Fox takes on series 'for the long haul'

Updated: August 23, 2012 - 6:12 PM

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To win a four-network bidding war to secure Michael J. Fox's return to family comedy, NBC made the exceptional decision to commit to producing and airing a full 22 episodes for the fall 2013 season.

And, according to Will Gluck, co-creator of the series with Sam Laybourne, "Mike signed up for this to go many, many years. He's back to work. We're all in this for the long haul."

The currently untitled series returns the veteran sitcom actor to NBC, 30 years after the debut of "Family Ties." Loosely autobiographical, Fox will play a fictional married father of three children, whose ages, Gluck says, will roughly mirror those the 51-year-old actor has with real-life wife Tracy Pollan. (Figure one pre-adolescent and a couple of teenagers.) Fox's challenges with Parkinson's disease will figure in the show too, though no more prominently than any other aspect of his life.

"The great thing about Michael is that, sure, Parkinson's is a part of his life, but most of the stories in his life involve trying to be a husband and father of three kids, things that have their own set of problems," Gluck says.

Tabloid plans to run nude Harry photos

Britain's scandal-loving tabloids devoted many pages Thursday to the story of Prince Harry's naked romp in a Las Vegas hotel suite during a game of strip billiards. But all initially heeded a warning from royal officials that printing the images would infringe on the prince's privacy. That changed when the Sun tabloid said late Thursday that it would publish the images in Friday's edition. The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid said it had decided to do so because the issue had become about freedom of the press. "We've thought long and hard about this," managing editor David Dinsmore said. "This is about the ludicrous situation where a picture can be seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world on the Internet but can't be seen in the nation's favorite paper."

OSCARS PICK: Veteran musical producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the 2013 Oscars ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced. The announcement follows the academy's failed attempt to recruit Lorne Michaels to produce and Jimmy Fallon to host the 85th Academy Awards.

BURTON FLICK AT FEST: London Film Festival organizers say this year's event will open in October with Tim Burton's canine monster movie "Frankenweenie." The animated black-and-white tale of a boy's attempts to bring his beloved dead dog back to life will have its European premiere at the festival on Oct. 10.