Scrubs

I’ve been watchin’ this show for a couple years now and it’s always really entertaining to me. On tonight’s episode, Michael J. Fox showed up in an interesting role. I think there’s a fine line between acting and temporarily becoming a character or even portraying oneself with a stage name and a slightly different personality; Michael J. did a great job of straddling that line on this episode. It was interesting because he played a doctor suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and I couldn’t ignore the thought that his “character” was venting some of the frustration felt by the player as he battles Parkinson disease.

I guess that was neat because it gave real credibility to his character and I couldn’t help but believe and sympathize with him. But what was even more impressive was that he did such a great job of containing his ailment and working with it in the role. I was specifically looking to see how “afflicted” he seemed on the show and, if I hadn’t known he had Parkinson, I probably never would’ve guessed it. The only hint that I saw was that his character seemed to constantly move–not in a jumpy or jerky way, but he simply seemed to be perpetually moving.

The coolest thing was just seein’ him working again. I watched Family Ties when I was younger and I own the Back to the Future Trilogy on DVD, mostly because he made them so entertaining, whimsical and almost believable. I’m glad to see him back on camera.