Spin City
In this sitcom, Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) and his City Hall staff must stop the dim-witted Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) of New York City from embarrassing himself in front of the media and the voters. The staff consists of Caitlin Moore (Heather Locklear) the Communications Director, Carter Haywood (Michael Boatman) the head of Minority Affairs, Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck) the Chief of Staff, Paul Lassiter (Richard Kind) the Press Secretary, James Hobert (Alexander Chaplin), the Mayor's Speech Writer, and Nikki Faber (Connie Britton) accountant. In the final two seasons of the show, Mike was replaced by Charlie Crawford (Charlie Sheen).
- Metascore72
- 1996-2002
- 6 seasons
- ABC
- Comedy
- TV-14
In this sitcom, Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) and his City Hall staff must stop the dim-witted Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) of New York City from embarrassing himself in front of the media and the voters. The staff consists of Caitlin Moore (Heather Locklear) the Communications Director, Carter Haywood (Michael Boatman) the head of Minority Affairs, Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck) the Chief of Staff, Paul Lassiter (Richard Kind) the Press Secretary, James Hobert (Alexander Chaplin), the Mayor's Speech Writer, and Nikki Faber (Connie Britton) accountant. In the final two seasons of the show, Mike was replaced by Charlie Crawford (Charlie Sheen).
Season 4 Episode Guide
26 Episodes 1999 - 2000
Episode 1
Catcher in the Bronx
Tue, Sep 21, 1999 30 mins
Mike's personal challenge is to figure out how Heidi Klum wound up in his bed after a boozy evening; at the office, he has to hire a manager for Mayor Winston's Senate campaign and interviews various applicants, including a seemingly dizzy blonde named Caitlin Moore.
Episode 2
James and the Giant Speech
Tue, Sep 28, 1999 30 mins
James is under pressure to write a speech so that Caitlin doesn't take over his job and fire him. Paul sucks up to Caitlin, who tries to take his office away from him. Mike tries to re-establish communication with angry Nikki.
Episode 3
All the Mayor's Men
Tue, Oct 5, 1999 30 mins
When Caitlin instigates background checks on the staff, Mike tries to one-up her by staging an internal break-in and stealing the files. Meanwhile, James tries to coach Mayor Winston for an upcoming appearance in an independent film.
Episode 4
These Shoes Were Made for Cheatin'
Tue, Oct 12, 1999 30 mins
Mike tricks Nikki into attending couples counseling. Stuart visits Carter's gym for gay clients. Eighth graders challenge Randall to take a standardized test, and Paul winds up wearing a strange costume for a press conference.
Episode 5
Rebel Without a Chair
Tue, Oct 19, 1999 30 mins
Mike is tired of Caitlin of being the one next to the mayor which he normally is. So comes in during an interview the Mayor is having and Mike blurts out something that the reporter misconstrues as Mike saying he and the mayor are a couple. So they have to try and find a way to fix it. Paul refuses to tip the bathroom attendant and takes the sundries. So Paul is banned from the bathroom. And Stuart places a paper weight on his desk which the women find offensive.
Episode 6
The Mayor May Not
Tue, Nov 2, 1999 30 mins
Tired of Stuart's pranks, Paul and James team up to fight back. Carter falls for a rich man whose principles he doesn't share. Randall ponders a run for Senator, and sends Mike and Caitlin to couples therapy to stop their bickering.
Episode 7
The Great Debate
Tue, Nov 9, 1999 30 mins
When Mike hears Caitlin already exhausted the mayor's senatorial campaign funds, he bids to take over by bringing in major funds contributor Lindsay Shaw. Alas, first she keeps listing demands, then she decides to run against Winston, so Mike's only hope is to dare her to a TV debate which the knucklehead must be trained to win. The staff won't volunteer to chaperon the new intern, until the girls and Carter meet college hottie Scott. After Paul's mother in law kicked him out and Mike forbids his camping in the office, Carter and Stuart put him up a gruesome night for Super Bowl tickets, or so they think.
Episode 8
How to Bury a Millionaire
Tue, Nov 16, 1999 30 mins
Paul is set to appear on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and recruits the other staffers to help him in case he needs to "phone a friend." During a rescue operation to free a trapped baby, Mayor Winston falls into an adjacent pit and causes a media frenzy. Carter takes Rags to a day-care facility for canines. The city firefighters go on strike.
Episode 9
The Thanksgiving Show
Wed, Nov 24, 1999 30 mins
Just-widowed senator Joseph Grady's endorsement is vital to launch the mayor's senatorial campaign. Mike and Caitin find out Grady has no sympathy for Winston (nor the other way around) but looks upon them as a lovable echo of his early marriage, so Mike pretends they're firmly engaged. Keeping the pretense up during a Thanksgiving dinner at Randall's Connecticut cabin proves no picnic, nor cooking the turkey, as farm-boy James brought a live one and the girls are determined to save it.
Episode 10
The Doorman Always Rings Twice
Tue, Nov 30, 1999 30 mins
To Mike's dismay, the mayor all but helps launch to the press his ambitions to succeed if Winston's senatorial campaign succeeds, so he resorts to launching a rumor solely to 'suspiciously deny' it himself, again in vain. With Randall away, filling in proves not only a credibility problem for Mike, but his cocky way problematically provokes the city hall doormen when denied the usual charade and annual concessions. Paul invests his quiz million in a political theme restaurant, but the mayor canceling last minute jeopardizes the crucial opening, while the cheapskate food proves even worse. Caitlin finds Deirde's copycat imitation all but flattering.
Episode 11
Mustang Mikey
Tue, Dec 7, 1999 30 mins
Mike bitterly finds the mayor congratulates Caitlin on three months in his team, not his own 5 years, and ends up with his own perfect gift passed on as if hers. As consolation, he dares her to join him in 'parking' Winston's beloved vintage Mustang throughout Manhattan. Partially due to Paul's ever-miss-parked rust-bin on wheels, that joyride turns into a nocturnal nightmare, with a cruel twist when the mayoral memory kicks in. As Mike temporarily promotes James from his PA to speech writer again, his PA job goes to Deirdre, whom even lover Stuart can't handle so close. Carter and Nikki may deny being vain about the ID pictures, each catches the other red-handed.
Episode 12
My Dinner with Caitlin
Tue, Dec 21, 1999 30 mins
Mike cancels all other guests for his home Christmas party for the team as soon as he believes Catilin's acceptance constitutes an accidental date, but she gets wind and hastily brings a 'perfect' date. Jim brings people from the helpline where he joined as volunteer, without elementary insight to prevent rather then stimulate suicide. Paul sees the clothes drive as a wardrobe opportunity for him, not a 'tasteless' homeless. The mayor and Stuart mix up a Sewdish masseuse and an official Stockholm delegate.
Episode 13
A Tale of Two Sisters
Wed, Jan 12, 2000 30 mins
Caitlin tries to sabotage Mike's date with her visiting sister Catherine. Stuart joins the other staffers in taking an interest in art. Paul is upset to learn that Carter makes more money than Paul does, so Paul starts acting immaturely about the matter.
Episode 14
Casino
Wed, Feb 2, 2000 30 mins
Mike is busy babysitting the mayor during his senatorial election campaign, this time by enrolling in the city's underfunded big brother program, but adolescent Devin proves harder to handle even for Mike. Stuart and Carter refuse to do endless research for the senatorial campaign as order by Caitlin, so they blackmail her with a YouTube posting of her pitiful talent contest entry. James suffers worse the his toothache after consulting Paul's dodgy dental and other help guy. Paul proves himself talented at correctly assessing any number of scattered or arranged objects.
Episode 15
The Marry Caitlin Moore Show
Wed, Feb 9, 2000 30 mins
In order to improve Mayor Winston's political advertisements, Mike hires a British director named Trevor who turns out to be more than just an old friend to Caitlin. James obsesses over whether or not he is gay. Paul uses makeup to cover a skin rash.
Episode 16
Suffragette City
Wed, Feb 16, 2000 30 mins
Mike hires New York's oldest living voter, a 107-year-old woman, for a job. Caitlin's romance with Trevor upsets him. Paul muscles in on James' Hey Guy. Carter accuses a landlord of discriminating against gays.
Episode 17
Mike's Best Friend's Boyfriend
Wed, Feb 23, 2000 30 mins
Mike is convinced that carter's new boyfriend, Alex, is making inappropriate moves on him, even trying to make unwilling Niki his witness. In order to present the city positively, the mayor is to reward a good Samaritan, but the five finalists fight for it rather like mercenaries. Paul is finally to be interviewed by a reporter from his small home town, but the mayor can't stand not being in the spotlight and keeps stealing her attention. James falls for another of Stu's cruel liar pranks.
Episode 18
The Pig Whisperer
Wed, Mar 8, 2000 30 mins
Pig farmer Stepnowsk stubbornly refuses to sell the last land required to build the theatre. His only weakness is the desire to take revenge on the one Wisconsin champion he could never beat at pig-wrestling, James. Mike volunteers him for a bet, but didn't count on James's mental objections. Despite Carter's warning, the mayor befriends Gangsta rapper Smooth daddy, who parodied a mayoral campaign song. Paul thinks Stuart's Deidre was his secret first youth flame.
Episode 19
Uneasy Rider
Thu, Mar 23, 2000 30 mins
Mike has to handle both the mayor's aloof attitude about his heartless father's recent death and nonetheless constantly emerging emotions. After Carter declares being tired of serving as everybody's wise oracle, to his dismay Paul's magic ball is generally adopted as alternative decision guidance. After Caitlin gives the wrong signals, James goes all the way hoping he has a chance to seduce her.
Episode 20
About Last Night
Wed, Apr 19, 2000 30 mins
Mike tries to cure the mayor's phobia about absurdly hitting president Clinton before he actually visits city hall. Secret Service agent Duncan is determined to keep unauthorized persons away, including Paul, who commandeers James as decoy to shoot a picture. Meanwhile Carter and Nicki's vanity leads to a contest in seductive flirting.
Episode 21
Don't Get on the Bus
Wed, Apr 26, 2000 30 mins
Romantic sparks fly between Mike and Caitlin during Mayor Winston's listening tour. Carter tells Nikki to be more aggressive toward the men she wants in her life. James and Paul decide that Carter is more successful than they are, so they try to duplicate his success by emulating his physical characteristics.
Episode 22
Airplane!
Wed, May 3, 2000 30 mins
Stumbling into the hunger protest Carter staged for an environmental cause, Stuart accidentally ruins Carter's reputation and later steals the show again, at a meeting with the targeted company. On an airplane to a Chicago conference with flying-phobic Caitlin, Mike's desperate attempt to trump his rival, her fiancé Trevor, are surprisingly successful. It takes one call to have a light bulb changed in the mayor's high-ceiling office, but when he feels it's more manly to do it with help from Paul and James, misery strikes.
Episode 23
An American Deputy Mayor in Paris
Wed, May 10, 2000 30 mins
Noisy, raucous construction workers prevent Mike sleeping. Carter convinces Mike not to risk regretting not having tried to prevent Caitlin remarrying Trevor, so he takes the next plane to Paris, only to find her hotel is just as noisy, the bellboy as hostile. Stuart pays kids to play orphans for whose trip he supposedly raises money with a bikini calendar, so Nicky accepts to pose, but memories conspire gradually. The mayor is to receive a military decoration, but his spoiled rich boys Vietnam unit never even learned military etiquette. So James is ordered to drill the 'hero' in abusive boot camp style, only to find out the debasing truth.
Episode 24
The Commitments
Wed, May 17, 2000 30 mins
Mike's big mouth lands him in promise to prove his 'higher' love for Caitlin by abstaining from sex for a week. She fails to seduce him, despite some help from Stuart, yet more then ruins his hard-won victory. Although a life-long dog-hater, Winston develops a bond with Rags when they do a photo-shoot for a campaign to coax the animal rights activists, and is reluctant to return the mutt to owner Carter.
Episode 25
Goodbye: Part 1
Wed, May 24, 2000 30 mins
The colleagues praise Niki for her latest date Tony DiMarco, finally a classy man. Scandal reporter Wayne Sheridan taunts Mike with a scandal exposing the mayor as mob-broiled. Indeed, Tony got a sanitation contract during a hunting trip, but it's too late to put straight, so Mike, whose regular therapist handed over to father-figure Dr. Petersen, needs to choose a fall guy.
Episode 26
Goodbye: Part 2
Wed, May 24, 2000 30 mins
Although everyone still hopes Mike will somehow wriggle out or blame Paul, he really takes the blame for the mayor's 'mob contract' and leaves politics. His reminiscing team realizes how close they have become over a few years. Mike takes a lobbyist job.
