Spin City

1996 - 2002

Follows Deputy Mayor of New York City, Mike Flaherty, as he struggles to keep the city running smoothly with his goofy staff, the clueless mayor, and his rollercoaster love life.

Stars: Michael J. Fox, Barry Bostwick, Richard Kind, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Connie Britton, Alexander Chaplin, Victoria Dillard, Heather Locklear, Jennifer Esposito, Faith Prince, Charlie Sheen*, Lana Parrilla*
Created by: Gary David Goldberg, Bill Lawrence
Tags: singles, workplace
See: "My Top 5 Favorite Carter Heywood Moments" on the Rerun Rewind Blog.

*Regular in the re-tooled version of the show (seasons 5-6).

Where to Watch :

Episode Tropes

Season 1

Limp Willy: Episode 2, "The Great Pretender" (1996). When Manhattan magazine names Mike "Sexiest Man in New York," he starts to feel the eyes of everyone in the city on him, and causes some performance anxiety that presses pause on his sex life with Ashley.
Big Mouth: Episode 3, "Pride and Prejudice" (1996). Mike is interviewed for a TV news show, and when the interviewer asks him if Ashley ever makes exceptions for him, he replies, "I hope so. Why do you think I'm dating her?"
Get Out: Episode 5, "The Rivals" (1996). Mike and Ashley's neighbors, Maria and Yale, keep inviting themselves over to watch long, boring documentaries and videos of the environmental work, and no matter how many hints Mike and Ashley drop, Maria and Yale won't leave.
Drop Dead: Episode 5, "The Rivals" (1996). Former mayor, Abe Garfield, has been trashing the current administration all over TV, so Mike decides to try to appease him by dedicating a fountain in his name, but the fountain turns out to be more like a birdbath, and Garfield is not pleased. Mayor Winston gets fed up with Garfield's criticism and tells him off, and Garfield drops dead.Mayor Winston is ridden with guilt and feels the need to confess that he "killed" him at a memorial. Fortunately, he sprays himself in the eyes with Binaca and gets too tearful to speak.
Focus Group: Episode 6, "A Star is Born" (1996). In attempt to boos the mayor's approval rating, Mike organizes a focus group, and they don't like his hair, his gestures, or even his height, and they want him to start calling himself "Randy."
Sham Wedding: Episode 7, "Grand Illusion" (1996). To protest the mayor coming out against gay marriage, Carter and Nikki decide to get married in front of the press, and Nikki is excited about planning a wedding, but as the wedding date approaches and the wedding starts to feel more real, she starts to have second thoughts.
Focus Group: Episode 9, "Meet Tommy Dugan" (1996). In response to a focus group that said the mayor is too tall and his gestures are threatening, Paul teaches the mayor some less-threatening hand gestures (the "shrunken thumb" and the "soft chop") and has the podium in the press room raised to "create the illusion" that the mayor's "not quite so tall."
Replacement Pet: Episode 11, "Dog Day Afternoon" (1996). A well-loved police dog named Bingo passes away, and Mike takes advantage of the opportunity to build a better relationship between the mayor and the police department, so he insists on throwing a funeral for Bingo. He tasks Carter and Paul with transporting teh dead dog, and when they get thrown out of a cab, they accidentally leave Bingo in the truck, so at the funeral, Mike shows up with another, living dog and has a vet sedate it in an attempt to replace Bingo. Unfortunately, the replacement dog wakes up and barks in the middle of the service.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 16, "Kiss Me, Stupid" (1997). When Carter's ex-boyfriend, Spence, shows up with his bride-to-be and asks Carter to be his best man, Carter pretends he's dating Mike so Spence doesn't think he's been pining for him, and Mike goes along with it.
Trapped: Episode 18, "Snowbound" (1997). Carter and Stuart go the boiler room to try to adjust the heat, and Stuart accidentally pulls ou the stopper holding the door open, locking them both inside.
Condo Board Coup: Episode 23, "The Mayor Who Came to Dinner" (1997). James helps Stuart write a speech to convince his condo association to install new laundry facilities, and they're so impressed that they elect him president, but Stuart can't handle the responsibility, so he asks James to write him a resignation speech.

Season 2

Inappropriate Violins: Episode 1, "Paul Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1997). Mike falls for the mayor's divorce lawyer, Laurie, but she refuses to date opposing council. Mike has dinner with Laurie to try to romance her, but she sticks to the business at hand. As Laurie once again tells Mike that she doesn't date people she works with, a violinist appears at their table, and Mike quickly ushers him away.
Waldorf Hysteria: Episode 1, "Paul Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1997). After Paul and the mayor run off to Miami without telling anyone, Mike gets them both psych evaluations, after Paul's evaluation, he gets committed.
Write What You Know: Episode 8, "My Life is a Soap Opera" (1997). Mike dates a soap opera writer, and she creates a character based on him. Mike is thrilled until, the day after they have sex for the first time, when the character based on her said Mike's character was "not great."
What a Dummy: Episode 9, "Family Affair: Part 1" (1997). Nikki's blind date turns out to be a ventriloquist who only talks to her through his dummy.
See You in Court: Episode 10, "Family Affair: Part 2" (1997). Hank, the elderly security guard at City Hall, fires his gun through the ceiling, grazing Paul while he's at the snack machine. As a result, Hank gets fired, and he sues Paul for making him lose his job on The People's Court with Judge Ed Koch.
Cursed: Episode 16, "Deaf Man Walking" (1998). Mike has dinner with Stacey and her family, and Stacey announces that she wants to get her own apartment. Her family is devastated, and her grandma asks Mike to talk her out of it. When he refuses, Grandma puts a curse on him, and lots of annoying little things start happening to him.
Home Sweet Office: Episode 16, "Deaf Man Walking" (1998). When Stacey tells her parents that she wants to get her own apartment, her dad is so angry that he tells her to get out right that moment. With nowhere else to stay, Stacey spends the night in Mike's office.
Botched Suggestion Box: Episode 20, "The Pope of Gracie Mansion" (1998). Mike says he has to take the suggestion box because the only suggestions anyone put in it were, "Wisconsin rules" (James) and that every Friday should be "go without your bra day" (Stewart).
Insomnia: Episode 20, "The Pope of Gracie Mansion" (1998). Mike almost gets hit by a truck that reads "G.O.D." on the side and is driven by a guy who looks like Jesus, and he thinks it's a message from God, but he can't figure out what it is, and he can't sleep for several nights because he's anxious about it.
Bachelor Party Gone Wrong: Episode 21, "By, Bye, Birdie" (1998). Paul's bachelor party is plagued by freak problems, like a sculpture the mayor is due to unveil turns out to be a giant middle finger, and Carter, James, and Mike are held hostage in a hardware store.
Hostage Situation: Episode 21, "By, Bye, Birdie" (1998). In an attempt to remove a vulgar statue from City Hall, Carter and James go to a hardware store to get some tools. When they don't come back, Mike goes looking for them and discovers a burglar is holding them hostage, and he holds Mike hostage too.
I Bought the Bar and the Bar Won: Episode 22, "The Lady or the Tiger" (1998). Stuart and Mike go in on bar together, but when Stuart reveals he plans to make it a gay bar (because it would make more money), Mike backs out and Carter partners up with Stuart instead. Unfortunately, Stuart forget to get a license for dancing, and really puts a damper on things for their patrons.
The Magician: Episode 22, "The Lady or the Tiger" (1998). Mike dates a magician named Kaari, and she tries to move the relationship along way too quickly, and Mike breaks up with her while she's doing her act and cutting Paul in half. She storms off, leaving Paul in two pieces.

Season 3

Ashes to Ashes: Episode 3, "Gone with the Wind" (1998). On the day James gets a package from home containing the cremains of his favorite cow, the air conditioning goes out in Paul's office, and he buys a giant fan. As you can probably guess, these two things create a recipe for disaster that results in bits of "Aunt Sarah" blowing all over the office. To cover up what happened, the rest of the gang smoke cigars and drop the ashes in the urn.
Take Good Care of My Baby: Episode 5, "It Happened One Night" (1998). At a rally for his re-election campaign, someone hands the mayor a baby, then disappears, so the mayor takes the baby back to City Hall, where Mike decides to take care of him.
Adopt Me Not: Episode 5, "It Happened One Night" (1998). Mike gets attached to an abandoned baby and decides to adopt him, but when the CPS worker asks him why, he realizes he's just trying to fill a void in his life, and he changes his mind.
Limp Willy: Episode 5, "It Happened One Night" (1998). The mayor is having trouble getting it up, so he tells Mike he wants to see a psychiatrist, so to avoid any bad optics, Mike sends James to the psychiatrist instead.
Kidney Transplant: Episode 9, "The Kidney's All Right" (1998). In a competition to impress a sick boy in the hospital named Derek, the mayor accidentally promises to give Derek his kidney. Fortunately for the mayor, his blood's not a match for Derek's, but unfortunately for Mike, his blood is, so he feels pressured to donate his kidney to Derek.
Jumper: Episode 11, "Local Hero" (1998). Mike mentors a young city councilman by telling him to be "Captain New York," and he takes it literally by dressing up in a homemade superhero costume and trying to help a man off a ledge.
The Last Costume Left: Episode 11, "Local Hero" (1998). When James shows up for the mayor's costume party dressed as Michael Jackson, Carter has to change his costume plans at the last minute and buy the last costume left in the store, which is a big fuzzy bunny rabbit.
Monkeying Around: Episode 12, "Monkey Business" (1998). The mayor is introducing a new super smart chimp named Bobo to the Central Park Zoo. While Bobo is at City Hall, Mike offends him, so he runs away. Mike finds Bobo in his office playing with a chess board, so he challenges him to a chess match.
When I'm 64: Episode 12, "Monkey Business" (1998). When Carter and Stewart meet two old men who are just like them, Carter has a daydream about him and Stuart in the future, still living together as old men, but now they're also sleeping together.
Bachelor Auction: Episode 14, "The Nutty Deputy Mayor" (1999). The "League of Large New Yorkers" challenges Mike to spend a day in a fat suit to understand their plight. When it's time for the big charity bachelor auction, Mike is about to take off the fat suit, but Stuart talks him out of it by telling he doesn't really understand what it's like to be fat because he never left the office. So Mike struts down the catwalk in the fat suit, and no one bids on him.
Dance Lessons: Episode 17, "Dick Clark's Rockin' Make-Out Party '99" (1999). The mayor needs to learn how to waltz for an upcoming event. First Carter and Paul try to demonstrate by dancing with each other, but they make a mess of it, so Janelle dances with the mayor instead, and sparks fly between them.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: Episode 18, "Back to the Future IV - Judgment Day" (1999). Mike's old mentor, Owen Kingston, comes to City Hall to work on a project for the mayor, but Owen isn't the man Mike remembers. He's become very religious, and he tells Mike that he's "the messiah."
Raging Bull&@!: Episode 19, "Politically Incorrect" (1999). Carter is dating a boxer named Bennet, and Stuart challenges him to a boxing match, thinking he can easily defeat a gay boxer. Of course, Stuart's wrong, and Bennet wipes the floor with him.
Clip Show: Episode 20, "That's Entertainment" (1999). The gang has to work on the night the Oscars are airing, so they sit around talking about movies interspersed with movie-related clips from previous episodes.
My Boys Can't Swim: Episode 21, "The Last Temptation of Mike" (1999). In a budget meeting, mayor says he's disappointed that he and his staff never discuss personal matters with each other, so Paul announces to everyone that he has "non-motile sperm." Later, Paul explains to Mike that he and Claudia are trying to have a baby, but his's lazy swimmers are making it difficult.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 21, "The Last Temptation of Mike" (1999). Doug, the City Hall tour guide, keeps hitting on Stacey, so Stacey tells Doug that Carter is her boyfriend, and Carter plays along by trying to act straight, but Doug announces to his tour group that he knows Carter is "an avowed homosexual."
Baby Daddy: Episode 21, "The Last Temptation of Mike" (1999). Paul and Claudia are having a hard time conceiving, so Paul asks Mike to donate his sperm so they can have a child. Mike assumes he means at a sperm bank, but Claudia is planning to have sex with him.
Bad Bet: Episode 24, "Wall Street" (1999). James gives Mike his life savings to invest in a new online company called "Barky.com" because he once had a dog named Barky, but Mike is convinced James is making a mistake, so he doesn't invest the money, but the stock does well, and James is expecting a windfall, so he starts spending money like it's going out of style, and Mike scrambles to find a way to pay him his profits.
Accidental Eavesdropping: Episode 26, "Klumageddon: Part 2" (1999). Will checking her computer's power cable behind her desk, Nikki overhears Mike talking to Carter about Janelle breaking up with the mayor, but she thinks they're talking about her and Mike is going to break up with her.

Season 4

The Ascent of Stan: Episode 5, "Rebel without a Chair" (1999). Carter has won the "Activist of the Year" award, but the rest of gang points out that he hasn't actually been involved in any activism for a long time, and he starts to feel like a fraud. He makes up for it by using his platform at the award ceremony to expose Mike's homophobia.
Home Sweet Office: Episode 7, "The Great Debate" (1999). Claudia's mother is staying with her and Paul, and when Paul tries to stick her with a bill for a home-cooked meal, she throws him out of the house, so he sleeps in his office.
Fish and Visitors Stink in Three Days: Episode 7, "The Great Debate" (1999). After Claudia's mother throws Paul out of the house, Stuart and Carter let him stay with them for a night because he promises he can get them tickets to the Super Bowl, but they quickly regret their decision when Paul starts eating all their food, spending their money, hanging his laundry around the house, and giving Rags whiskey, and to make matters even worse, they find out the Super Bowl to which Paul got them tickets is actually a big bowling tournament in New Jersey.
Teen Queen: Episode 7, "The Great Debate" (1999). Nikki is working with the new college intern, Scott, and she falls for him right away, but he's 20 years old, and she's...not, so she starts trying to look younger by wearing trendy clothes and butterfly clips in her hair and rollerskating around the office.
Hole: Episode 8, "How to Bury a Millionaire" (1999). Mike plans a photo op for the mayor where a baby is being rescued from a well, but the mayor accidentally falls down a nearby hole and has to be rescued himself.
Rags to Riches: Episode 8, "How to Bury a Millionaire" (1999). Paul wins the grand prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He continues his stingy lifestyle for two more episodes, then he blows his remaining winnings on a politically themed restaurant called "Wonk," where his cheapskate nature compels him to serve sub-standard food that makes everyone sick.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 9, "The Thanksgiving Show" (1999). Mike and Caitlin are trying to get a outgoing senator's endorsement for Mayor Winston's senate campaign, and when Senator Grady meets them, he assumes they're a couple, so they go with it to make him happy, and they have to keep it up for a whole three-day weekend at the mayor's Connecticut mansion for Thanksgiving.
To Kill a Turkey: Episode 9, "The Thanksgiving Show" (1999). James insists on supplying the turkey for the mayor's Thanksgiving celebration, and he shows up with a live turkey that he plans to kill for dinner. Nikki and Janelle are appalled, and they try to rescue the turkey by setting it free, but the turkey won't go outside, so they hide it instead, but when James tells them that a cornered turkey tends to attack, they change their minds.
Here's Johnny!: Episode 9, "The Thanksgiving Show" (1999). While looking for the the live turkey he brought to kill for Thanksgiving dinner, James carries around and axe, hacks through a door, looks through the crack and says, "Heeeeere's Jamesy!"
Art Class: Episode 13, "A Tale of Two Sisters" (2000). Nikki and James take an art class together, and when Stuart hears they have use nude models, he's all about it. Unfortunately, the class is full, but he manages to get in by posing nude himself.
Job Swap: Episode 13, "A Tale of Two Sisters" (2000). When Paul receives Carter's paycheck by mistake, he gets bitter because Carter gets paid more than him, and they get into an argument over whose job is harder. To prove his point, Carter handles a press conference instead of Paul, and it's a disaster.
Big Brothers Big Sisters: Episode 14, "Casino" (2000). To help boost his campaign, the mayor becomes a "Big Buddy" to a little boy who's bitter because when the mayor abolished rent control, the Big Buddy program had to make cutbacks, so the mayor makes it up to him by holding a raffle to raise funds to save the program.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 16, "Suffragette City" (2000). Carter hears about an apartment building that is allegedly discriminating against gay people, so he gets Stuart to pretend to be his partner, and they try to rent an apartment, and Carter is disappointed when they get it, but Stuart is thrilled because it's a really nice place.
Not Since the Incident: Episode 18, "The Pig Whisperer" (2000). The city needs a farmer who runs a tomato stand to move so they can build a community center, but he refuses. When he sees James, the farmer reveals that James used to be an expert "pigger" who beat him in every pig competition, and he wants a rematch, but James refuses to pig again because of an incident where he hit a pig.
Fear of Flying: Episode 22, "Airplane!" (2000). Mike and Caitlin travel to San Francisco together, and Caitlin's fear of flying leads to her to cling to Mike when there's turbulence, and it's not long before they're kissing.

Character Tropes

Loveable Lech: Stuart Bondek - Played by Alan Ruck.
Mild Mannered Man-child: James Hobert - Played by Alexander Chaplin.
Extreme Cheapskate: Paul Lassiter - Played by Richard Kind.
Sweet Summer Child: Karen - Played by Taylor Stanley.
Shock Jock: Drew West - Played by Gerry Red Wilson in season 2, episode 6, "Radio Daze" (1997).
Mimbo: Rick - Played by Scott Decker in season 3, episode 13, "Taxi Driver" (1999).