Wednesday, August 15, 2012
ALEX P. KEATON'S REVENGE: It's wonderful to hear that Michael J. Fox is feeling good enough health-wise to return to weekly TV. That said, while his guest work in recent years has been delightful (he's nominated for guest acting this year for both his work on Curb and on Good Wife), is Fox a big enough star that he'll automatically draw folks in? Star-driven vehicles haven't really broken out in recent years (Last Man Standing, Hank, Bleep My Dad Says, and Mr. Sunshine (Yay!) all failed to live up to expectations), while the top sitcoms are dominated by faces who weren't really generally well-known prior to their show.
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Speculating here, but do networks really try to select shows for hits? It seems like such a crap shoot. Yet something with Fox and Gluck and Laybourne seems more likely than most scripts to be good enough to make it to series. Could they be prioritizing for that?
ReplyDeleteI think it's a guaranteed hit for a couple reasons: first, Fox is smart and has a proven track record of choosing good vehicles for him in terms of shows he's helped develop and roles on other shows.
ReplyDeleteSecond is how MUCH people love him. He did an event at our Festival of Books for his memoir a few years ago and packed a room of over 1200 people who adored him beyond reason. Taking him to the signing area after was one of the insane things I've ever done -- 10 of us on a golf cart with 4 security guards jogging on either side of it because people were swarming it for autographs, handshakes, to shove skateboards and guitars at him. It was nuts. And he was lovely to everyone. But that experience showed me just how attached people are to him -- and I don't think people have that same attachment to any of the actors who starred in the shows mentioned above.
Fox left us wanting more, those other guys' previous projects had run their course. The legendary nerd factor is similar to Shatner, I suppose, but I think Fox's story of having to leave TV is pretty singular. The goodwill is hard to compare. I'll definitely be in, anyway. I'll follow him anywhere.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of previously successful stars whose projects ran their course and then they tried again...looks like NBC passed on Roseanne's new pilot? So that's something that didn't make it despite the name recognition.
At the very least, Michael J. Fox's presence guarantees the show will get sampled. It won't necessarily become an automatic hit, but you bet plenty of people will at least give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Especially on the second point. Michael J. Fox is pretty much at the top of my "celebrities I'd be friends with in real life" list, ahead of even NPH and Dave Matthews. I think they'd both understand.
ReplyDeleteIndubitably. He's not your typical star, as others have noted. Plus, to the extent the series is loosely modeled on his own life, the self-awareness, humility, and highly refined wit (it's not 1985 anymore) he showed us on C.Y.E. (where he also played "himself") should be on full display.
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