Michael J. Fox On Returning To Television: ‘I Love To Do This’

Michael J.Fox is ready to make his big return to television, and says he isn’t going to let Parkinson’s slow him down.

The 51-year-old actor is returning this fall to NBC, the network that made him a breakout star with Family Ties and led to a successful career of television and movies.

Though Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 — and disclosed it to the public in 1999 — he said the disease isn’t going to stop him from working. In fact, the new comedy set to air this fall is about a New York anchorman whose life is thrown into upheaval when he’s diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

Michael J. Fox said there really wasn’t any way to do a show without addressing his personal struggles with the disease.

“Well, I don’t have a choice… But my personal life — you can sit and project out and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to have this and it’s going to be like this and I won’t be able to do that.’ But it’s much more about right now. ‘What can I do right now?’ Right?” Michael said . “I just thought, I love to do this and as much as anyone will let me do it and give me their time to do it – I should do it. And so, I’m doing it.”

The role will be Michael’s first return to television for a full-time role since he left Spin City in 2001.

While the new show is based on his own life, Michael J. Fox is careful to note it’s only a loose interpretation.

“It’s based loosely on my experiences,” he said. “And I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want my kids to think every time a kid does something goofy on the show that it’s a reflection on them.”

The new show has brought Michael J. Fox firmly back in the spotlight. Last month when he was at LAX to fly out of Los Angeles, he was mobbed by fans and spent several minutes signing autographs for all of them.