This Tuesday night, you can do a little time traveling right on your living room couch when you watch Scream 2010 on Spike TV. Tune in and you will see Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Back To The Future, as well as Jimmy Kimmel's final farewell to Lost, a pack of vampires from True Blood and Twilight, and the single greatest Bill Murray cameo appearance since at least Zombieland.
Backstage the other night at the Greek Theatre as head writer for the show, I had the pleasure of meeting Christopher Lloyd for the first time, and catching up with Michael J. Fox who I've had the great honor of knowing a bit since the Spin City days. As an aging fanboy, Back To The Future is a movie I've probably watched during every one of those 25 years. In more recent years, Back To The Future is also a film classic that I've watched repeatedly and excitedly with my two young sons, who now love it just as much as I do.
Michael J. Fox -- always one of the nicer guys on earth -- kindly mentioned that he enjoys my Huffington Post playlists. Between Michael and George Clooney recently confessing to reading these playlists, I can now estimate that the average Huffington Post reader is a charismatic superstar actor with endless charm and a fully functioning social conscious. While I'm no advertising expert, that sure seems like a very attractive demographic.
As Marty McFly in the Back To The Future trilogy, Michael J. Fox plays a timeless hero. But as a Dad, you try to help your kids distinguish between heroes onscreen and off. I've taught my kids that Michael J. Fox is the real deal in both realms. Beyond being a great star, Michael is also a public figure who using his enduring fame to actually try and make the future brighter not just for himself, but also for so many others through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. According to its mission statement, Michael's Foundation is dedicated "to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today."
Listen, I love The Secret Of My Success and Doc Hollywood as much as the next guy -- frankly, I probably love them even a little more than the next guy. But beyond being a fan of the man's work as an actor, I just want to say that Michael J. Fox is much more than another shining star. He's someone who his kids -- and all of our kids -- ought to look up to as a true movie hero, a gifted actor who's shown tremendous grace under considerable pressure in one of the role's of his lifetime.
As far as I know, time-travel remains a pretty elusive goal, but making the future better for everybody with Parkinson's disease seems like a very realistic and worthy priority. If our two political parties weren't so busy with endless pissing matches, maybe they could do more about things like this that actually matter. Here's hoping that the Michael J. Fox Foundation accomplishes each and every one of its honorable and important goals as soon as possible. That truly would be something worth screaming "Great Scott!" about. To borrow just one memorable line from Back To The Future, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."
So here's a forward-looking playlist for one of this world's true heroes, the artist formerly known as Marty McFly -- the one and only Michael J. Fox.
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE - Brad Paisley
LIVING IN THE FUTURE - Bruce Springsteen
SWEET LITTLE ROCK & ROLLER - Chuck Berry
JOHNNY B. GOODE - Michael J. Fox
THE FUTURE- Leonard Cohen
BACK IN TIME - Huey Lewis & The News
I CAN SEE YOUR FUTURE - Belle and Sebastian
YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND- McFly
HERE COMES THE FUTURE - World Party
TIME BOMB TOWN - Lindsay Buckingham
THE WALLFLOWER (DANCE WITH ME HENRY) - Etta James
LIGHT OF DAY - Michael J. Fox, Joan Jett & The Barbusters
DELOREAN - Fluc Capacitor
THE POWER OF LOVE - Huey Lewis & The News
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY - Donald Fagen
THE HARD WAY - The Kinks
THE FUTURE - Michael Franti & Spearhead
TRACY - The Cufflinks
O LUCKY MAN! - Alan Price
POISON IVY - The Coasters
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX - The Doors
YOU GOT NO PLACE TO GO - Michael J. Fox
FOX ON THE RUN - The Sweet
SOMETIMES THE GOOD GUYS FINISH FIRST - Pat Benatar
SHOOTING FOR THE MOON - Amy Holland
BLAME CANADA - South Park
WITHOUT US - Johnny Mathis & Denice Williams
SOMEWHERE IN MY FUTURE - The Motion
LIKE A FOX - Manassas
HELP - The Beatles
BACK TO THE FUTURE - Brad Paisley
Please time travel through your memories, and add your own songs for Michael J. Fox right here.