*fingers crossed* that this is actually going to be good...

[capri0mni]

So -- the big television news for the coming season, here in the States, is that Michael J. Fox is coming back to television in a sitcom which is also writing for (I think), as a fictionalized account of his life since leaving television due to having Parkinson's.

On the one hand: yay! Disability as portrayed by someone who lives it, rather than fantasizes about it. On the other hand, I've been apprehensive, because the network it's airing on (NBC) has done some terrible shows, like The Apprentice and Biggest Loser.

But I saw the official trailer for the show last night, and I'm now more hopeful. For one thing, it looks like at least some of the jokes will be about "TABs say the darnedest things, don't they?" It also looks like it's both set, and filmed in NYC (Hollywood versions of New York are faker than Dick van Dyke's cockney accent).

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

Comments

[lauredhel]

Oh, cool! I've been really enjoying his guest work on The Good Wife.

[capri0mni]

Indeed.

I'm hoping it's genuinely good so that it gets a big audience, a) so "Network Bigwigs" can't use the excuse that "The public isn't ready for a disabled hero," and b) so that TABs finally get a clue about how silly they sound, most of the time...

[raze]

Hey, trailer looked better than I was expecting! Here's hoping, right?

[capri0mni]

Right!

I don't know if you remember this (if you do, this will go into the public record for the sake of those younger), but when Fox left Spin City in 1998, it was unthinkable that an anyone without perfect control of his body could be an actor (especially a comedic actor).

I happened to catch a clip of Fox on Letterman this winter, announcing that he was coming back to sitcom TV, and I think I may have cheered out loud when he said: "Then, I realized that I can play any character, as long as that character has Parkinson's."

Then, worries began to build that TV execs would push it into stereotype... Now, I'm a bit more hopeful, again.

[jekesta]

Oh, that looks really good! I'm so glad and relieved. I didn't really think he'd do something terrible because he is really good, but there's always that fear. I hope he'll still show up in the good wife though because I love him in that.

[capri0mni]

He might... Although they're shows on different networks...

All the networks are showing trailers for their new shows of next season, now. And I must say: there's very little I'm looking forward to. Most of the "Comedies" seem to be focused on people being loud and mean at each other, and this doesn't. So I'm hoping it succeeds for that reason, too.

[rob_t_firefly]

I'm really hoping this is as good as it deserves to be, but my faith in Hollywood burns dimly.

[capri0mni]

*nods knowingly*