Michael J. Fox to Play Newscaster on New Show

Michael J. Fox is taking on a new role that hits a little closer to home.

CBS News reports that the "Spin City" star will play a newscaster who chucks the deuces to his job due to Parkinson's Disease but returns to work because a new medical regimen helps him control many of the disease's symptoms.

Life imitates art as the actor has said that drugs helped him with his condition last year, allowing him to take up more acting gigs. The yet-to-be-named sitcom is part of NBC's strategy to revive ratings, after shows like "The Voice" and "Revolution" have pulled in viewers. The show is tentatively set for September on Thursday, which is occupied by its long-standing comedy "30 Rock" (which ends on Jan. 31) and "The Office" making its exit this spring.

In the NY-based family comedy, Fox's character will be the father of two teenage children and a younger boy, Jennifer Salke, the network's entertainment president, said on Sunday.

"It's a family show that has him dealing with work and office relationships as well as dealing with kind of his public persona, which is very real," she said. "You see, he gets a standing ovation everywhere he shows up, and the idea that he's sort of been put up on this pedestal by the country and the world, really. He's just a regular guy, who gets frustrated, who gets mad at having to sit at home."

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