Like?
0
0
Who have voted
The Michael J. Fox Show - First two episodes
Who hasn’t heard of Michael J. Fox? Probably most known for his part of Marty McFly in the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, he has also done numerous comedies, such as ‘The Secret of my Success’, and acted in several television shows, amongst others ‘Spin City’. In 1999, Fox publicly announced that he has Parkinson’s disease; since then he has taken acting down a notch, whilst still doing voice-acting and the odd television guest role. However, Michael J. Fox is back on our screens with his own new show: ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’, inspired by his own life. NBC was so confident about the show that they commissioned an entire season of 22 episodes without even seeing a pilot. Whether this confidence was justified, I’m not so sure. Because even though it’s an okay comedy, it’s by no means the best comedy on television right now.
In ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’, Fox plays a popular news anchor named Mike Henry, who retired after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and has since poured all his energy into his family. Five years after his retirement, he decides to go back to work, to his family’s great relief, who are all starting to go a bit nuts thanks to his constant presence. The character of Mike Henry is obviously strongly based on Fox himself; not just because he has Parkinson’s disease, but also because this is how I imagine Michael J. Fox himself to be: a likeable, optimistic guy. Besides Mike, there’s his wife Annie (Betsy Brandt, ‘Breaking Bad’), an English teacher who can’t appreciate her students’ attempts at poetry; Mike’s sister Leigh (Katie Finneran, ‘The Inside’), a thirty-something single woman, who doesn’t feel appreciated; and Mike and Annie’s three children: Ian, Eve and Graham. Ian (Conor Romero) is the oldest brother and no one takes him serious, because he is more talk than action. Eve (Juliette Goglia, ‘Easy A’), the middle one, is a smart teenager who doesn’t take school too seriously. Graham (Jack Gore) is the youngest, and he’s a stubborn, energetic boy. All the actors were well casted and everyone suited their parts.
The way the show’s built up is that the regular narrative is occasionally interrupted by moments in which the characters talk directly into the camera and share some insights and life lessons. In the first episode, these moments are clips from Eve’s documentary about her family, but in the second episode it’s Mike talking to the camera, and I think that’s how it will be done for the rest of the season. Whilst I found these moments sympathetic, they don’t really fit in the show. It would have been more appropriate in a voice-over, as is done in ‘How I Met Your Mother’, only ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’ doesn’t have a voice-over. These kinds of moments also appear in ‘Modern Family’, but in that show they have chosen a specific setting in which people are interviewed for a documentary, whereas that’s not the case here; Eve’s moments did come from a documentary, but, as far as we know, Mike isn’t making a documentary about his comeback. However, I do think these moments sort of bind the episodes together as they provide an emotionally warm undertone to the show.
And that’s why it’s really necessary to have these moments, because the rest of the show is lacking in this a bit. Even though all the characters are all right, I didn’t immediately sympathize with them and it’s not as if after watching two episodes, I can’t wait for the third one. The same goes for the humor; it’s okay, the show’s funny, but it’s not laugh-out-loud-falling-off-a-chair funny. The unique thing about this comedy is that it focuses on Parkinson’s disease, but so far the jokes on that are a bit lame. I did appreciate the second episode more than the first one, so maybe the show’s just slow-going and it takes a while to really get into it. I would also really like to see more of Mike on the job; in the first episode, I enjoyed the part in which Mike makes an item on 911 the most and I want more of this. However, because all the other family members also receive a lot of attention, there’s relatively little focus on Mike. Besides this, his storyline in the second episode didn’t have anything to do with his job at all, even though that is the pitch of the show: that he’s going back to work.
All in all, there are a lot of things which I think could be improved on in ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’. At the moment, Michael J. Fox is the main reason to watch the show. Not because his performance is so outstanding, but because he’s a likeable guy, many people probably have a lot of good memories of him, maybe even from their childhood, and that’s why you want him to succeed. For me, at least, that’s why I was excited about this show and that would also be the main reason for me to continue watching. The show has potential, but so far it’s a mediocre comedy; it’s all right, but that’s it. So if you’re bored, looking for a new show to watch, and are a fan of Michael’s other work, give it a go. It’s nice to see Michael J. Fox back at work again, but don’t watch ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’ with expectations too high.
Follow The Michael J. Fox ShowIn ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’, Fox plays a popular news anchor named Mike Henry, who retired after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and has since poured all his energy into his family. Five years after his retirement, he decides to go back to work, to his family’s great relief, who are all starting to go a bit nuts thanks to his constant presence. The character of Mike Henry is obviously strongly based on Fox himself; not just because he has Parkinson’s disease, but also because this is how I imagine Michael J. Fox himself to be: a likeable, optimistic guy. Besides Mike, there’s his wife Annie (Betsy Brandt, ‘Breaking Bad’), an English teacher who can’t appreciate her students’ attempts at poetry; Mike’s sister Leigh (Katie Finneran, ‘The Inside’), a thirty-something single woman, who doesn’t feel appreciated; and Mike and Annie’s three children: Ian, Eve and Graham. Ian (Conor Romero) is the oldest brother and no one takes him serious, because he is more talk than action. Eve (Juliette Goglia, ‘Easy A’), the middle one, is a smart teenager who doesn’t take school too seriously. Graham (Jack Gore) is the youngest, and he’s a stubborn, energetic boy. All the actors were well casted and everyone suited their parts.
The way the show’s built up is that the regular narrative is occasionally interrupted by moments in which the characters talk directly into the camera and share some insights and life lessons. In the first episode, these moments are clips from Eve’s documentary about her family, but in the second episode it’s Mike talking to the camera, and I think that’s how it will be done for the rest of the season. Whilst I found these moments sympathetic, they don’t really fit in the show. It would have been more appropriate in a voice-over, as is done in ‘How I Met Your Mother’, only ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’ doesn’t have a voice-over. These kinds of moments also appear in ‘Modern Family’, but in that show they have chosen a specific setting in which people are interviewed for a documentary, whereas that’s not the case here; Eve’s moments did come from a documentary, but, as far as we know, Mike isn’t making a documentary about his comeback. However, I do think these moments sort of bind the episodes together as they provide an emotionally warm undertone to the show.
And that’s why it’s really necessary to have these moments, because the rest of the show is lacking in this a bit. Even though all the characters are all right, I didn’t immediately sympathize with them and it’s not as if after watching two episodes, I can’t wait for the third one. The same goes for the humor; it’s okay, the show’s funny, but it’s not laugh-out-loud-falling-off-a-chair funny. The unique thing about this comedy is that it focuses on Parkinson’s disease, but so far the jokes on that are a bit lame. I did appreciate the second episode more than the first one, so maybe the show’s just slow-going and it takes a while to really get into it. I would also really like to see more of Mike on the job; in the first episode, I enjoyed the part in which Mike makes an item on 911 the most and I want more of this. However, because all the other family members also receive a lot of attention, there’s relatively little focus on Mike. Besides this, his storyline in the second episode didn’t have anything to do with his job at all, even though that is the pitch of the show: that he’s going back to work.
All in all, there are a lot of things which I think could be improved on in ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’. At the moment, Michael J. Fox is the main reason to watch the show. Not because his performance is so outstanding, but because he’s a likeable guy, many people probably have a lot of good memories of him, maybe even from their childhood, and that’s why you want him to succeed. For me, at least, that’s why I was excited about this show and that would also be the main reason for me to continue watching. The show has potential, but so far it’s a mediocre comedy; it’s all right, but that’s it. So if you’re bored, looking for a new show to watch, and are a fan of Michael’s other work, give it a go. It’s nice to see Michael J. Fox back at work again, but don’t watch ‘The Michael J. Fox Show’ with expectations too high.
Reacties (0)