Search - Spin City: The Complete Season 1 on DVD


Spin City: The Complete Season 1
Spin City The Complete Season 1
Actors: Michael J Fox, Connie Britton, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Richard Kind
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Genres: Comedy, Television
UR     2008     10hr 30min

At last, the complete first season! — Spin City is a smart, sophisticated ABC sitcom about the behind-the-scenes workings of City Hall in the biggest city in America. Workaholic Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) is the Deputy ...  more »

     

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Michael J Fox, Connie Britton, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Richard Kind
Director: Lee Shallat Chemel
Genres: Comedy, Television
Sub-Genres: Comedy, Comedy
Studio: Shout Factory
Format: DVD - Color - Closed-captioned
DVD Release Date: 11/04/2008
Original Release Date: 01/01/1996
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1996
Release Year: 2008
Run Time: 10hr 30min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaDVD Credits: 4
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Languages: English

Similar Movies


Similarly Requested DVDs

The Guardian
Director: Andrew Davis
   PG-13   2007   2hr 19min
   
Grosse Pointe Blank
Director: George Armitage
   R   1998   1hr 47min
   
Gosford Park
Director: Robert Altman
   R   2002   2hr 17min
   
West Side Story
Full Screen Edition
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
   NR   2003   2hr 32min
   
LA Confidential
Snap Case
Director: Curtis Hanson
   R   1998   2hr 18min
   
The Magnificent Seven
Special Edition
Director: John Sturges
   NR   2001   2hr 8min
   
Moonstruck
Director: Norman Jewison
   PG   1998   1hr 42min
   
Secondhand Lions
New Line Platinum Series
Director: Tim McCanlies
   PG   2004   1hr 49min
   
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Single Disc
Director: Steven Spielberg
   PG-13   2008   2hr 2min
   
 

Movie Reviews

Campaign for great TV!
Robin Orlowski | United States | 11/04/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having made his initial TV debut years earlier as Republican Alex P. Keaton, Michael J. Fox blatantly crossed the political aisle in his triumphant TV return.

Now he is playing Democratic New York Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty. Flaherty is a curious combination of Al Gore and George Stephanopoulos with lots of requisite/inevitable `Kennedy family' references tossed in.

His boss is Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick), a more-or-less transparent spoof of Bill Clinton. In terms of physical structure at least, there is a fair resemblance. Vocal-inflection and intelligence, I don't see a comparison, but hey, politics is the game of compromise. You take what you can get.

Basically, this is a small-screen version of Primary Colors: a warm-hearted but satirical look at Democratic politics. And the 24-episode season won't make you incur a personal deficit in order to own it!

A favorite episode is "Kiss Me Stupid" where another childhood crush, Luke Perry returns to his former boyfriend Carter Heywood--with some very important but unexpected news. After having dated each other for a while, Luke's character now dates women, even planning on marriage. Spence Kamer wants Carter to be his best man for this impending ceremony. Perry's apparent comfort with publically delivering `flirty' lines to another man sincerely impressed me, having grown up seeing him merely as a `teen idol'. Instead of Sheen in the later seasons, the production crew for this series should have convinced Perry to sign on as a replacement for Fox. Who knew he was capable of successfully delivering sitcom work? I certainly hadn't.

Being a disability advocate, I easily imagined myself in "Deaf Becomes Her". Misunderstandings about the Mayor's intention towards the deaf community (and more generalized, the disability community!) eventually get successfully resolved. Arriving at mutual ground, Mike and the city's leading deaf advocate realize they do share a mutual desire to help people--and maybe more.

Mike is a politician, but he's also on the prowl only for true and lasting love. An ongoing storyline this season is his romance with news reporter Ashley Schaeffer (Carla Gugino)---and how sincerely heartbroken he becomes upon their breakup ("Bye-Bye, Love"). Rather than a temporary fling with the inevitable `campaign trail...etc' woman, Mike concedes that he is looking for something deeper and safer ("Striptease").

This is exactly why Mike is so charming; he is political without being `sleazy' or the stereotypical know-it-all. He's still our lovable `guy-next door'!

After Mike (duh), my second favorite permanent staff member has to be Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman). As the Mayor's "Diversity Liaison" (who comes on in the "Pilot"), he is supposed to perform outreach with and for `diverse' community organizations. Otherwise, presumably these groups would not have their fair share of representation at City Hall. For it's not that the other staff are insensitive or `not diverse' they just juggle multiple `other concerns' in the ever-compartmentalized world of public service. There is always too much to do and never enough time or money.

Perpetual pulls between his previous "outsider" grassroots community organizing and now being on the `inside' gets best illustrated in "Pride and Prejudice". The same needle exchange program which Carter believes would halt (or even eliminate) the spread of AIDS throughout New York ultimately must get withdrawn for political expediency. It's a powerful lesson for Carter to concede that the `edgiest' public policies will not always work the best in the staid world of bureaucracy. Carter is passionate about his causes, but he's also genuinely intelligent and articulate--rather than being a `token' who is appointed merely to fill a slot.

Since Boatman and the other actors merely could have been one-dimensional tokens for Fox and Bostwick to bounce their one-liners off of, it's appreciated that they have substantive plots of their own throughout this season (and the series). Technically it's 'his' show, but Fox is the type of leading actor who sucessfully demonstrates that he can and is not afraid to share the limelight with other actors.

Extras for this season include a retrospective featurette by the cast and crew: they are also contributing to fond memories about this perpetually awesome series. And Michael J. Fox and Gary David Goldberg themselves provided a seminar to what was then the Museum of Television & Radio. It explained how the creation of this series successfully came into fruition between the two of them.

Please, please, cast your vote for this release so we get (at least) all the seasons with Mike elected into production--and on the market!
"
Spin City Season Sets-Finally!!!
C. A. Mabilia | U.K. | 08/21/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show is an absolute gem,
I can't believe it has taken this long to get a release. Michael J. Fox is fantastic and the chemistry between the entire ensemble was just hilarious and made for such engaging viewing.
I am so glad the 1st season is coming to dvd so I can be amused by City Halls' hijinx time and time again. I do hope all four seasons are released and quickly.
Thank you Spin City cast for classic comedy that delivers everytime I watch."
God Bless America, what took so long????
Wandakitty | Lakewood, OH United States | 11/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Us spin city fans have been waiting many years for this to finally come out on dvd. We long ago wore out the DVD's of Mike's favorite episodes, and while they were of course awesome, I didn't think they would ever put out the entire seasons on DVD. It's about time, what a long and leisurely process it has been, when plenty of other less worthy shows immediately go to DVD when they end."
Subtitles/Captions
B. Cedric | France | 02/27/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Great show, love it. I taped it on VHS. I'm so glad it's on DVD now. Only problem : there are no subtitles or captions for the hearing impaired (or non native english speakers) for whom they're a great help and sometimes the (fake ?) laughs cover the pun or punch line. I hope the next installments will provide this sometimes much needed feature."