Writer: Bill Lawrence
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 22:08

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

Rating:  TV- PG - D

First Broadcast: January 21, 1998

Storyline #1: The End of Mike?
Apparently Mike has had some trouble urinating the past few weeks.  He reports to the doctor who gives him the once over.  Nothing is definite, but the doctor brings up the possibility of prostate cancer.  Mike scoffs at the notion at first, but it begins to gnaw on him.  After all, Mike feels he hasn't finished living yet.   Paul notices Mike's inability to go and tries to say something about it.  At first, Mike doesn't want to share his concerns, but eventually opens up to Paul and shares the fact that he might have cancer.  Later, Mike is asked about The Mayor's book (See Storyline #3) and Mike complains that The Mayor shouldn't spend so much time reflecting when he should still be living.  Sensing that he's projecting, the Staff tell Mike they know, ever since Paul told them.  Mike hears back from the doctor, and the results are negative.  However, Mike realizes that life is fragile and not to take it for granted.

Storyline #2: For the Love of a Chair
The Staff is being playful as usual, this time racing rolling chairs.  However, the competition is interrupted and Paul ends up careening.  Not only does Paul suffer physical pain (always a episode highlight), the chair ends up getting destroyed.  In steps Walter, who runs the office supply storeroom.  He determines that the chair was used in an improper manner and refuses to provide a replacement for it.  After much gnashing of teeth, the crew decides to try to co-opt Walter into giving up a chair.   But our man Walter isn't buying it.  After refusing the womanly charms of Nikki and Stacy, they figure he might be gay, so Carter uses his manly charms in order to tempt a chair out of Walter.  But he holds strong.  Eventually, Walter's weakness is found:  his love of Gigapets.  You know, those little keychain digital pets that everybody has grown to despise.  Stuart kidnaps the Gigapet and holds it hostage for another chair.  His resolve gone, Walter gives in and concedes the chair, even if Stuart may have accidentally killed the beloved Giga.

Storyline #3:  Sequel
The Mayor's biography, Winston on Winston, is such a hit that the publishing company is clamoring for more.  However, Mike reveals to everyone that the book was ghost-written, since The Mayor displays zero talent for writing.  Paul, ever eager to endear himself, jumps at the chance and tries to nominate himself for the position.  But after a chat with uber-author Donald Trump and a reporter, The Mayor decides that another book might not be such a good idea after all.

Review: The Paul Lassiter Story

Overall, a angst-ridden episode.  Michael J. Fox puts on an impressive display of pensive frustration in the highlight of this episode.  The idea of Mike getting cancer did spring up and go away real quick (I would have invested at least a few episodes in it and milked it a bit.)  However, the show hit on it, then moved on to greener pastures.  Granted, Fox played it great, and the scene between him and The Mayor about their relationship was golden.  But I would have liked to have seen more.   And that small feeling of theft hurt the episode. 

That having been said, the rest of the episode clicked right along.  Richard Kind puts in another yeoman performance as Paul plays the suck-up game to perfection, trying to position himself to be The Mayor's ghost writer.  Massive similarities to this and to the Seinfeld from a few years ago when Kramer sold his stories to Peterman, but it seemed fresh enough to pass muster.  Maybe not the most groundbreaking of stories, put watchable nonetheless.

The other secondary plot was actually pretty involving.  Normally, once the subplots get doled out, the cast fractures up into their separate pieces of the narrative.   (The notable exception to this would be Family Affair II with the Staff vacation to the Bahamas.)  As with that story, this episode allowed the entire cast to collaborate together, and the results were spectacular.  First in their unified assault on Walter, then "feeling Mike's pain" as he awaits his cancer prognosis.  It's not often we see the cast work together as a whole, but those times are fun and worth looking forward to.

To sum up, this episode may not have been one of the funniest half hours.  The jokes weren't always up front.  And the episode may not advanced our gang anywhere.   After all, Mike's not sick.  But it was dramatic enough to make this outing one of the best this year.

**Review Corollary:  In light of Michael J. Fox's recent disclosure, this episode makes a whole lot more sense than it did before.   After Fox told the world he had Parkinson's Disease, I went back and viewed this episode through a different set of eyes.  And knowing that going in, it says a whole lot more than it did before.

In truth, there were some pretty big tip-offs.  First off, the episode was penned by Executive Producer Bill Lawrence.  So far, he's only written the show's Pilot, the second season opener, and the first post-Ashley episode.  So seeing his name in the writer's hole should have sent off a red flag.  At the time, I merely chalked it up to Fox trying to pad his Emmy nomination tape.

And pad it did.  (At least it got him a nomination.)  But it now says so much more about what he was going through.  We now know that Fox knew at least since Doc Hollywood about his condition.  And in a 20/20 interview, he told the story of the show's pitch, where he said he told Gary David Goldberg, Bill Lawrence, and some of the ABC / Dreamworks honchos about the Parkinson's.  However, this was the episode in which he apparently shared his secret with the rest of the cast and crew.  You can almost see it in their performances when they confront him in the end about the possibility of cancer.  It's like they don't want to believe they've just been told Mike's ill.

Before the news, the scene that stood out to me was the ender between The Mayor and Mike, where Mike opens up about some of his insecurities.  And while still powerful, the new clincher for me is the scene in the restroom with Paul.  That scene, to me, represents a microcosm of his ordeal and his quest to keep it secret and under control.   It's approached with a proper amount of solemness and dramatic power.  Plus, there was some funny stuff too.  When Mike told Paul, you could see Paul literally fall apart.  Mike too, as he faced the fact that he wasn't invincible.  Good stuff before.  Incredible stuff now.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 5.0

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