As noted earlier, the new Michael J. Fox TV project was green-lighted by NBC -- without a pilot -- and is scheduled for a fall premiere. New details emerged on Monday, and now we know his profession (on the show): newscaster.
We already knew that Parkinson's Disease would be part of the show, and that's indeed the case. Fox's character will be a newscaster who quit his job due to his Parkinson's. Fox himself quit his hit TV series, "Spin City," when he decided he could no longer effectively work on-set with the symptoms of his Parkinson's Disease.
However, since then he's done voice work and increasingly, guest-starred in series. He said last year that new drugs have helped him minimize the physical tics of Parkinson's and have enabled him to take on more acting jobs, including returning to series TV with his own show.
Although Fox's series has a career for his character, it doesn't have a title yet. It's known to be a family comedy, though, and Fox's character will be the father of two teen-age children and a younger boy. The series will be set and filmed in New York City.
Fox has a history with NBC, including his time on "Family Ties." He won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for that series, which eventually became known as the "Alex Keaton show," somewhat in jest.
He also appeared in ABC's "Spin City," where he picked up an Emmy, three Globes and two SAG awards for his role. He also won an Emmy for his performance on FX's "Rescue Me," post-diagnosis with Parkinson's.
While not 100 percent definite, NBC has penciled in the comedy in for September on its Thursday schedule. The long-running Thursday comedy "30 Rock" ends its run on Jan. 31, and "The Office" will finish its run after a special one-hour episode this coming spring.
NBC's Thursday schedule used to be "must-see," when it had "Friends," "Seinfeld" and other comedies. Now, though, NBC's Thursday ratings are a fraction of what they were then, as its current comedies, while having a measure of critical acclaim, haven't attracted a large audience.
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