Spin City (TV Series) (DVD)

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How did they get away with it? That's what you wonder now when you re-watch the sex talk, sexual situations, and genuinely racy humor that "Spin City" spun during its 1996-2002 run. This season it aired at 9:00 EST on Tuesday nights, when the kiddies were still awake. And this is the season that supermodel Heidi Klum guests as Michael J. Fox's sex interest (well, you could hardly call it a love interest). But it seems that every episode has some sort of innuendo or outright sexual humor. Things like,

"What exactly is a boy toy?"
"Nicki's got one in her purse."

"I like to yodel after sex."
"I prefer the wave."

Intercourse is a frequent topic, and the word itself is used plenty. How did they get away with it? And not just get away with it, "Spin City" finished in the Nielsen Top-30 its first season and flourished at No. 3 this third season. Audiences loved it--maybe because it was so naughty, but, anchored by the boyish Fox, seemed more wholesome somehow. After all, this was überconservative Alex P. Keaton from "Family Ties," whose reincarnation as Deputy Mayor of New York City under ineffectual Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) made it seem like an extension of a character to us.
Mike Flaherty (Fox) has the same exasperated sense that he's the only one who "gets it" as Alex displayed years earlier. He has to run the show in "Spin City" because the boss doesn't quite get it. In fact, like Major Major Major from "Catch-22," the mayor mayor mayor has a habit of sneaking off when the going gets tough.

Fox is as flamboyant this season as he was in the first two, and his performance earned him another Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Once again, his reaction shots are his bread-and-butter, but this season you come to especially realize that the format isn't all that different from "The Bob Newhart Show," in which Newhart played the only sane person in an office full of lovable crazies.

Richard Kind ("Mad About You") plays press secretary Paul Lassiter, who's as hapless as he is clueless. Michael Boatman ("China Beach") plays a gay African American who's sole job is to smooth out the mayor's relationship with the city's minorities. Alan Ruck is the hyper-caffeinated and over-sexed assistant who wants Mike's job. Then there's speechwriter (Alexander Chaplin) who's the resident turnip that just fell off the truck, a relatively normal accountant (Connie Britton) who has a crush on Mike and a feminist (Janelle Cooper) who thinks she'd be getting more money and responsibility if she were a man.

But they all kind of revolve around Mike--though in the season opener, he's the one who spins around them, wearing in-like skates in the office to get more efficiently from here to there. This season covers a lot of ground, but Klum is introduced in the second episode and the season ends with "Klumageddon" Parts 1 & 2.

Twenty-six episodes are contained on four single-sided discs and housed in two slim, clear plastic keep cases. Here's a rundown:

1) "Dead Dog Talking." Carter takes in the family's ancient dog because he can't bear the thought of them putting it to sleep. Meanwhile, Mike tries to play hero by skating to the rescue of a runaway baby carriage, and they all gear up for the mayor's re-election bid.

2) "There's Something About Heidi." Mike muscles his way into a picture with Heidi Klum and just he and she are shown together in the tabloids. So, why not give them what they want, she suggests?

3) "Gone with the Wind." The big sex episode with Mike and Heidi, and the episode that the dead ashes of a cow end up all over the mayor's office. But the big blast comes when Mike blurts out at a press conference that he's sleeping with Heidi Klum.

4) "The Deer Hunter." Mike, Nikki and Carter go deer hunting to try to cozy up to campaign donors. Meanwhile, Stuart takes over the shop and things go a little crazy.

5) "It Happened One Night." Girlfriends past weigh in on what's wrong with Mike, who wants to adopt a baby that was left at City Hall. Meanwhile, the mayor discovers Viagra and Nikki tries to tell Mike how she feels about him.