At the start of the series, Mike is dating reporter Ashley Schaeffer (Carla Gugino). In early promos for the series, the relationship is shown to be the main premise of the show. Midway through the first season, however, Ashley and Mike separated and the character was written out.

The nature of Carter and Stuart's relationship became a running gag during the series. The two ended up becoming so close, their friendship was mocked by others, and their arguments sounded so much like husband and wife, a whole episode was dedicated to the notion that the two argued like a married couple. The two ended up meeting an older duo of best friends (one black and one white) who were virtual twins of Carter and Stuart in terms of personality; when it was discovered that the two older versions had become a couple, it ended up scaring Stuart quite a bit. For his part, Stuart tends to be very protective of his time with Carter, going so far as to be genuinely jealous when Carter spends more time with new campaign manager Caitlin (Heather Locklear). In spite of all the jokes and flirtations, they prove to be best friends willing to do anything for each other. This, too, was considered an important moment in television history, with Orville Lloyd Douglas noting, "I love the fact that the writers of Spin City explored the fact that gay men and heterosexual men can be friends. The straight man doesn't have to worry that the gay man might hit on him." [2]

Later years

In 1998, Michael J. Fox announced he had Parkinson's disease. As a result, a new character, Caitlin Moore (Locklear) was introduced at the start of the 1999–2000 season to help lessen Fox's workload. Caitlin was Mayor Winston's campaign manager as he decided to run for Senator, and much conflict occurred between Mike and Caitlin about who was in charge of the mayor. Their relationship was more complex than a simple feud, and hints were dropped that it would become romantic.

In 2000, as his symptoms got more severe, Fox announced he was leaving the show at the end of the season to spend more time with his family and to raise awareness of Parkinson's. [3] His character left City Hall at the end of the show's fourth season, taking the blame for an alleged Mafia link the mayor unknowingly had. [4] A brief coda to the fourth-season finale revealed that the character moved to Washington, D.C., becoming an environmental lobbyist and there meeting a young senator named Alex P. Keaton, the character Fox played on Family Ties . [4] [5] Executive producer and co-creator Bill Lawrence also left the show, along with a few cast members and writers/producers.

The remaining producers decided to carry on the series with a new lead. For the show's fifth season, Charlie Sheen, as new Deputy Mayor Charlie Crawford, joined Caitlin, Paul, Stuart, Carter, and the mayor. The characters of Nikki, James, and Janelle were written out, to be replaced by assistant Angie Ordonez (Lana Parrilla), although she left without explanation before the show's sixth and final season. With the change of the lead character, also came a change in its production location, from Fox's home in the New York City area to Los Angeles. [6] The show would carry on with Sheen for two seasons, with ABC canceling the series in May 2002. [7]

Characters

ActorCharacterSeason 1Season 2Season 3Season 4Season 5Season 6Appearances
Michael J. Fox Mike FlahertyMainDoes not appearGuest103
Carla Gugino Ashley SchaefferMain [lower-alpha 1] Does not appearGuestDoes not appear13
Richard Kind Paul LassiterMain145
Alan Ruck Stuart BondekMain140
Michael Boatman Carter HeywoodMain145
Connie Britton Nikki FaberMainDoes not appear100
Alexander Chaplin James HobertMainDoes not appear100
Barry Bostwick Mayor Randall WinstonMain144
Victoria Dillard Janelle CooperRecurringMainDoes not appear91
Jennifer Esposito Stacey PaternoDoes not appearMainDoes not appear46
Heather Locklear Caitlin MooreDoes not appearMain71
Charlie Sheen Charlie CrawfordDoes not appearMain45
Lana Parrilla Angie OrdonezDoes not appearMainDoes not appear21

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankAvg. rating [lower-alpha 2] /
Avg. viewers [lower-alpha 3]
First airedLast aired
1 24September 17, 1996 (1996-09-17)May 13, 1997 (1997-05-13)1711.7
2 24September 24, 1997 (1997-09-24)May 20, 1998 (1998-05-20)4712.0
3 26September 22, 1998 (1998-09-22)May 25, 1999 (1999-05-25)2813.1
4 26September 21, 1999 (1999-09-21)May 24, 2000 (2000-05-24)3312.4
5 23October 18, 2000 (2000-10-18)May 23, 2001 (2001-05-23)5310.8
6 22September 25, 2001 (2001-09-25)April 30, 2002 (2002-04-30)788.4

Awards and nominations

Michael J. Fox won one Primetime Emmy, out of four nominations. The show won four Golden Globes (three for Fox and one for Charlie Sheen), out of its nine nominations.

Syndication

Initially distributed by the original Paramount Television, Spin City entered off-network syndication on UPN, Fox and The WB affiliates from fall 2000 until fall 2005 and aired on FX from fall 2005 until fall 2010. In August 2015, the series started airing on digital multicast television network Laff. In July 2020, every episode was added to Australian streaming service Stan. In February 2021, the entire series was added to Pluto TV (which is owned by Paramount Global, the current entity distributing the series) in the United States. In 2023 it was added to Channel 4's ad supported/premium streaming platform in the UK. As of 2023, Spin City has not aired on any linear broadcast channels since 2015.

Home media

Shout! Factory and DreamWorks Home Entertainment has released all six seasons of Spin City on DVD in Region 1. [9]

DreamWorks Home Entertainment released two best-of sets entitled "Michael J. Fox – His All Time Favorites" Vols. 1 and 2 in 2003, each containing 11 episodes. All 22 episodes are taken from the four seasons containing Fox, each starting with a brief interview in which he describes what he likes about the episode. In the 2003 interviews, Fox shows symptoms of his ongoing illness. Both DVD boxes contain bonus material with fund-raising TV commercials for Parkinson's disease research, starring the Spin City cast.

DVD NameEp #Release Date
The Complete First Season24November 4, 2008
The Complete Second Season24April 28, 2009
The Complete Third Season26November 3, 2009
The Complete Fourth Season26February 15, 2011
The Complete Fifth Season23August 16, 2011
The Complete Sixth and Final Season22December 13, 2011

Notes

  1. Gugino was written out midseason and stopped being credited after episode 12.
  2. In households; season 1 only
  3. In millions; seasons 2-5

Related Research Articles

<i>The X-Files</i> American science fiction-drama television series (1993–2002, 2016–2018)

The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002 on Fox. During its original run, the program spanned nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A short tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival, The X-Files returned for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018. In addition to the television series, two feature films have been released: The 1998 film The X-Files and the stand-alone film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released in 2008, six years after the original television run had ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Sheen</span> American actor (born 1940)

Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez, known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. In a career spanning six decades he received numerous accolades including three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Fox</span> Canadian and American actor and activist (born 1961)

Michael Andrew Fox, known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American activist and retired actor. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and Marty McFly in the Back to the Future film trilogy (1985–1990). Fox went on to star in films such as Teen Wolf (1985), The Secret of My Success (1987), Casualties of War (1989), Doc Hollywood (1991), and The Frighteners (1996). He returned to television on the ABC sitcom Spin City in the lead role of Mike Flaherty (1996–2000).

<i>Punky Brewster</i> American sitcom television series (1984–1988)

Punky Brewster is an American sitcom television series about a young girl being raised by a foster parent. The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in syndication from October 30, 1987, to May 27, 1988.

<i>Silent Witness</i> British crime drama television series

Silent Witness is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squad detective based in Nottingham. Twenty-seven series of Silent Witness have been broadcast since 1996, with series 27 airing in January/February 2024.

<i>Family Ties</i> American television sitcom (1982–1989)

Family Ties is an American television sitcom 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 social shift in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s to the conservatism of the 1980s. Because of this, Young Republican Alex P. Keaton develops generational strife with his ex-hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Sheen</span> American film and television actor (born 1965)

Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Over his fifty-year career he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1994 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<i>Two and a Half Men</i> American television sitcom (2003–2015)

Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that originally aired on CBS from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015, with a total of twelve seasons consisting of 262 episodes. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the series was about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper, his uptight brother, Alan, and Alan's mischievous son, Jake. As Alan's marriage falls apart and divorce appears imminent, he and Jake move into Charlie's beachfront Malibu house and complicate Charlie's freewheeling life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jed Bartlet</span> Fictional character

Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character from the American television serial drama The West Wing created by Aaron Sorkin and portrayed by actor Martin Sheen. The role earned Sheen a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 2001, as well as two SAG Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marita Covarrubias</span> Fictional character from the X-Files

Marita Covarrubias is a fictional character on the American science fiction television series The X-Files. She was initially introduced as an informant, leaking diplomatic information to FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder to aid his investigation of paranormal cases, dubbed X-Files. However, she was revealed to be an agent of the secretive Syndicate, although ultimately betraying that organization on several occasions. Introduced in the fourth season opener "Herrenvolk", the character remained a recurring presence until the series' finale, "The Truth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Kind</span> American actor (born 1956)

Richard Kind is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in Mad About You, Paul Lassiter in Spin City (1996–2002), Andy in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2002–2021), and Captain Stan Yenko in East New York (2022–2023). He has appeared in films such as Johns (1996), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006), Big Stan (2007), A Serious Man (2009), Argo (2012), Suburbicon (2017), Bombshell (2019), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and Beau Is Afraid (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Brown</span> Family Guy and The Cleveland Show character

Cleveland Orenthal Brown Sr. is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family and is best known for his mild-mannered deadpan delivery. His established profession was that of a deli owner, before he switched over to being a postal worker after his return to Family Guy.

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. Family Ties reflected the move in the United States away from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between Young Republican Alex and his hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Boatman</span> American actor and writer (born 1964)

Michael Patrick Boatman is an American actor and writer. He is known for his roles as New York City mayoral aide Carter Heywood in the ABC sitcom Spin City, as U.S. Army Specialist Samuel Beckett in the ABC drama series China Beach, as 101st Airborne soldier Motown in the Vietnam War movie Hamburger Hill, and as sports agent Stanley Babson in the HBO sitcom Arli$$. He also starred in The Good Fight, the Paramount+ spinoff of The Good Wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Lorre</span> American television writer and producer (born 1952)

Charles Michael Lorre is an American television producer, writer, director, and composer. Called the "King of Sitcoms", Lorre has created/co-created and produced several sitcoms including Cybill (1995–1998), Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), Two and a Half Men (2003–2015), The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), and Mom (2013–2021). He also served as an executive producer of Roseanne. Lorre won three Golden Globe Awards for his work on Roseanne, Cybill, and The Kominsky Method.

Victoria Dillard is an American advocate for Parkinson's disease research. She is also a former television and film actress who is best known for her co-starring roles as Janelle Cooper in the ABC sitcom Spin City, as one of the royal bathers in the 1988 Eddie Murphy romantic comedy Coming to America, and as the wife of Denzel Washington's main character in the 1991 action thriller film Ricochet.

<i>Two and a Half Men</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of Two and a Half Men, an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, aired its pilot episode on September 22, 2003, at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT, on CBS, a U.S. broadcast television network. The pilot received positive reviews and an Artios Award nomination for Best Casting for TV, Comedy Pilot. In the week of October 1, 2003, the series was ranked 7th highest in the top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research, with an average 12.1/18 rating. Thanks to this, the series was able to air another 23 episodes, and was renewed for a second season in 2004. The DVD set was released on Region 2 on September 12, 2005, and on Region 1 on September 11, 2007. Its bonus material included: a blooper, outtakes, a backstage tour with Angus T. Jones and a behind-the-scenes special, with the cast and crew of Two and a Half Men.

Charlie Harper (<i>Two and a Half Men</i>) Fictional character from the television series Two and a Half Men

Charles "Charlie" Francis Harper is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men during the first eight seasons of the series. Played by actor Charlie Sheen, The character of Charlie Harper is loosely based on Sheen himself. The show has garnered him four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series. Although the character was written off after the end of the eighth season, the character was reprised for one episode of the ninth season by Kathy Bates, which resulted in her winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and in the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead".

<i>Anger Management</i> (TV series) American television sitcom

Anger Management is an American television multi-camera sitcom created by Bruce Helford that premiered on FX on June 28, 2012. The series is loosely based on the 2003 film of the same title and stars Charlie Sheen in a variation of the Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson film. The series received 5.74 million viewers in its debut, breaking the record as the most-watched sitcom premiere in US cable television history. On November 7, 2014, FX announced that the series would end after its 100th episode, which aired on December 22, 2014.

References

  1. "The Art of Picking TV Titles: 9 Do's and Don'ts". yahoo.com. March 9, 2012. Spin City, for instance, started as Spin, but ABC couldn't get the rights from the magazine of the same name.
  2. "Carter On Spin City Was A Breakthrough Black Gay Male Character". March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011.
  3. Rice, Lynette (January 18, 2000). "'Spin' Out, The three-time Emmy nominee plans to devote himself to his family". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Goodbye Pt. 2". Spin City. Season 4. Episode 26. May 24, 2000. ABC.
  5. "Poobala.com". Crossover between Family Ties and Spin City. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
  6. Braxton, Greg (September 23, 2001). "Taking One More Spin". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 8, 2022. Eyebrows were also raised when Hollywood "bad boy" Sheen was brought in. But the transition was smoother than anticipated, even with the production moving from New York to Los Angeles.
  7. Carter/Rutenberg/, Bill/Jim (May 15, 2002). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; ABC is returning to its roots to reverse a ratings decline". www.nytimes.com. Open Publishing. Retrieved September 17, 2023. ABC is not bringing back two of its long-running comedies, Spin City and Dharma & Greg.
  8. Diuguid, Carol (September 8, 1997). "Esposito joins cast of 'Spin City'". Variety.
  9. "Spin City DVD news: Announcement for Spin City - The Complete 6th Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011.