With Breaking Bad ending its run this summer, we have to start to think about the future for the rest of the cast. NO ONE is likely to ever top their stint on Vince Gilligan’s drama, so we’ll all invariably be a little letdown by their next projects (see, e.g., the entire cast of The Wire). I’m guessing Aaron Paul will go into feature films, Bryan Cranston will move behind the camera for a few years, Anna Gunn will land a premium cable drama, and Dean Norris will probably end up some chucklehead on a bad sitcom. So it goes. But at least we know where Betsy Brandt is going, and there is no surer bet than the sitcom role she has landed.
From Deadline:
Brandt is set as the female lead opposite Michael J. Fox on his NBC comedy, which has a 22-episode order for a fall 2013 launch. The single-camera comedy, from Sony Pictures TV and producer-director Will Gluck (Easy A), is inspired by Fox’s real life and stars him as Mike Burnaby, a husband and father of three in New York City juggling the challenges of family and career while dealing with Parkinson’s disease. A former lead anchor for a local NY station, Mike decides to go back to work after Parkinson’s forced him to take time off.
Who is not going to watch that show? It may end up being as mediocre as Matthew Perry’s Go On (although, with Will Gluck behind it, I suspect it’ll be better), but Michael J. Fox is the most likable guy in the history of television. I will watch that sitcom purely out of loyalty to Michael J. Fox, and if it’s good, all the better. What I guarantee, however, is that it gets huge ratings, and lasts at least a few seasons, probably long enough to get a syndication deal (Michael J. Fox is already 2 for 2 in the sitcom department). Basically, Betsy Brandt has just landed a role that will ensure she will retire comfortably, reaping syndication royalties from both Breaking Bad and Michael J. Fox’s sitcom for the rest of her life.
Also, if you need any further proof of how awesome Michael J. Fox is, look no further than this piece, where Michael J. Fox confirms that he wouldn’t want his son to date Taylor Swift.
(Source: Deadline)
