FOX'S EXIT PUTS SHOW IN A `SPIN'.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

It's not going too far to say that without Michael J. Fox, ``Spin City'' would likely have been canceled a long time ago. The sitcom boasts a great idea - cheerfully reveling in the wholesale chicanery of big-city politics - but for an ostensibly political show, it's awfully toothless (``The West Wing'' has finally proven a network series can deal with issues without viewers abandoning it in droves). In reality, ``Spin's'' just another workplace comedy with the usual requisite bunch of zany and inept characters.

Put Fox in the mix, though, and his brand of lovable unctuousness somehow redeems the whole thing. His gift was more in evidence in ``Family Ties,'' the long-running series that made him a star: As Alex Keaton, Fox made his greed-is-good mantra seem cuddly and adorably misguided. But he probably had a tougher job with ``Spin City,'' since the writing for this show was more schematic, so the fact that he's dragged it through four seasons is perhaps a more impressive accomplishment.

Also, here, Fox has just been one of a scheming, cynical bunch of characters; the fact that he's the most competent helps him look positively angelic amongst the duplicitous boobs he helps lead. With Fox's announcement earlier this year that he was leaving the show due to his Parkinson's disease - a condition he had miraculously concealed from the tabloids and mainstream press for nearly a decade - he transformed tonight's season finale into an event. Few will tune in to say goodbye to Michael Flaherty, Fox's character; instead, they're bidding adieu to Fox himself (who really isn't going anywhere - he'll still serve as executive producer on the show and direct some episodes next season).

Too bad the writers can't rise to the occasion and make the evening memorable. In tonight's episode, a reporter unearths the fact that Mayor Winston (Barry Bostwick) - and just about all of his aides except Mike Flaherty (Fox) - have had an unwitting (and, therefore, most unlikely), cushy relationship with a proverbial reputed mobster. While the rest of the bunch searches for weasel room, Mike nobly rescues the administration by grabbing the sword and falling upon it himself.

Each character gets a requisite good-bye moment, but, since these aren't characters in whom we've invested a great deal of emotional energy, the sentiment becomes more about Fox's condition than about the flimsy plot. After all, there's no indication amid the chest-pounding that Flaherty's leaving town or walking out of their lives forever (the show's producers didn't include the episode's final, cliffhanger scene on review copies).

When Charlie Sheen joins the cast next year, that should do it in - not because Sheen doesn't have a facility for cynical comedy, but because despite all the talk about ``Spin City'' being an ensemble series, Fox truly was the heart of the show. And how many folks do you know - all right, outside of the entertainment industry - who can thrive without a heart?

The facts

--The show: ``Spin City.''

--What: Season finale bidding farewell to star Michael J. Fox.

--The stars: Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear, Michael Boatman, Barry Bostwick, Connie Britton, Alan Ruck, Richard Kind.

--Where: ABC (Channel 7).

--When: 9 tonight.

--Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo:

Heather Locklear gives Michael J. Fox a hug before his departure on an hourlong episode of the ABC sitcom ``Spin City'' tonight.