Spin City: The Complete Season 1 – DVD Review

By June L. Nov 4, 2008, 16:10 GMT

Spin City is a smart, sophisticated ABC sitcom about the behind-the-scenes workings of City Hall in the biggest city in America. Workaholic Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) is the Deputy Mayor of New York City, serving as Mayor Randall Winston s (Barry Bostwick, Rocky Horror Picture Show) key strategist and much-needed handler. Mike runs the city with the help of his oddball staff: an anxious and insecure press secretary (Richard ...more

Can it really be more than ten years since Spin City debuted?  It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were glued to the television for the pilot, laughed all the way through it and couldn’t wait for the next episode. 

Michael J. Fox and the rest of the cast created a wickedly witty office family that became a big part of many viewers television week.  It is great to have the complete season one on DVD, to remember the show’s beginnings and to laugh once again at the perfectly orchestrated comedy.

Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) is Deputy Mayor of New York City.  He has his hands full keeping the City going when Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) makes continual goof ups and politically incorrect statements.  Mike is assisted by his office staff, who have some interesting quirks of their own. 

The press secretary Paul Lassiter (Richard Kind) is clueless and insecure, the chief of staff Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck) is a chauvinistic jerk, James (Alexander Chaplin) the speechwriter is sweetly naïve, and Nikki Faber the accountant is a party girl. 

They soon add Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman) as minority affairs director as he is a gay African American activist who has been hounding the mayor about an unfortunate insult to the gay community, and this is just the first episode! 

Mike has home problems as well.  His girlfriend Ashley (Carla Gugino) has surreptitiously moved in with him and the sudden realization stirs up his commitment phobia.  In spite of the difficulties you can be sure that Mike will find answers to all the problems in his own uniquely creative way.

In speaking about the show, Gary David Goldberg says that he wanted in the first few scenes to make the audience forget that Michael J. Fox had been Alex Keaton in Family Ties.  He described the Mike Flaherty character as Alex with power, but it was a conscious effort to make the character very different. 

The show was designed to be about politics, and although it was a comedy, there were bits that would be developed more and used later in the drama The West Wing.  The camera shot of the characters moving along hallways, into offices while carrying on a conversation, and also the use of a deep set in which many turns and camera angles could be achieved were both part of Spin City Mayor’s offices as well as the West Wing’s Presidential staff offices. 

The staff meetings and the press meetings again mirror the West Wing, and worked well for both the comedy of Spin City and the drama of the later show to give the audience background information.

Spin City: The Complete Season 1 is presented on four discs, in two cases, boxed with an illustrated booklet.  The booklet contains program notes for the episodes and special features. 

The total running time is 10 ½ hours.  The special features are excellent.  The first disc has “Prime Time Partners – Michael J. Fox and Gary David Goldberg” highlights of the comments made at The Paley Center for Media Seminar from October 1996.  “The Spin” is a look back at the show by cast and crew members, and has all-new interviews with Michael J. Fox, Barry Bostwick, Richard Kind, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Connie Britton and Alexander Chaplin, and show creators Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence. 

Finally in this set there are audio commentaries for various episodes by cast members who were featured.  This is a great set for fans and collectors and for anyone who missed the show on the first go round. 

With a fine cast and crew and excellent writing and comedic delivery, Spin City is a timeless treasure.

Spin City: The Complete Season 1 is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.