The Eighties were ruled by television sitcoms. Reality television was a concept that had not yet been realized and people sat down in front of the TV set to laugh and relax. Another staple of the Eighties was Michael J. Fox. Though he achieved superstardom with the "Back to the Future" movies, Fox made a name for himself as the seventeen year old hard-core republican Alex P. Keaton in the TV series "Family Ties." The diminutive actor would later star in other films and television shows, but "Back to the Future" and "Family Ties" are the two resume entries that have defined him and are most associated with his name.
"Family Ties" is about hippie liberals Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) and their trials and tribulations in raising there three conservative children. The youngest, Jennifer (Tina Yothers), is very intelligent and will tell it like it is. She shies away from nobody and nothing and typically finds her mouth getting herself in trouble. The oldest daughter, Mallory (Justine Bateman) cares only for her wardrobe and what boy she can date. She is ditzy and uninspired when it comes to he studies. The only son and oldest member of the Keaton family is Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). Keaton is an expert on economics, Ronald Reagan and other important Republican topics. Though the other two children typically butt heads with their parents liberal ideas, Alex is completely opposite of his two loving parents.
As a sitcom, "Family Ties" was smartly written and its sarcastic provided both humor and lessons on life. The show tackled political themes, as well as the trials and tribulations of family life and growing up. Honesty, responsibility, loyalty and faithfulness were common topics addressed by the sitcom. Situations constantly arose where the Keaton children and their parents needed to cope with the facts of life in ways that were not always desirable to each individual one of them, but in the end would result in another happy ending. Alex and Mallory were children who would rarely sacrifice their own time for the benefit of others and would routinely con their way into bettering their own situation; even at the risk of causing others a little grief. Wrists would be slapped, morality would be taught and each episode would end happily and with a lesson learned. And Ubu would be told to sit. Good dog.
The cast of "Family Ties" is marvelous. Michael Gross plays the lovable dad that uses a mix of honesty, caring and sarcasm to rule his roost. He has been around the block, but has a tremendous love of life and all of these qualities are done nicely by Gross. Meredith Baxter Birney is the former hippie who has become the professional woman and voice or reason in the Keaton household. She is a lovely lady, but the strongest person in the house. Child actor Tina Yothers has fallen into obscurity since "Family Ties," but her early work as the overly intelligent and older than her years Jennifer were nicely done and though she is more of a "South Park" punch-line than remembered for her performance, it was her and Michael J. Fox that stole the scenes. Justine Bateman was fine as Mallory and fit in nicely as the boy-crazy and fashion loving sister. Then of course, there was Michael J. Fox. The character of Alex P. Keaton goes down in my book as one of the absolute best characters in television history. Seriously, who came up with the idea of a seventeen year old with a poster of William F. Buckley on their wall?
Aside from the Keaton family, there were not many reoccurring characters on the show. The first season saw only two repeat performances from supporting characters. The goofy and backward neighbor, Skippy (Marc Price) appeared in a couple episodes in the first season. He was a fresh face and nice contrast the intelligent and sarcastic Keaton bunch. Jeff Wakefield (John Dukakis) was the dumber-than-a-doorknob lover interest and French tutor of Mallory. Reoccurring characters and a consistent plotline were not strengths of the first season. In fact, if it were not for the reappearance of Jeff towards the end of the season, a case could be made that the episodes could very easily have been placed in any order and would have made perfect sense. Each episode had a problem or situation that would require solving, but as a whole, "Family Ties" did not have a storyline. The first season saw Tom Hanks appear in a two-part episode, and he was the only familiar guest star to appear on the show.
"Family Ties" is a wonderful artifact of the Eighties television sitcom. Families were mostly functional, full of love and created blueprints for others to follow. Both "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" fit into these formulaic subgenre of sitcoms and was a far departure from older shows such as "All in the Family" and "Sanford and Son" that was all about disfunctionality. Of course, the Nineties would find the rise of "Married With Children" and other such sitcoms that threw away the family values and loving lessons taught by shows such as "Family Ties.´´ The Keaton children were smartmouthed and cocky at times, but they all loved one another, even if it meant constant ridicule and harassment of one another. Sitcoms have sadly given way to the horrendous trend of reality television. If it weren´t for "My Name is Earl," you could almost write the sitcom off as extinct.
"Family Ties" is about hippie liberals Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) and their trials and tribulations in raising there three conservative children. The youngest, Jennifer (Tina Yothers), is very intelligent and will tell it like it is. She shies away from nobody and nothing and typically finds her mouth getting herself in trouble. The oldest daughter, Mallory (Justine Bateman) cares only for her wardrobe and what boy she can date. She is ditzy and uninspired when it comes to he studies. The only son and oldest member of the Keaton family is Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). Keaton is an expert on economics, Ronald Reagan and other important Republican topics. Though the other two children typically butt heads with their parents liberal ideas, Alex is completely opposite of his two loving parents.
As a sitcom, "Family Ties" was smartly written and its sarcastic provided both humor and lessons on life. The show tackled political themes, as well as the trials and tribulations of family life and growing up. Honesty, responsibility, loyalty and faithfulness were common topics addressed by the sitcom. Situations constantly arose where the Keaton children and their parents needed to cope with the facts of life in ways that were not always desirable to each individual one of them, but in the end would result in another happy ending. Alex and Mallory were children who would rarely sacrifice their own time for the benefit of others and would routinely con their way into bettering their own situation; even at the risk of causing others a little grief. Wrists would be slapped, morality would be taught and each episode would end happily and with a lesson learned. And Ubu would be told to sit. Good dog.
The cast of "Family Ties" is marvelous. Michael Gross plays the lovable dad that uses a mix of honesty, caring and sarcasm to rule his roost. He has been around the block, but has a tremendous love of life and all of these qualities are done nicely by Gross. Meredith Baxter Birney is the former hippie who has become the professional woman and voice or reason in the Keaton household. She is a lovely lady, but the strongest person in the house. Child actor Tina Yothers has fallen into obscurity since "Family Ties," but her early work as the overly intelligent and older than her years Jennifer were nicely done and though she is more of a "South Park" punch-line than remembered for her performance, it was her and Michael J. Fox that stole the scenes. Justine Bateman was fine as Mallory and fit in nicely as the boy-crazy and fashion loving sister. Then of course, there was Michael J. Fox. The character of Alex P. Keaton goes down in my book as one of the absolute best characters in television history. Seriously, who came up with the idea of a seventeen year old with a poster of William F. Buckley on their wall?
Aside from the Keaton family, there were not many reoccurring characters on the show. The first season saw only two repeat performances from supporting characters. The goofy and backward neighbor, Skippy (Marc Price) appeared in a couple episodes in the first season. He was a fresh face and nice contrast the intelligent and sarcastic Keaton bunch. Jeff Wakefield (John Dukakis) was the dumber-than-a-doorknob lover interest and French tutor of Mallory. Reoccurring characters and a consistent plotline were not strengths of the first season. In fact, if it were not for the reappearance of Jeff towards the end of the season, a case could be made that the episodes could very easily have been placed in any order and would have made perfect sense. Each episode had a problem or situation that would require solving, but as a whole, "Family Ties" did not have a storyline. The first season saw Tom Hanks appear in a two-part episode, and he was the only familiar guest star to appear on the show.
"Family Ties" is a wonderful artifact of the Eighties television sitcom. Families were mostly functional, full of love and created blueprints for others to follow. Both "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" fit into these formulaic subgenre of sitcoms and was a far departure from older shows such as "All in the Family" and "Sanford and Son" that was all about disfunctionality. Of course, the Nineties would find the rise of "Married With Children" and other such sitcoms that threw away the family values and loving lessons taught by shows such as "Family Ties.´´ The Keaton children were smartmouthed and cocky at times, but they all loved one another, even if it meant constant ridicule and harassment of one another. Sitcoms have sadly given way to the horrendous trend of reality television. If it weren´t for "My Name is Earl," you could almost write the sitcom off as extinct.
The Eighties were ruled by television sitcoms. Reality television was a concept that had not yet been realized and people sat down in front of the TV set to laugh and relax. Another staple of the Eighties was Michael J. Fox. Though he achieved superstardom with the "Back to the Future" movies, Fox made a name for himself as the seventeen year old hard-core republican Alex P. Keaton in the TV series "Family Ties." The diminutive actor would later star in other films and television shows, but "Back to the Future" and "Family Ties" are the two resume entries that have defined him and are most associated with his name.
"Family Ties" is about hippie liberals Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) and their trials and tribulations in raising there three conservative children. The youngest, Jennifer (Tina Yothers), is very intelligent and will tell it like it is. She shies away from nobody and nothing and typically finds her mouth getting herself in trouble. The oldest daughter, Mallory (Justine Bateman) cares only for her wardrobe and what boy she can date. She is ditzy and uninspired when it comes to he studies. The only son and oldest member of the Keaton family is Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). Keaton is an expert on economics, Ronald Reagan and other important Republican topics. Though the other two children typically butt heads with their parents liberal ideas, Alex is completely opposite of his two loving parents.
As a sitcom, "Family Ties" was smartly written and its sarcastic provided both humor and lessons on life. The show tackled political themes, as well as the trials and tribulations of family life and growing up. Honesty, responsibility, loyalty and faithfulness were common topics addressed by the sitcom. Situations constantly arose where the Keaton children and their parents needed to cope with the facts of life in ways that were not always desirable to each individual one of them, but in the end would result in another happy ending. Alex and Mallory were children who would rarely sacrifice their own time for the benefit of others and would routinely con their way into bettering their own situation; even at the risk of causing others a little grief. Wrists would be slapped, morality would be taught and each episode would end happily and with a lesson learned. And Ubu would be told to sit. Good dog.
The cast of "Family Ties" is marvelous. Michael Gross plays the lovable dad that uses a mix of honesty, caring and sarcasm to rule his roost. He has been around the block, but has a tremendous love of life and all of these qualities are done nicely by Gross. Meredith Baxter Birney is the former hippie who has become the professional woman and voice or reason in the Keaton household. She is a lovely lady, but the strongest person in the house. Child actor Tina Yothers has fallen into obscurity since "Family Ties," but her early work as the overly intelligent and older than her years Jennifer were nicely done and though she is more of a "South Park" punch-line than remembered for her performance, it was her and Michael J. Fox that stole the scenes. Justine Bateman was fine as Mallory and fit in nicely as the boy-crazy and fashion loving sister. Then of course, there was Michael J. Fox. The character of Alex P. Keaton goes down in my book as one of the absolute best characters in television history. Seriously, who came up with the idea of a seventeen year old with a poster of William F. Buckley on their wall?
Aside from the Keaton family, there were not many reoccurring characters on the show. The first season saw only two repeat performances from supporting characters. The goofy and backward neighbor, Skippy (Marc Price) appeared in a couple episodes in the first season. He was a fresh face and nice contrast the intelligent and sarcastic Keaton bunch. Jeff Wakefield (John Dukakis) was the dumber-than-a-doorknob lover interest and French tutor of Mallory. Reoccurring characters and a consistent plotline were not strengths of the first season. In fact, if it were not for the reappearance of Jeff towards the end of the season, a case could be made that the episodes could very easily have been placed in any order and would have made perfect sense. Each episode had a problem or situation that would require solving, but as a whole, "Family Ties" did not have a storyline. The first season saw Tom Hanks appear in a two-part episode, and he was the only familiar guest star to appear on the show.
"Family Ties" is a wonderful artifact of the Eighties television sitcom. Families were mostly functional, full of love and created blueprints for others to follow. Both "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" fit into these formulaic subgenre of sitcoms and was a far departure from older shows such as "All in the Family" and "Sanford and Son" that was all about disfunctionality. Of course, the Nineties would find the rise of "Married With Children" and other such sitcoms that threw away the family values and loving lessons taught by shows such as "Family Ties.´´ The Keaton children were smartmouthed and cocky at times, but they all loved one another, even if it meant constant ridicule and harassment of one another. Sitcoms have sadly given way to the horrendous trend of reality television. If it weren´t for "My Name is Earl," you could almost write the sitcom off as extinct.
"Family Ties" is about hippie liberals Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) and their trials and tribulations in raising there three conservative children. The youngest, Jennifer (Tina Yothers), is very intelligent and will tell it like it is. She shies away from nobody and nothing and typically finds her mouth getting herself in trouble. The oldest daughter, Mallory (Justine Bateman) cares only for her wardrobe and what boy she can date. She is ditzy and uninspired when it comes to he studies. The only son and oldest member of the Keaton family is Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). Keaton is an expert on economics, Ronald Reagan and other important Republican topics. Though the other two children typically butt heads with their parents liberal ideas, Alex is completely opposite of his two loving parents.
As a sitcom, "Family Ties" was smartly written and its sarcastic provided both humor and lessons on life. The show tackled political themes, as well as the trials and tribulations of family life and growing up. Honesty, responsibility, loyalty and faithfulness were common topics addressed by the sitcom. Situations constantly arose where the Keaton children and their parents needed to cope with the facts of life in ways that were not always desirable to each individual one of them, but in the end would result in another happy ending. Alex and Mallory were children who would rarely sacrifice their own time for the benefit of others and would routinely con their way into bettering their own situation; even at the risk of causing others a little grief. Wrists would be slapped, morality would be taught and each episode would end happily and with a lesson learned. And Ubu would be told to sit. Good dog.
The cast of "Family Ties" is marvelous. Michael Gross plays the lovable dad that uses a mix of honesty, caring and sarcasm to rule his roost. He has been around the block, but has a tremendous love of life and all of these qualities are done nicely by Gross. Meredith Baxter Birney is the former hippie who has become the professional woman and voice or reason in the Keaton household. She is a lovely lady, but the strongest person in the house. Child actor Tina Yothers has fallen into obscurity since "Family Ties," but her early work as the overly intelligent and older than her years Jennifer were nicely done and though she is more of a "South Park" punch-line than remembered for her performance, it was her and Michael J. Fox that stole the scenes. Justine Bateman was fine as Mallory and fit in nicely as the boy-crazy and fashion loving sister. Then of course, there was Michael J. Fox. The character of Alex P. Keaton goes down in my book as one of the absolute best characters in television history. Seriously, who came up with the idea of a seventeen year old with a poster of William F. Buckley on their wall?
Aside from the Keaton family, there were not many reoccurring characters on the show. The first season saw only two repeat performances from supporting characters. The goofy and backward neighbor, Skippy (Marc Price) appeared in a couple episodes in the first season. He was a fresh face and nice contrast the intelligent and sarcastic Keaton bunch. Jeff Wakefield (John Dukakis) was the dumber-than-a-doorknob lover interest and French tutor of Mallory. Reoccurring characters and a consistent plotline were not strengths of the first season. In fact, if it were not for the reappearance of Jeff towards the end of the season, a case could be made that the episodes could very easily have been placed in any order and would have made perfect sense. Each episode had a problem or situation that would require solving, but as a whole, "Family Ties" did not have a storyline. The first season saw Tom Hanks appear in a two-part episode, and he was the only familiar guest star to appear on the show.
"Family Ties" is a wonderful artifact of the Eighties television sitcom. Families were mostly functional, full of love and created blueprints for others to follow. Both "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" fit into these formulaic subgenre of sitcoms and was a far departure from older shows such as "All in the Family" and "Sanford and Son" that was all about disfunctionality. Of course, the Nineties would find the rise of "Married With Children" and other such sitcoms that threw away the family values and loving lessons taught by shows such as "Family Ties.´´ The Keaton children were smartmouthed and cocky at times, but they all loved one another, even if it meant constant ridicule and harassment of one another. Sitcoms have sadly given way to the horrendous trend of reality television. If it weren´t for "My Name is Earl," you could almost write the sitcom off as extinct.
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