At the close of the 2000 season, Fox made a classy exit to fight a private battle with Parkinson's disease. At that signal, the rest of the cast (save for Boatman, Bostwick, Richard Kind and Alan Ruck) jumped overboard like rats form a sinking ship. But all was not quite lost as replacement Charlie Sheen - reportedly hand picked by producer Fox himself - stepped in and stepped up, filling the new role with surprising success and agility. Sheen has picked up Fox's mannerisms for the arrogant Mike Flaherty and incorporated it into his own completely new character, Charlie Crawford (like Fox, taking his own first name). In fact, with this his first project after coming out of rehab, Sheen is something of a revelation here. As hard to believe as it may be for the purists, but he almost comes up to par with Fox.
The fast and steep decline of the series really has nothing to do with Charlie Sheen. I believe it had more to do with the rest of the ensemble leaving and the show making the suicidal decision to shoulder the series on Heather Locklear. 'Spin' then quickly became a 2-person series in which we are supposed to agonize over the sexual tension between the leads and wonder if Sheen and Locklear's characters will get together. It should have occurred to Lawrence that it's fans where smarter than that. Locklear is a black hole that sucks every remaining ounce of life out of 'Spin City'. Sheen's efforts to save the show and the legacy of it's name deserve far better than this. Forget about this. Stick with seasons 1 through 3, and 4 as a bonus, and you will be in good hands.
The fast and steep decline of the series really has nothing to do with Charlie Sheen. I believe it had more to do with the rest of the ensemble leaving and the show making the suicidal decision to shoulder the series on Heather Locklear. 'Spin' then quickly became a 2-person series in which we are supposed to agonize over the sexual tension between the leads and wonder if Sheen and Locklear's characters will get together. It should have occurred to Lawrence that it's fans where smarter than that. Locklear is a black hole that sucks every remaining ounce of life out of 'Spin City'. Sheen's efforts to save the show and the legacy of it's name deserve far better than this. Forget about this. Stick with seasons 1 through 3, and 4 as a bonus, and you will be in good hands.