Michael J. Fox's movies are as well-loved as many of his TV shows. It's not uncommon for an actor to specialize in either TV or film, but Fox has enjoyed a storied run of success in both industries. The show in question that abruptly ended in 2014 wasn't necessarily axed due to its quality, but something else entirely.

Fox rose to fame as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, but still found time to cement his stardom in the Back to the Future trilogy while remaining on the sitcom that made him. After a lengthy foray into the movie industry, Fox returned to sitcoms to play Mike Flaherty in 103 episodes of Spin City. Living with Parkinson's disease made accepting certain roles a little more difficult, but in 2013, a new Michael J. Fox character briefly came into existence that accommodated the actor's symptoms.

The Michael J. Fox Show Has 7 Episodes That Never Aired In The US

The 2014 Winter Olympics ended the run of Fox's sitcom

Fox played Michael "Mike" Henry in all 22 episodes of The Michael J. Fox show. The actor's fictional namesake had the same diagnosis, which informed the plot of Mike returning to work after stepping down as a news anchor four years earlier. The sitcom was eventually canceled after a single season, but strangely, its fate wasn't yet decided when NBC suddenly stopped airing the show after episode 15, "Sochi."

The Michael J. Fox Show pilot episode aired on September 26, 2013.

As one of the broadcasters for the 2014 Winter Olympics, NBC had to rearrange its schedule to accommodate the various sporting events. Unfortunately, The Michael J. Fox Show's slot went to the Olympics, and when the multinational contest was over, NBC had moved on from the sitcom and decided not to air the remaining 7 episodes. Sochi was the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the plot of the last aired episode of The Michael J. Fox show aligned with this fact.

The Unaired Michael J. Fox Episodes Were Eventually Broadcast (But Not In The US)

Fox's Australian fans weren't kept in the dark

The final 7 episodes of The Michael J. Fox Show season 1 did hit the airwaves, but only in Australia. The show began on Australia's Universal Channel in January 2014, and resumed with weekly broadcasts - unlike NBC. So, on March 12, 2014, the episode "Surprise!" became the first episode of the sitcom to air exclusively outside the country that produced it. The run ended with its intended final episode, "Changes," which aired on April 23, 2014. For American Michael J. Fox fans, it would likely have been a huge disappointment, but at least the show was allowed to conclude elsewhere.