# The new Michael J. Fox show, "The Michael J. Fox Show" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793 "2013-09-27T12:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/21 "2013-09-28T13:00:00Z")
I watched the first one last night, I liked it enough that I’ll watch the second one. Nothing great at this point but nothing terrible so I will give it another try. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/22 "2013-09-28T17:12:36Z")
I watched it and gave it a chance but nothing grabbed my interest. You’ve seen it alll before except for the Parkinson’s, but that’s not enough to carry the show. I also thought Betsy Brandt Is really badly cast. for one thing, she’s still too closely bound to Breaking Bad to Be seen in another role, but more importantly, she is entirely too young to play that character. If she is the mother of a 20-year-old son, Michael would have been arrested for statutory rape. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/23 "2013-09-28T18:19:55Z")
Just watched the second episode. 50 pounds of cliched sitcom situations in a 10 pound sack. Sorry, Mike, it’s over between us. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/24 "2013-09-28T18:32:54Z")
Treacly perky. I saw both episodes — the “pilot” — and the one after it. Neither generated any laughs. Aside from the Parkinson’s — see, we’re an ordinary, triply perky family despite it, or even because of it — it’s as stereotypical as a sitcom can be; even with the youngest kid going on 42. I fast-forwarded through the second “first” episode after the “pilot.” Perky, perky, perky. [Lou Grant] I hate perky. [/Lou Grant] ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/25 "2013-09-28T18:36:17Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I also thought Betsy Brandt Is really badly cast. for one thing, she’s still too closely bound to Breaking Bad to Be seen in another role, but more importantly, she is entirely too young to play that character. If she is the mother of a 20-year-old son, Michael would have been arrested for statutory rape. She’s in her late 30s, very-early 40s. Her son is a would-be freshman, so she’s 20 years older, which isn’t that bad for TV. (In contrast, MJF and his TV mom are only 15 years apart.) Also, not that many people watch Breaking Bad. Last week, BB had it’s highest rated show ever and only had 6.6 million viewers, which is tiny compared to a most network TV. Not that many people who watch NBC know who she is. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/26 "2013-09-28T21:11:11Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > She’s in her late 30s, very-early 40s. Her son is a would-be freshman, so she’s 20 years older, which isn’t that bad for TV. (In contrast, MJF and his TV mom are only 15 years apart.) She’s 36 in real life. I would have guessed older, myself. > [@](#): > > Also, not that many people watch Breaking Bad. Last week, BB had it’s highest rated show ever and only had 6.6 million viewers, which is tiny compared to a most network TV. Not that many people who watch NBC know who she is. Not many people watch NBC comedies. Parks and Recreation had 3.3 million, so if it were new it would be cancelled in a week. The MJF episodes had 7.2 million viewers, and I guarantee they will never have that many again. With Netflix and other viewing sources, far more people will know her from Breaking Bad than will find her on NBC. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/27 "2013-09-28T22:04:44Z")
I watched the second episode. Oy vey does it suck. So I am giving up on it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/28 "2013-09-29T02:34:04Z")
I was just coming in to say that it looks like I’m alone in not liking it much, but now I see I am not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/29 "2013-09-29T02:43:25Z")
Hated it. Not one laugh. Seriously. Not one. And I am MJF’s fan still from Family Ties days. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/30 "2013-09-30T21:13:29Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > They’re asking a _ **lot** _ of Fox, though. I mean, if you liked Kelsey Grammer enough to follow him from CHEERS to FRASIER, you promptly found yourself saying _“Hey, that guy playing his brother is even funnier”_ and _“Y’know, the dude playing his dad is also great”_ – in much the same way as I’m sure Ray Romano fans reacted to EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. Tina Fey was great in 30 ROCK, but she obviously needed to bounce off award-bait performances from other castmembers just as much as Jerry Seinfeld did or Ed O’Neill does. You might be on to something there… Some shows are built around a star who is not known for their acting, usually they are surrounded by talented people (Seinfeld, Romano, Rosanne). Others have a talented person in the center, and even more talented or colorful people around them (Frazier, 30 Rock). But IMHO the riskiest is putting the talent in the center and surrounding them with filler, it sounds like that’s what might have happened here. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/31 "2013-10-04T13:51:34Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Hated it. Not one laugh. Seriously. Not one. And I am MJF’s fan still from Family Ties days. I’m with you Terr. I WANTED to like it. I watched all of the first episode thinking “it has to get better.” I started watching the second episode… and made the game time decision that my time is more valuable. Because it’s MJF, if I hear later on that it’s turned into a pretty good show; I’ll probably give it another go. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/32 "2013-10-04T14:29:49Z")
Same here. Wanted to like it because who doesn’t like MJF. But I didn’t. The writing sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/33 "2013-10-04T14:40:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > She’s 36 in real life. I would have guessed older, myself. Wow, that means she graduated from High School when she was 14. Guess that explains the Harvard degree at age 19. Interestingly enough, her wiki and IMDB pages don’t list her age. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/34 "2014-02-07T21:35:23Z")
It has been pulled from the schedule. The remaining episodes may be burned off at a later time. (And there are a _lot_ of them, NBC ordered a full season without even seeing a pilot.) Here’s a [story](http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/06/lessons-of-the-michael-j-fox-show/) about what went wrong. The same is true with _Sean Saves the World_. The head of NBC entertainment is reported to have expressed regrets about going big on shows based solely on the lead actor. Well, duh. It has remained an awful show. That I was forced to watch by **Mrs FtG**. The hour hole in the schedule is being replaced by a game show. So much for Must See Thursday. MJF is now free to make more appearances on _The Good Wife_. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/35 "2014-02-07T21:41:16Z")
I’ve been a big MJF fan my entire adult life. I watch the first six or seven episodes of his new show and had to give up. I was embarrassed for MJF. He deserved much better writing than this mess. The characters were so flat and at times almost sit com parodies. The annoying but oh so wisecracking, angst driven teen daughter. The lazy college drop out son. The annoying neighbor/sister constantly dropping by. These are such tired and over used sitcom characters. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/36 "2014-02-07T21:42:38Z")
Did it have a laugh track? I never saw it. Was it a victim of poor writing mainly or a bad cast? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/37 "2014-02-07T21:42:43Z")
I love Michael J Fox and I so wanted this to be a good show I watched it for a few weeks even after realizing it was a shitty show I just couldn’t do it anymore I’m glad it got cancelled. It was a stupid show, still I love Michael J. Fox. he is a national treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/38 "2014-02-07T21:50:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Was it a victim of poor writing mainly or a bad cast? It had Betsy Brandt and Wendell Pierce! It’s hard to make an uninteresting show with that kind of cast. Based on the two episodes I saw, they managed somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/39 "2014-02-07T21:52:30Z")
I watched the first one or two, but it didn’t grab me enough for regular viewing. Caught part of another episode several weeks later and saw they were doing the “talking head” shtick like Office or Modern Family, which I didn’t remember from the earlier episodes. That pretty much killed it for me. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793/40 "2014-02-07T22:03:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Was it a victim of poor writing mainly or a bad cast? Mediocre writing. I think I’ve watched most of it. It’s been not very good. Rarely awful - there’ve only been one or two really bad episodes. But it’s never quite made it to inspired. Usually, one of the story lines kind of fails altogether, one falls kind of flat, and one is mostly amusing, but nothing really outright kills. It feels like it needed a ruthless editor; someone to tighten up the scripts, cut story ideas that just weren’t working, and push harder on ideas that are. Also, someone in charge needed to have a stronger sense of direction about the show; it was kind of aimless. The show was not without potential. Again, the writing wasn’t embarrassingly bad, it just needed more work. The cast was pretty good. I can see why NBC bet on it, it just didn’t work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-michael-j-fox-show-the-michael-j-fox-show/669793.md?page=3)