Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/176391
BY JAY BOBBIN Fox draws from life, career No one ever can accuse Michael J. Fox of not dealing with his life head-on. The five-time Emmy winner is following a succession of notable guest stints – on "Rescue Me" (for which he earned his most recent Emmy), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Good Wife" – by getting back into the series game full-time. Premiering Thursday, Sept. 26, NBC's "The Michael J. Fox Show" casts him as Mike Henry, a New York television reporter who shares Fox's Parkinson's-disease and resumes his job after five years off. Mike's (Fox) return to the work force is applauded by his wife (Betsy Brandt, "Breaking Bad") and children, particularly the daughter (Juliette Goglia) who's documenting the situation on video for a school project. As nice as he finds it to be cheered by his fans on the streets of Manhattan, Mike still runs into personal and professional challenges that include his ongoing rivalry with "Today" host Matt Lauer (who appears in the debut episode). 6:00 p.m. (ESPN2) WNBA Basketball Western Conference Final, Game 1: Teams TBA. (Live) (HD) "I knew that it was not anything to take lightly, and I really thought about it a lot," says "Family Ties" and "Spin City" alum Fox of tackling weekly work again. "It was a combination of my experience on 'The Good Wife' and just thinking that the risks involved for the network were counterbalanced by the fact that I was a familiar quantity and that maybe people out there were ready to watch something I would do. "Networks take bets," Fox adds. "That's what they do, and if they want to take a bet on me, that's great." This bet also encompasses Fox being an executive producer of the show along with its creators, Will Gluck (who also worked with Goglia as the director of the movies "Easy A" and "Fired Up!") and Sam Laybourne. Though it surely is not a humorous subject, Parkinson's is woven into the humor of "The Michael J. Fox Show" through the main character's experiences. The opening half-hour flashes back to a "chair incident" on the WNBC-TV news set that factored into the fictional Mike's time off, and it also shows his mishaps in making an accidental 911 call and trying to serve his family breakfast. "It sets up that this is the reality," Fox reasons, "but if you watch carefully, it doesn't dominate. It just takes its place in the universe of these characters. We wanted to set it up and deal with it, then just gradually let it come up in organic ways throughout the rest of the run of the show. "I've written books and done interviews, and people know this is my take on this ... and I believe it's broader than just Parkinson's. Any time we have an issue or a problem, we tend to let it dictate the terms and let others describe it for us, then we go to ourselves last. I go to myself first and ask, 'How do I feel about this?' Well, I still feel like I have a day ahead of me, with things to do and places to go." 10:00 a.m. (CBS-12) NFL Football San Diego Chargers at Tennessee Titans. From LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. (Live) (HD) (FOX-30) NFL Football Green Bay Packers at Cincinnati Bengals. From Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. (Live) (HD) 1:00 p.m. (FOX-30) FOX NFL Postgame (Live) (HD) 1:25 p.m. (CBS-12) NFL Football Indianapolis Colts at San Francisco 49ers. From Candlestick Park in San Francisco. (Live) (HD) 1:30 p.m. (FOX-30) NFL Postgame Highlights and scores. 4:00 p.m. (NBC-24) Football Night in America Bob Costas and others recap the day's NFL highlights. 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Peyton Manning and the undefeated Broncos look for their third straight win when they host the Raiders in a battle of longtime AFC West rivals. From Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. (Live) (HD) 8:00 p.m. (CSNBA) Raiders Postgame Live 10:00 p.m. (ESPN) NFL PrimeTime Trey Wingo, Tim Hasselbeck and Merril Hoge. (HD) 11:00 p.m. (ESPN2) NFL Films Presents (HD) TUESDAY 11:00 a.m. (ESPN) NFL PrimeTime Trey Wingo, Tim Hasselbeck and Merril Hoge. (HD) 12:00 p.m. (ESPN) NFL Insiders (Live) 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) Mike and Mike's Best of the NFL Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic discuss NFL action from the previous week's games. (HD) 1:00 p.m. (ESPN) NFL Live (Live) (HD) 2:00 p.m. (ESPN2) College Football Live (Live) (HD) 2:30 p.m. (CSNBA) Inside Notre Dame Football 3:00 p.m. (CSNBA) College Football Michigan State at Notre Dame. 4:00 p.m. (ESPN2) NFL Live (HD) WEDNESDAY 6:00 a.m. (HBO) Namath The life and career of football player Joe Namath. 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