Spin City

SPIN CITY centers on Deputy Mayor Michael Flaherty (played by Michael J. Fox of Back to the Future and Family Ties) and the staff of fictitious New York City Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick), providing a comical look at how political staffers attempt to "spin," or manage, the media's coverage of political events. Mike's main goal is to keep the usually fumbling mayor looking good in public, and he's assisted in his efforts by a quirky group of political enthusiasts that includes sarcastic assistant Nikki Faber (Connie Britton); chauvinistic chief of staff Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck); gay, African-American head of minority affairs Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman); socially inexperienced but brilliant speechwriter James Hobert (Alexander Chapman); and blustering press secretary Paul Lassiter (Richard Kind). Jennifer Esposito joined the cast a couple of seasons in as mouthy assistant Stacey Paterno, replacing Victoria Dillard as Janelle Cooper, and in season 4, the mayor's decision to enter the New York Senatorial race heralded the arrival of campaign manager Caitlin Moore (Heather Locklear), whose strong competitive streak rivaled Mike's -- and led to some juicy sexual tension between the two. Even later in the show's run, after Fox departed due to his battle with Parkinson's Disease, Charlie Sheen stepped in as new deputy mayor Charlie Crawford.