Sacrée famille

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.

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.

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!?"

I get nostalgic about television shows like Family Ties. It was based around two parents who graduated University of California at Berkeley in the sixties. It was wise to have their eldest son, Alex P., to be on the opposite fence of politics. ALex with his tie and pictures of Ronald Reagan and Nixon. His younger sister, Mallory, played well by Justine Bateman cares more about fashion than grades or Alex's politics. It's great watching these two in action. The younger sister, Jennifer, develops from a young girl to an independent adolescent. There were always two story lines going on in every episode. Marc Price's SKippy is priceless for a thankless job. Scott valentine plays Mallory's boyfriend, Nick, a painter who never finished high school. Some of the best moments in this series happens after Nick enters the Keatons lives and his relationship with them. The mixture of great characters with witty dialogue. You can't stop laughing when Mr. Keaton tries to apologize to Nick in a ladies' shoe store. He comes across as a former gay lover than the father of Mallory but it's full of laughs. Despite the witty dialogues, this was a believable family who introduced Andrew, the youngest and fourth child. What do the children think when they find out. "I was talking about closet space" Mallory says to Alex. Oh, this is truly a family show for everybody. I can't say how I miss a family centered show on such a wonderful family like the Keatons.

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.