Alex's friend dies in an accident. As the family grieves, Alex tries to mask his pain, but he can't hide his sadness and other emotions forever.
Mallory introduces her new boyfriend, Nick, to the family. He isn't well received, and Steven realizes that he needs to trust Mallory and let her make her own choices.
Alex starts his sophomore year looking for a girlfriend in the freshman directory. He meets Tricia, who seems to be everything he wants. However, after a spat with Tricia's roommate Ellen, Alex finds...
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Title: Family Ties (1982–1989)
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| Complete series cast summary: | |||
| Meredith Baxter | ... | Elyse Keaton / ... 172 episodes, 1982-1989 | |
| Michael Gross | ... | Steven Keaton / ... 172 episodes, 1982-1989 | |
| Michael J. Fox | ... | Alex P. Keaton 172 episodes, 1982-1989 | |
| Justine Bateman | ... | Mallory Keaton / ... 172 episodes, 1982-1989 | |
| Tina Yothers | ... | Jennifer Keaton / ... 172 episodes, 1982-1989 | |
| Brian Bonsall | ... | Andrew 'Andy' Keaton 75 episodes, 1986-1989 | |
Steven and Elyse Keaton, once 1960s radicals, now find themselves in Reagan-era America 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 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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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.