Michael J. Fox

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The Movies That Made Us–Netflix adds four more films for second season of its docu-nostalgia line-up

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August 19, 2021

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Review by C.J. Bunce

Following up on The Toys That Made Us (previously reviewed here at borg), Netflix’s surprise hit documentary series leaning on viewers’ nostalgia with a look behind toys of the past, in 2019 the streaming service added a new series based on the same formula, The Movies That Made Us. The series took a new look at four movies in four hour-long episodes in its first season, including Die Hard, Ghostbusters, Home Alone, and Dirty Dancing, followed by two holiday episodes featuring Elf and A Nightmare Before Christmas. The Movies That Made Us isn’t really about the movies and their impact so much as what strange stories lie behind how the movies were created, from idea to release, including production foibles and hurdles. The show is trying to appeal to a broad spectrum of viewers, and it’s done it again with four new installments for its second season, featuring Back to the Future, Pretty Woman, Jurassic Park, and Forrest Gump. And new episodes are on their way featuring Aliens, Coming to America, and RoboCop, and October staples A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th,and Halloween.

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Harrison Ford fedora from Raiders of the Lost Ark eclipses $500,000 at auction

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September 21, 2018

Coming in at about the same price as the actor’s screen-used prop blaster from Return of the Jedi this summer (discussed here at borg), Harrison Ford proved again he is #1 among pop culture and entertainment memorabilia collectors. At Prop Store‘s entertainment memorabilia live auction in London yesterday, called Treasures from Film and Television (which we previewed from San Diego Comic-Con here in July), one of the fedoras worn by ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark brought record bids for a prop from the franchise, taking in an estimate of between $522,500 and $558,000, including fees and taxes. Ford’s Han Solo blaster sold in June for $550,000 (before tax). The hammer price for the hat was £320,000 when the winning bid was placed and the hammer struck, or about $424,755. Provenance for this hat was not provided by Prop Store in its catalog, but the company said it could be screen-matched through identifying marks to several key scenes in the movie. An Indy bullwhip from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom sold for $74,460, including buyer’s premium, at the auction.

One of the other auction lots worn by Ford was supposed to be the crown jewel of the auction, a simple stylized blue jacket worn in The Empire Strikes Back said to have been screen-matched to the film’s Cloud City scenes. Although it was expected to garner $660,000 to $1.3 million, bidders were just not willing to push bids past the $600,000 mark and the seller’s minimum reserve price. The jacket was one of the only hero costume pieces from the original trilogy to be offered at public auction.

This week’s big star prop of the Prop Store auction was crowded among other Hollywood props on display at San Diego Comic-Con this past July.

Several other key props from the four corners of genredom sold in excess of six figures (including buyer’s premium and net of taxes) in yesterday’s auction. A light-up T-800 endoskeleton from Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991) fetched a massive price of $326,500. A Christopher Reeve costume from Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) sold for $212,200. A Hayden Christensen Anakin Skywalker lightsaber from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) sold for $180,000 and an Ian McDiarmid Emperor lightsaber from the film sold for $114,000. A background First Order Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars: The Last Jedi surprised everyone, selling for a whopping $180,000. A Johnny Depp costume from Edward Scissorhands (1990) sold for $106,100. Of several original comic book art pages that sold, the star was Page 15 from The Amazing Spider-Man (1966), Issue #32, by artist Steve Ditko, which fetched $155,000.

More than two dozen other memorable props and costumes from sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and horror classics fared well (prices quoted include pre-tax conversion from British pound, including buyer’s premium):
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Tags: Aliens, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Auctions, Back to the Future II, Bernard Hill, Bill Paxton, Blade, Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans, Christies, Christopher Reeve, Clancy Brown, Edward Scissorhands, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Hayden Christensen, Heritage Auctions, Highlander, Ian McDiarmid, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, John Belushi, Juliens, Jumanji, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Michael J. Fox, Prop Store, Prop Store auction 2018, Prop Store Treasures from Film and Television, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Raiders of the Lost Ark fedora, Robert Englund, screen used costumes, screen-used movie props, Screenused auctions, screenused props, SDCC 2018, Sean Astin, Star Wars, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Steve Ditko, Superman, Terminator, Terminator 2, The Amazing Spider-man, The Blues Brothers, The Empire Strikes Back, The Goonies, The Rocketeer, The Shining, Wesley Snipes

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Buttercup, Batman, Barbossa, Buddy, Bond and more–Prop Store lines up giant entertainment memorabilia auction for September

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September 13, 2017

For more than six years we at borg.com have been covering entertainment memorabilia auctions–sales of not merely replicas or mass-produced collectibles, but the real objects seen on film–rare or even one-of-a-kind costumes created by award-winning Hollywood costume designers, detailed props created by production crew, model vehicles created by special effects departments like Industrial Light and Magic, prosthetics created by famous makeup artists, set decoration, concept art, and much more. Amassing a wide variety of artifacts from classic and more recent film and television history, London and Los Angeles-based Prop Store is hosting its annual auction later this month. Known for its consignment of some of the most well-known and iconic screen-used props and costumes, Prop Store’s ultimate museum collectibles auction will be open for bidding from anyone, and items will be available at estimates for both beginning collectors and those with deeper pockets.

The Prop Store Live Auction: Treasures from Film and Television will be auctioning off approximately 600 items. You’ll find the following movies and TV shows represented and more: 3:10 to Yuma (2007), 300, Aliens, Back to the Future films, Blade Runner, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Chronicles of Narnia films, Elysium, Enemy Mine, Excalibur, The Fifth Element, Gladiator, The Goonies, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Jason and the Argonauts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the Indiana Jones films, Iron Man, the James Bond films, Judge Dredd (1995), the Jurassic Park films, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: the Secret Service, Lifeforce, Looper, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, Men in Black III, Mission: Impossible (1996), The Mummy (1999), Patton, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Predators, the Rocky films, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Star Trek franchise, Star Wars franchise, Starship Troopers, Superman films, Terminator films, The Three Musketeers (1993), Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willow, The Wolfman (2010), World War Z, and the X-Men films.

You can flip through the auction house’s hefty 360-page catalog, or start with a look at what we selected as the best 50 of the lots–what we predict as the most sought-after by collectors and those that represent some of fandom’s favorite sci-fi and fantasy classics and modern favorites.

Industrial Light and Magic 17 3/4-inch Rebel Y-Wing filming model from Return of the Jedi
Sark (David Warner) Grid costume from the original Tron (1982)
Julie Newmar’s Catwoman costume and Burgess Meredith Penguin hat from the classic Batman TV series
Buttercup (Robin Wright) Fire Swamp red dress from The Princess Bride
Chekov (Walter Koenig) “nuclear wessels” costume, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) costume, and Sulu (George Takei) double shirt from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Full crew set of costumes (Malcolm, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, River, Book, and Simon) from Serenity (sold as individual costume lots)
Jack Nicholson purple Joker costume, plus separate coat and hat, from Batman (1989)
Enterprise-D 48-inch “pyro” model from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Will Munny (Clint Eastwood) stunt shotgun from Unforgiven
Star-lord helmet from Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) Mjolnir hammer from Thor

Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II jumpsuits made for Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
Witch-king of Angmar crown from The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Val Kilmer Batman suit and cowl from Batman Forever
Maverick (Tom Cruise) flight suit from Top Gun
Geoffrey Rush Captain Barbossa costume from the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Curse of the Black Pearl

And there are so many more. Like…

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Tags: 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Aliens, Army of Darkness, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Auction, Auctions, Back to the Future, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman TV series, Bill Murray, Blade Runner, Bruce Campbell, Burgess Meredith, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chris Hemsworth, Clint Eastwood, Cool Runnings, David Warner, DeForest Kelley, Doctor Who, Doug Jones, Elf, Elysium, Enemy Mine, entertainment memorabilia, Excalibur, Geoffrey Rush, George Takei, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Gladiator, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry and the Hendersons, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ian McKellen, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Industrial Light and Magic, Iron Man, Jack Nicholson, James Bond, Jason and the Argonauts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jessica Chastain, Judge Dredd, Julie Newmar, Jurassic Park, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kristanna Loken, Lifeforce, Live and Let Die, Looper, Matt Damon, Men in Black III, Michael J. Fox, Mission: Impossible, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, movie models, Papillon, Patton, Peter Weller, Pirates of the Caribbean, Predators, Prop Store, Prop Store auction 2017, Return of the Jedi, Robin Wright, RoboCop 2, Rocky, Roger Moore, Sark, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, screen-used movie props, screenused costumes, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, Steve McQueen, Superman, Sylvester McCoy, Terminator, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Empire Strikes Back, The Fifth Element, The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, The Mummy, The Princess Bride, The Shining, The Three Musketeers, The Wolfman, Thor, Timecop, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, Tron, Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Unforgiven, Val Kilmer, Walter Koenig, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Will Farrell, Willow, World War Z, X-Men

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BTTF Week–Review of new documentary “Back in Time,” arriving at theaters this week

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October 19, 2015

“It’s great to have a bunch of lunatics on your side. They’re crazy, but they’re crazy good.” — Michael J. Fox

If you don’t know the lengths some fans will go to express their love for the target of their fandom, some documentaries on the subject may give you a jolt. Filmmakers enjoy looking not at diehard fans of beloved movies and other properties, they seem to thrive on meting out the fringe of those fans. If you’re already immersed in the fandom, these documentaries may be your thing. But if you’re not, you may find more cringing than amazement. Examples of this, for some, include the 1997 and 2004 Trekkies and Trekkies 2, and the more recent 2010 documentary by Gene Roddenberry’s son called Trek Nation. With these looks at the fans themselves, viewers are left to wonder whether the fandom is a target being objectified for its oddity or a true love affair by and for the fans.

As part of the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future and Back to the Future Week, filmmaker Jason Aron is releasing the documentary Back in Time, the result of countless interviews with fans and even some interviews with the cast and execs behind the time-travel trilogy. If Back to the Future is more than your favorite movie, you may want to track down this documentary this week in theaters or pre-order a copy here at Amazon.com to get it on its release date, Back to the Future Day, October 21, 2015.

Andy Probert’s design for the DeLorean time machine.

Highlights include an interview with Michael J. Fox where he recounts the British release of Back to the Future attended by him and Princess Diana and Prince Charles, an interview with concept designer/artist Andy Probert (best known for his work on Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica) who worked on storyboards and the DeLorean time machine, and the story behind the screenplay as told by co-writer Bob Gale. The documentary also includes more brief interviews clips with Huey Lewis, who had a hit with the show’s songs “Power of Love” and “Back in Time,” score composer Alan Silvestri, Donald Fullilove (who played Goldie Wilson), director Robert Zemeckis, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and cast members Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, James Tolkan (Principal Strickland), and Claudia Wells (the first Jennifer).

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Blast from the Past–Back to the Future Week begins!

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October 18, 2015

1985 and 1989. Here we are at the 30th anniversary of director Bob Zemeckis’s sci-fi classic Back to the Future and only a few days from 4:29 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, the day Marty McFly went to the future in his DeLorean time machine in 1989’s Back to the Future II. The principal cast–Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and even Huey Lewis–are scheduled to meet for a reunion screening in New York to celebrate Back to the Future Day.

An interesting happening of the future year 2015 as predicted in Back to the Future II is the Chicago Cubs win the 2015 World Series. Christopher Lloyd said last week that he will reprise his role as Doc Brown to throw out the first pitch of the third game of the World Series in Chicago if the Cubs make it that far and the powers that be make it so.

The craziest bit is the shot in the dark taken by Back to the Future II co-writer Bob Gale who came up with the idea of the Cubs winning the World Series in 2015, back when he wrote the screenplay in the 1980s, and the real possibility that the Cubbies will actually succeed this year. Had the Cubs won Game 1 of the National League Championship Series vs. the New York Mets yesterday–and kept on a four-game winning streak–the team could have locked in the World Series appearance on NLCS Game 4–right smack dab on October 21, 2015–yep, right on Back to the Future Day. But… they lost Game 1 Saturday. Still–the Cubs have six more scheduled games in the series to make it happen. Hear that Cubs players? It is your density. I mean destiny.

We at borg.com are joining in with our own Back to the Future Week, including a review of the new documentary hitting theaters this week: Back in Time, and a preview of Issue #1 of IDW Publishing’s new Back to the Future comic book series, and anything else we can think of.

First up, have you pre-ordered the 30th anniversary box set of the Back to the Future trilogy? Get it now at a pre-order discount here from Amazon.com.

Let’s start off the week with a preview of a short film produced by Toyota, marketing the release on Back to the Future Day of the Mirai–Toyota’s new, futuristic, hydrogen fuel cell car. The Toyota ad features Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, to premiere in its entirety on October 21. Here’s a sneak preview:

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Tags: Back to the Future, Back to the Future 30th anniversary, Back to the Future Blu-Ray DVD, Back to the Future Day, Back to the Future Toyota ad, Back to the Future Week, Bob Gale, BTTF Week t-shirt hoodie, Chicago Cubs, Christopher Lloyd, Huey Lewis, Lea Thompson, Michael J. Fox, New York Mets, NLCS 2015, Toyota Mirai release, World Series, World Series 2015

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Back to the Future trilogy returns to theaters, 30th anniversary Blu-Rays coming in October

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July 20, 2015

One October 21, 2015, the future will finally arrive. Back in 1985 director Robert Zemeckis joined forces with producers Steven Spielberg and Bob Gale to begin one of the most beloved sci-fi trilogies of all time with Back to the Future. In 1989 Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown time traveled to the future to October 21, 2015, and in conjunction with the movie’s 30th anniversary, select theaters will bring the movies back for a limited showing, and new Blu-Ray & DVD boxed sets of the trilogy and animated series will be released.

Cast members Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson met with fans in London at a convention this weekend, taking this great photo (from Thompson’s Facebook feed):

The single most popular acting work Michael J. Fox is known for is the series (in addition to Family Ties and Spin City), and yet Zemeckis began the original film, and actually filmed a good part of it, with Mask actor Eric Stoltz in the lead as Marty McFly. Watch the Zemeckis segment of Robert Rodriguez’s excellent series The Director’s Chair on the El Rey Network for more great trivia about Back to the Future, previewed here:

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Tags: Back to the Future, Back to the Future 30th anniversary, Back to the Future Blu-Ray DVD, Back to the Future in theaters, Back to the Future soundtrack, Christopher Lloyd, El Rey network, Lea Thompson, Michael J. Fox, Robert Rodriguez, The Director's Chair

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Struzan documentary looks beyond the movie posters

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May 25, 2014

The best of the new documentary on the life and career of Drew Struzan is not what you might think. You’d expect Drew—The Man Behind the Poster, now available on video and digital release, to include images of the best of Struzan’s stylized movie posters. What you might not know is the variety of artwork he produced before and after his two decades of poster work. He’s well known for unique designs and more than 150 memorable movie posters that defined the movies for audiences before they stepped into the theaters, creating his last movie poster before retiring in 2008 for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Probably his best work includes a six-poster series for the two Star Wars trilogies, which begs the question: Can Disney get Struzan to come back from retirement for the next three films? Will Disney understand the nostalgia factor? In recent weeks Struzan seems open to the idea, but seems to be waiting for Disney to call. Unfortunately Episode VII plans came after the documentary so you won’t find answers to those questions in the film.

Will he or won’t he?

For the most part Drew—The Man Behind the Poster is a straightforward success story about a struggling and very amiable artist that found his audience. You won’t see an abundance of critical awards coming for the filmmaking–it’s something like an episode from the old Biography channel with Peter Graves. But it’s worth watching for the explanations behind his process for the most well-known posters, including the Muppet movies and the quickly designed yet successful poster for John Carpenter’s The Thing.

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Tags: Alice Cooper, Drew Struzan, Drew: The Man Behind the Poster, fine art, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, John Carpenter's The Thing, Michael J. Fox, Muppet movie posters, popular art, Star Wars circus poster, Steve Guttenberg, Struzan Disney, Struzan DVD, Struzan Star Wars Episode VII, Welcome to My Nightmare album cover

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borg.com’s Best of 2013

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December 30, 2013

Well it’s been one long year, with plenty to do and see, plenty of good and not-so-good to read and watch, and we’re certain we read more and reviewed more content this year than ever before. And that in no less way was true for TV watching. At the same time we waded through all that Hollywood had to offer and honed in on the genre films we thought were worth examining. We went back and looked at it all and pulled together our 25 picks for our annual Best of the Best list. Today we reveal the best content focusing on the moving image, and tomorrow we’ll run through our picks for the best in print and other media. We hope you agree with many of these great creations of the entertainment industries, and wish everyone a great 2014!

Year’s Best Fantasy Fix — The Wizard of Oz in Theaters. It’s a film that has been viewed on TV so many times you might take it for granted. It’s historically been on many movie reviewers’ Top 20 movies of all time. But when you watch The Wizard of Oz on the big screen in the middle of a year of modern blockbusters you realize how it can stand up against anything Hollywood has to offer today, even after 70 years. Remastering the print for a new generation to see it in theaters was a highlight for movie watchers this year.

Year’s Best Sci-Fi Fix — Almost Human, Fox. Like Continuum last year, the new series Almost Human created a future world that is believable and full of extraordinary technologies based in today’s science and touching on social issues of any day. And even putting aside its buddy cop and police procedural brilliance, every episode plunged us into future police grappling with incredible technologies–DNA bombs criminals use to contaminate a crime scene, identity masking technology to avoid facial recognition video monitors–it was the best dose of sci-fi in 2013.

Best TV Series — Orphan Black, BBC America. What rose above everything on TV or film this year was BBC America’s new series, the almost indescribable Orphan Black. From its initial trailers that piqued our interest, to the surprise series consisting of one actress playing multiple roles that dazzled from out of nowhere, magical special effects, and a unique story of clones and X-Files-inspired intrigue propelled Orphan Black to be our clear winner for Best TV Series of 2013.

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Back in Time–New book tracks the events of Back to the Future

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October 23, 2013

Review by C.J. Bunce

Back to the Future is a sci-fi classic that should be on the list of everyone’s favorite films. It spawned two sequels that didn’t capture the magic of the original, but gave audiences an excuse to go to back to the theater to see what Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly, Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown, and the awesome DeLorean time machine had been up to. Or will be up to.

Back to the Future, called BTTF for short by its fan followers, was not a franchise that provided all the extras for fans of bigger sci-fi and fantasy franchises like Star Wars or Star Trek or Lord of the Rings would produce–no endless list of action figures, tabletop games, video games, comic book series, or tie-in novels, although there have been the odd sample of each of these over the years. With the modern age of retro as cool, it’s interesting even more BTTF ephemera is available now than ever before.

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Tags: Back in Time, Back in Time review, Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology, Back to the Future, Christopher Lloyd, Greg Mitchell, Michael J. Fox, Pat Carbajal, Rich Handley

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Review–Michael J. Fox helms his own new comedy series

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September 27, 2013

What would it take to get me to watch a family-centered network sitcom? Apparently, Michael J. Fox.

When I previewed the new NBC series The Michael J. Fox Show this May here at borg.com I was worried the show about a “TV personality who left TV when he got Parkinson’s disease and was making a comeback” would be cringeworthy. Lucky for fans of Fox, the series pilot wasn’t cringeworthy at all, but just plain funny.

If you’re going to be risky, if you’re going to blatantly mirror reality and poke fun at every aspect of what you’re trying to do with a series, from “a very special” appearance on a morning show, to characters laughing out loud at the daily trials of the family of a guy with a disability, to that NBC promo showing the heroic slow motion return of a celebrity named Mike, well you damned well better nail it. The tight writing and comic timing of the writers for The Michael J. Fox Show as well as Fox himself and a strong supporting cast of fresh new faces accomplished all they needed to: Get the audience to stay around for Episode 2, which aired immediately after the pilot. Last night’s two half-hour episodes are a case study in the rewards of walking a tightrope and the big payoff you can get from that success with so much at stake.

When Michael J. Fox left Spin City it was a major downer for everyone–beyond our compassion for him as a person for his rough road ahead–it was like the guy was being snuffed out from entertaining us anymore, way too soon, like when Christopher Reeve was injured in his horse riding accident. Fox, Canada’s number one gift to the world, defines what it means to be loved by audiences. I don’t think it’s about Family Ties or Spin City so much as that quirky kid Marty McFly in Back to the Future. We lost Fox to some disease, but now we get him back, and more than just as a guest character on someone else’s show.

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