On the face of it, the ABC
sitcom Spin City
is breathtakingly cynical: The "spin" of the title refers to deputy mayor
Michael J. Fox and his team of political operatives, who labor every day on
spit-shined policies and clever obfuscations, all to prop up a spectacularly
dim-witted mayor. What's more, the administration is literally in bed with the
press, as Fox sleeps with sexy beat reporter Carla Gugino (who left after 12
episodes) and no one from either corner bats an eye, save for the episodes when
the flagrant conflict of interest causes some friction. It's all one big
circle-jerk, orchestrated by a bullshit maestro clearly modeled after George
Stephanopoulos (who makes a late-season cameo). Yet for all the show's upfront edginess,
it's still a by-the-numbers network sitcom—sometimes clever, mostly
toothless, and written to stuff the greedy maw of a canned laugh track.
