Spin City: The Complete Sixth Season

Spin City should have been cancelled during its first season. Seriously, it's one of those terribly written sitcoms where the exact same jokes are doled out repeatedly without any added context or wit. But, at the time, people were keen on Michael J. Fox returning to television to play a politically motivated variant on his Alex P. Keaton character from Family Ties, continuing his comedic trajectory of smirking self-consciously whenever doling out a punch line. Of course, when he left after the fourth season after being diagnosed with Parkinson's, Charlie Sheen and Heather Locklear were left to carry the torch, similarly bringing in viewers through sheer notoriety. Maybe this is why the sixth and final season feels so incredibly stale and drained of life, resorting to jokes about Charlie's drunkenness, Carter's (Michael Boatman) homosexuality, Stuart's (Alan Ruck) sluttiness and Paul's (Richard Kind) laziness. Fortunately, the mayor (Barry Bostwick) ― for whom all of the above work ― dresses in drag (referencing his role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show), makes out with Farrah Fawcett and destroys a historical landmark, adding some impropriety to the shenanigans. Denise Richards also pops up for a few episodes as an industrious reporter that gets pelvic with Charlie Sheen in order to steal secrets from the mayor's office. Even though Michael J. Fox pops up for a bit to round out his character arc and the entire season pivots on a re-election campaign, there's little of note, since every episode is ostensibly the same, save the occasional dead dog or sudsy issue platitude. No supplements are included with the set, which is to be expected since most of the key players have long since moved on. Although it most likely wouldn't have taken much to get Michael Boatman and Richard Kind back for a commentary track or an awkward reminiscence supplement.