Spin City The Complete First Season
Michael J. Fox, Barry Bostwick, Carlia Gugino
Originally broadcast ABC 1996-97
4 DVDs 24 Episodes
Shout! Factory 2008
Spin City The Complete First Season DVD set shows how strong this sitcom was from the start. This Michael J. Fox situation comedy had all its pieces and ensemble cast in play on day one. It also put an original twist on the sitcom with an ongoing story that moved forward instead of each show ignoring anything else that happened before. This, in part, is what kept you watching Spin City. The Complete First Season comes on 4 DVDs with 24 episodes and bonus features.
Particularly good episodes in Spin City The Complete First Season include The Great Pretender where being named sexiest man in New York has a bad effect on Mike (Michael J. Fox); The High and the Mighty (episode 7) where Paul gets mugged a few times even if the crime rate is down and George Wendt (Cheers) plays a real estate tycoon.
Quite fun is the Thanksgiving episode (DVD 2) where the city hall crew takes on the speaker of the house crew in a contest. The closer to that episode is great though not long enough. The episode with Marlee Matlin (DVD 4) is also one of the good ones here.
You might want to skip over a couple of the episodes in the first season of Spin City. Episode 5 (DVD 1), Rivals is one of them. The eye patch gag in episode 6 is more interesting than the main story about Carter the gay guy getting married to Nikki as a form of protest.
Although Carla Gugino was really good and had good chemistry with Michael J. Fox, her Ashley character moving in with Mike made for the kind of couple’s comedy this sitcom did not want to become. Ashley gets a job far, far away halfway through Season One of Spin City.
Special features on Spin City The Complete First Season include a 1996 talk given to the Museum of Television & Radio by Gary David Goldberg and Michael J. Fox on DVD 1; The Spin, new interviews with the actors, and 5 shows with a commentary track featuring the actors.
Guest stars on Spin City The Complete First Season include Woody Harrelson, Ed Koch, Jennifer Garner, Stephen Colbert, Courtney Thorne-Smith, George Stephanopoulos, Luke Perry, Amanda Peet, Marlee Matlin, and Daphne Zuniga.