Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd's Sitcom Reunion Is The Closest We'll Get To Back To The Future 4

Michael J. Fox’s on-screen reunion with Christopher Lloyd on the sitcom Spin City is probably the closest they’ll ever get to reprising their roles as Doc Brown and Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part IV. Before he was best known for playing Marty on the big screen, Fox was already sitcom royalty for his iconic role as Alex P. Keaton in the hit show Family Ties. The series ran for seven seasons between 1982 and 1989 and earned Fox three consecutive Emmys.




In 1996, Fox reunited with Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg to work on another long-running sitcom. Spin City takes place in a fictionalized version of the New York City mayor’s office and stars Fox as Mike Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York. Fox and Lloyd shared the screen once more when Lloyd guest-starred in a classic episode of Spin City. Now, it’s looking like that reunion will be the closest thing to Back to the Future Part IV that ever gets made.


Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd Reunited In Spin City (& There Were Plenty Of Back To The Future Callbacks)

Lloyd Played Fox’s Political Mentor


Lloyd appeared alongside Fox in Spin City season 3, episode 18, “Back to the Future IV: Judgment Day.” The episode sees Mike trying to convince the mayor to appoint his own political mentor, Owen Joyce — played by Lloyd — to be the head of the city’s millennium project. The episode reminded viewers what made the Back to the Future movies work so well: Fox and Lloyd’s unparalleled on-screen chemistry. Their dynamic in this episode was so great that it’s a shame Lloyd wasn’t brought into the main cast.

“Back to the Future IV: Judgment Day” first aired on February 23, 1999.

Spin City made a bunch of references to the Back to the Future movies throughout its entire run. Carter joked that Mike’s political strategy relied on time travel and Mike recited a line from “Johnny B. Goode.” But when Lloyd appeared on the show and shared the screen with Fox, the writers dialed their Back to the Future references up to 11 — there’s even a nod to Back to the Future in the episode’s title.


Why Back To The Future 4 Is Unlikely To Happen – Even With A New Cast

Robert Zemeckis Won’t Allow It

Even with a brand-new cast and a legacy storyline, Back to the Future Part IV is unlikely to get made. In a recent interview (via Variety), director Robert Zemeckis joked that Universal asks him about doing a fourth film “every six months,” but he has no interest in expanding the franchise with a new sequel or a reboot. Zemeckis is open to adapting the Back to the Future stage musical into a movie, but Universal isn’t interested in doing that. So, Spin City will probably remain the closest thing to a Back to the Future reunion.

Source: Variety