The Way We Were (8 Nov. 1987)

The Keatons are delighted by a surprise visit from Elyse's Aunt Rosemary. The Keatons start to notice a difference in her actions, and Rosemary finally admits she is becoming forgetful. A doctor diagnoses onset Alzheimer's disease

Director:

Will Mackenzie

Writers:

Gary David Goldberg (creator), Gary David Goldberg

Stars:

Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Michael J. Fox

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Meredith Baxter	...	Elyse Keaton
Michael Gross	...	Steven Keaton
Michael J. Fox	...	Alex P. Keaton
Justine Bateman	...	Mallory Keaton
Tina Yothers	...	Jennifer Keaton
Brian Bonsall	...	Andrew 'Andy' Keaton
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barbara Barrie	...	Aunt Rosemary
Matthew Faison	...	Dr. Skip Williamson
Scott Valentine	...	Nick Moore

Storyline

The Keatons are delighted by a surprise visit from Elyse's Aunt Rosemary. The Keatons start to notice a difference in her actions, and Rosemary finally admits she is becoming forgetful. A doctor diagnoses onset Alzheimer's disease

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1987 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is from the classic Robert Redford/Barbra Streisand romance The Way We Were.

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Connections

References The Way We Were (1973)

User Reviews

Forget me not

As far as "Family Ties" episodes go in tackling the heavy issues, this is one of the better attempts, with Elyse's Aunt (Barrie) making an unannounced visit that reveals she is suffering from Alhzeimer's disease.

Barrie plays with dignity her role of the effervescent and fiercely independent woman struggling to understand her forgetfulness. The penultimate scene is obvious and reasonably moving, it's a strong episode without the typical happy ending, though not necessarily without the possibility of one eventuating (although we'll never know).

Baxter seems to invest a lot of herself in this episode and it was pleasing to see the script take the subject matter seriously without resorting to many gags to soften the impact (one or two jokes are made about Steven's name, but their tasteful in context). Not an Emmy-Award winning teleplay, but Barrie's performance is pretty good nonetheless.