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"The loveable, naturally funny Michael J Fox seems like a natural fit for an NBC series - the network having established itself over the past few years as the home of single-camera comedies with a heart - think cult favourite Community or the charming Parenthood. But The Michael J Fox Show is actually more reminiscent of another network&amp;#039;s product - ABC&amp;#039;s Emmy-winning Modern Family. Some of that is down to the mockumentary stylings - an overused TV trope and one that hopefully won&amp;#039;t recur beyond this pilot episode, where it&amp;#039;s used as an awkward shortcut to introduce the show&amp;#039;s characters and premise. This pilot does however recall Modern Family in another, more positive way. It adopts one of its rival&amp;#039;s best qualities - a believably fractious family dynamic, one of the most pleasing aspects of which is an engaging brother and sister pairing - Ian (Conor Romero) and Eve (Juliette Goglia) - who banter but don&amp;#039;t bicker.  The Michael J Fox Show follows Fox&amp;#039;s character Mike Henry, a retired news anchor with Parkinson&amp;#039;s disease who finds himself becoming a spare part at home and decides to return to work.  Let&amp;#039;s get the bad stuff out of the way first - in this first episode, Fox&amp;#039;s Parkinson&amp;#039;s is crucial to the plot and many of the jokes and while it would be impossible to ignore his condition, let&amp;#039;s hope that it doesn&amp;#039;t dominate every single episode. Good-natured jibes at Mike&amp;#039;s expense are all well and good, but here its a major story point, with Eve exploiting her father&amp;#039;s condition for a school project. That&amp;#039;s understandable in week one, but Michael J Fox is a talented and funny performer and, in future, that&amp;#039;s what should come first. That is what The Michael J Fox Show should take advantage of.  In its efforts to not offend, the show also occasionally strays too far into sentimentality. Some moments in the pilot are genuinely sweet - Mike realising that his wife Annie (Betsy Brandt) orchestrated his return to work - while others - Eve&amp;#039;s final tearful tribute to her Dad - are just mawkish. But despite its flaws, The Michael J Fox Show remains a solid half-hour of TV comedy. Every pilot has issues with consistency and tone, but what this one has on its side is a strong script, a charming lead who&amp;#039;s already popular with audiences and an excellent supporting cast - in particular, The Wire&amp;#039;s Wendell Pierce almost steals the show with his deadpan delivery.  Sure, it&amp;#039;s is a little &amp;#039;safe&amp;#039; and family-friendly - but not every TV comedy has to reinvent the wheel. Given time, The Michael J Fox Show can easily iron out its pilot problems and become a hit. If NBC is, as it appears, looking for its own Modern Family, then the network may very well have found it here.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a519102/the-michael-j-fox-show-does-the-star-make-a-triumphant-return-to-tv/>