Editing Michael J. Fox (section)

=== 1980–1984: Early roles and television ===
Fox's first feature film roles were ''[[Midnight Madness (1980 film)|Midnight Madness]]'' (1980) and ''[[Class of 1984]]'' (1982), credited in both as Michael Fox. Shortly afterward, he began playing "[[Young Republicans|Young Republican]]" [[Alex P. Keaton]] in the show ''[[Family Ties]]'', which aired on [[NBC]] for seven seasons from 1982 to 1989. In an interview with [[Jimmy Fallon]] in April 2014, Fox stated he negotiated the role at a payphone at [[Pioneer Chicken]]. He received the role only after [[Matthew Broderick]] was unavailable.<ref name="slate" /> ''Family Ties'' had been sold to the television network using the pitch "[[Hip (slang)|Hip]] parents, [[Square (slang)|square]] kids",<ref name="slate">{{cite magazine |last=Haglund |first=David |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/dvdextras/2007/03/reagans_favorite_sitcom.single.html |title=Reagan's Favorite Sitcom: How Family Ties spawned a conservative hero |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=March 2, 2007 |access-date=January 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514172956/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/dvdextras/2007/03/reagans_favorite_sitcom.single.html |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> with the parents originally intended to be the main characters. However, the positive reaction to Fox's performance led to his character becoming the focus of the show following the fourth episode.<ref name="slate" /> 

[[Brandon Tartikoff]], one of the show's producers, felt that Fox was too short in relation to the actors playing his parents, and tried to have him replaced. Tartikoff reportedly said that "this is not the kind of face you'll ever find on a lunchbox." After his later successes, Fox presented Tartikoff with a custom-made lunchbox with the inscription "To Brandon: This is for you to put your [[eat crow|crow]] in. Love and Kisses, Michael J." Tartikoff kept the lunchbox in his office for the rest of his NBC career.{{sfn|Fox|2003|pages=[https://archive.org/details/luckyman00mich/page/81 81–82]}}<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brandon-tartikoff-private-files-revealed-379352| title=The Private Files of Brandon Tartikoff Revealed| magazine=The Hollywood Reporter| date=October 17, 2012 | first=Lacey| last=Rose| access-date=November 19, 2020| archive-date=November 7, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107060049/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brandon-tartikoff-private-files-revealed-379352| url-status=live}}</ref>