Mikes Film Talk

That’s right, Michael J Fox is returning to full time TV acting after over a decade of doing part-time jaunts on other shows because of his Parkinson’s. He’s starring in a show for NBC “based” on his  ‘life’ after being diagnosed with the disease.

Michael has gone on record saying that the new drug regimen that he’s currently on has made it possible for him to return to a full 22 show schedule. This must be a glorious moment for him after finding out that he had the disease in 1991. After he was diagnosed it took him a while to come to grips with his situation and to make it known to the public.

Since that time Fox has been campaigning for more public awareness of the disease and for a cure. He has never given up. He only stopped full time acting because of the strain. And, as he put it, the unfairness to his co-workers.

Fox could almost be a national treasure, if he wasn’t Canadian. But be that as it may, he still qualifies to a huge degree. Mainly because, dammit, the guy is likeable, talented and gutsy. These are all great qualities of any national treasure. Michael wrote two books both dealing with his life and his disease. The first one Oh Lucky Man was a best seller and one of mine and my brother’s favourites.

My brother  took it as a personal affront when Fox made his announcement about Parkinson’s. As he told me, “I grew up watching Michael on TV in Family Ties. I wanted to be Alex and so did a lot of other kids who watched the show. I was so angry when I heard he’d been struck down with this.”

Luckily I didn’t fall into that category, I just loved watching him work. Whether is was on the telly or the big screen, he had that combination of talent, comic timing, delivery. Hell, he had the whole shooting match.

Of course my brother and I weren’t his only fans. Fox has won a lot of awards in recognition of his works. Not least of which was the honorary degree of medicine from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute after he started his own organisation to raise funds and awareness about Parkinson’s in 2010.

So welcome back Michael. You were never really gone. But I can say we’re glad to have you back. I can’t wait to see how this new ‘comedy’ program about you and your disease will actually do. I’m sure that more than a few folks are wondering how a show about having Parkinson’s can be funny. Well I’ve seen a show that is a comic/tragedy about dying from Cancer. Parkinson’s has definitely got to be a step up from that.

Anything that falls into the category of ‘life changing’ has it’s funny moments. Experiencing these moments can show a funny side. It is important to share it.

Fox is doing just that, he is showing us the funny side of the disease and it’s effects (I am really guessing here as the synopsis of the show that NBC have released is quite ambiguous) on the family around him. More importantly, I think, is the ‘reach’ that this program will have on telling the world about Parkinson’s and its need for a cure.

I think the program will be funny but with ‘a sting in the tail’ at the end of each episode. Probably replicating the reality of what Michael himself went through as the disease continued to change his life.

So come on NBC and Michael J Fox, lets be having you!