Family Ties 

Chronicles liberal ex-hippies Steven and Elyse Keaton, their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew.

Creator:

Gary David Goldberg

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 22 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Meredith Baxter	...	Elyse Keaton / ... 171 episodes, 1982-1989
Michael Gross	...	Steven Keaton / ... 171 episodes, 1982-1989
Michael J. Fox	...	Alex P. Keaton 171 episodes, 1982-1989
Justine Bateman	...	Mallory Keaton / ... 171 episodes, 1982-1989
Tina Yothers	...	Jennifer Keaton / ... 171 episodes, 1982-1989
Brian Bonsall	...	Andrew 'Andy' Keaton 74 episodes, 1986-1989

Storyline

Steven and Elyse Keaton, once 1960s radicals, now find themselves in Reagan-era American trying to raise a traditional suburban family. Their three first kids are Alex (a very ambitious Young Republican), Mallory (a ditzy and boy-crazy fashionista) and Jennifer (whom we first get to know as a precocious nine-year-old tomboy). Later on, a fourth child (Andrew) was added to the Keaton family. Most of the comedy arose from the conflict between the ex-hippie parents vs the conservative Alex and the brainless beauty Mallory.

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Plot Keywords:

liberal | conservative | young republican | columbus ohio | overalls | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Family Ties

Filming Locations:

Metromedia Square - 5746 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television, Ubu Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (180 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the memoir "Lucky Man", shortly before Fox won the role of Alex P. Keaton, Fox's father had written him a letter and encouraged him to "pull the curtain" on his acting career in Los Angeles given his recent struggles. A few weeks later, he was taking a bus to work every day to shoot the show.

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Quotes

Alex P. Keaton: Mallory, someone stupid called... sometime today... about something trivial.
Mallory Keaton: Alex you know that could be any one of my friends.

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Alternate Versions

The complete opening credit sequences in each episode were cut from one minute to thirty seconds in syndication. Episodes now airing on Nick at Nite have restored the complete opening credit sequences. Original syndication episodes released in 1987 retain their original versions of the Paramount Pictures ID Jingle. Current Nick at Nite episodes feature the current Paramount TV ID.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Michael J. Fox/Black Crowes (1991)

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Soundtracks

Without Us
(Theme song)
Lyrics by Jeff Barry
Music by Tom Scott
Performed by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams

User Reviews

"Family" TV shows don't get much better

If there's something that popular culture from the decades of the 1950s and 1980s share,it's the "family" sitcom(i.e. unitary parents and kids,all attractive and relatively free of deep problems). And while there was some variance of family types,from the more safe,traditional families of "The Cosby Show","Growing Pains" ,"Mr.Belvedere",to the not-so-conventional domestic groupings as "Full House", "The Hogan Family"(originally "VAlerie",which originally aimed to BE a conventional family sitcom) and "Who's the Boss"(or,for that matter,surface-traditional-looking shows "Roseanne" and "Married...With Children"),it seemed to me that as these shows went,none of them matched the wit,warmth and viability as "Family Ties".

The Keatons are about as polarized a unit as they come: parents Steven and Elyse(MIchael Gross and Meredith BAxter-Birney,both excellent!)are '60s Lefty IDealists,and as such,carried their idealism into their work as adults--Steven works for Public TElevision and Elyse carries her form of modified feminism into a successful job as an architect--but cannot seem to carry it into their children. Alex(Michael J.Fox,birthing much of his career out of one very iconic role,which is no mean feat!),a buttoned-down Conservative practically from birth,MAllory(Justine BAteman,who is STILL a babe IMHO),the dim,materialistic mall-girl younger daughter and Jennifer(Tina Yothers,who became as famous for disappearing from showbiz as appearing),the bright but resigned youngest,who is neither idealist or materialist. As the show ran along,you added such extra characters to the pastiche as Skippy(MArc Price,doing stand-up somewhere now),the dippy,well-meaning neighbor kid with a painful crush on MAllory,Nick(Scott VAlentine),MAllory's equally dim but cool boyfriend,Ellen(Tracy POllan,future Mrs.Michael J.Fox),Alex's unlikely liberal girlfriend and LAuren(Coutreney Cox,yes,THAT Coutrney Cox),another lock-horns girlfriend of Alex's and baby brother Andy(Brian "Mikey" Bonsall),Alex's potential protégé.

After a bit of a sluggish start,NBC wisely gambled to keep this on and it managed to hook on to Thursday and Sunday night schedules and ride steadily improving ratings over the remainder of the show's run. While it's been some years since I've seen any of the shows,I was a loyal viewer of the show and enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm not sure if or where this show is re-running,but I may have to check these shows out again soon,if for nothing else to re-visit one of the more well-crafted TV programs to grace the airwaves over that rascally decade of greed,spandex and hair.