Former model Carla Gugino got her first real notice as an actress with the debut of ABC's "Spin City" at the start of the 1996 fall TV season.

On the sitcom, she played the reporter girlfriend of Michael J. Fox's deputy mayor. Then, as fans warmed to Gugino's Ashley, she was gone.

Gugino's midseason departure in December 1996 stirred more controversy offscreen than her character's dalliance with the enemy did onscreen. But rumors that Fox asked the actress to leave the series when his wife became jealous of their chemistry were quickly dismissed. So were stories that Gugino's rising popularity ticked off her co-star.

The official explanation given was that plots were gravitating toward the career of Fox's character and away from his love life.

That's also the reason Gugino provided in an interview with the Calgary Sun.

"Michael and I had this kind of 'Mad About You' relationship, but the producers decided they wanted to spend more time at the office with those characters, so I was written out," she said. "There was no animosity as was being reported in the press."

In the end, things seem to have worked out for the best. Gugino had earlier expressed concerns that a steady job on a television series would keep her from getting varied parts elsewhere.

"I want this in no way to limit my ability to do many different roles," she told USA Today when the show began.

With "Snake Eyes," she showed she could handle a lot more than the part of a spunky newshound. Gugino held her own with Oscar winner Nicolas Cage and Gary Sinise, playing a mysterious witness to the assassination of the U.S. Secretary of Defense during a championship fight in Atlantic City.

It's a quantam leap from the days of "Son in Law" and proof that Gugino is nowhere near spinning out.