Update 8/20: Michael J. Fox’s new sitcom has been nabbed by NBC. Because of the hot interest among rival networks, the producers managed to get a really nice deal and received a rare direct to series order with a 22-episode guarantee. Translation: This series will show up on television and it will almost certainly premiere next fall.
Original: Reports are surfacing that whatever issues Michael J. Fox has had with being a regular on a television sitcom with Parkinson’s disease have now subsided. The actor is officially gearing up for a return to broadcast comedies full time as the Family Ties and Spin City star who rose to fame with Back to the Future is said to be shopping around a single-camera series.
The four major broadcast networks have all heard the pitch for this program which is said to be about Fox’s own life. According to sources, they all want to buy in which is creating some type of bidding war which might result in a put-pilot commitment (guaranteed air time) or even a direct to series order. In other words, these network execs want the show bad and they are willing to throw in the kitchen sink just to have it.
Vulture claims that no further details exist at this time, but we are not too surprised to see him back in the boat in any capacity. Audiences have seen the actor return to television in guest roles since his replacement by Charlie Sheen on ABC’s Spin City as the actor recurred on both The Good Wife and Rescue Me.
Make no doubt about it, we will be hearing more about this series fairly soon as it could end up on our television screens as early as fall 2013. Arrested Development writer Sam Laybourne and Easy A director Will Gluck are the show’s behind-the-scenes front men.