Family Ties

Family Ties was one of the best shows in the 80's. The show that made Michael J. Fox popular. The show was funny and also a little bit dramatic. The actors were great. I wonder what some of the actors are doing nowadays.

'Family Ties' is great and even though I haven't seen that many episodes, I still rank it among my top ten favorite TV shows. The cast is great, the writing is excellent, and it just makes me laugh about a million times within the half hour of air time.

Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter, Justine Bateman, and Tina Yothers are all terrific in their given roles. They are all funny and great and anything else that I want in a television show, but the real stand out is of course, Michael J. Fox. I've adored Fox for many years and then when I finally got around to seeing him as Alex P. Keaton, well he just amazed me. He's so excellent with his quick comedic timing and snappy comebacks. (Particularly the ones given to Mallory make me laugh the hardest.) All in all he's a wonderful actor, not just in this show even though it brings the best out of him, but on any project he works on.

The writing is fast moving, hilarious, and just about some of the best that I've seen in a comedy serious. Although it is now...20 years old, the series is still one of the best, even up against today's series. Lets face it, today's television has gone straight to the trash can with the exception of a very small percent of shows.

Each episode is great, and if the plot isn't all that good, the writing and performances make up for it. I have to say that there were many episodes that I saw where I was so bored (about the plot), yet they still turned out good because of the comedy.

All of the Emmys and Golden Globes and many more awards that 'Family Ties' was nominated for and having won throughout the years were all well deserved. A couple of more wins wouldn't have hurt. I can honestly say that this is one show that I try to catch (only on Nick can it be seen where I'm at). I love it, I love Fox, and good job to the writers. The show is great!

I often watch old sitcoms that I use to love as a kid. A lot of times, I'm disappointed because they are not near as good as I remembered, and in some cases they are just plain bad, when seen through my now-adult eyes. Family Ties is NOT one of those sitcoms! It's more impressive now than it was then. And of course, there are things that I pick up on now that I didn't when I was 10 years old. (politics/ hippies)

I also never realized how FUNNY Michael Gross was until I started watching it again recently. I have no idea how that slipped by me! He is hilarious. Micheal J Fox is very funny too, of course. He had a lot of funny lines, but I've only recently noticed how much physical comedy he did as well. It's really sad to watch how quick and nimble he use to be; the way he could jump up onto the kitchen counter in one quick motion and slide all the way across it.

There was always a moral lesson, too. I think all '80s sitcoms had those, but Family Ties pulled it off w/o being too cheesy about it. It's such a great show for both kids & adults. Every time I watch it, I find myself thinking "what ever happened to good, quality TV!?"

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.

I never really watched this series on its first run in the 80s so I decided to give it a look. It became apparent that Fox was the breakout actor. He just had that charisma that translated to movies. Michael Gross was the surprise for me. He is absolutely and completely a comedic genius. Baxter's comedic timing and dramatic skills were deftly used. Bateman and Yother both held their own up against a couple of seasoned actors.

The series explored several social issues without creating division and animosity. It showed that families can have differing philosophies without breaking them apart. From suicide to teen angst to moral dilemmas to financial theory to freedom of speech etc., the writers kept the topics current and timely, issues we still have today. That's why it translates so well into the 21st century.

It's sad that current family sitcoms have descended into one-sided lectures on political and social issues. I can't watch them today because they no longer promote dialogue. It's all "in your face and accept it!" these days.

I will watch this series again. It's funny, sweet, balanced and classic tv.

One technical issue I have is the episodes are played out of order in some instances. For example, an episode when Andy is an infant is played in season 6. I have to ask why. Just curious.