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Family Ties

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8.6/10
TV

Created by
  
Country of origin
  
United States

Final episode date
  
14 May 1989

7.2/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Theme music composer
  
Jeff BarryTom Scott

First episode date
  
22 September 1982

Theme song
  
Without Us

Family Ties wwwgstaticcomtvthumbtvbanners184019p184019

Starring
  
Meredith Baxter-BirneyMichael GrossMichael J. FoxJustine BatemanTina YothersBrian Bonsall

Opening theme
  
"Without Us"Performed by Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams

Cast
  

Rick ross family ties


Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young Republican Alex P. Keaton (portrayed by Michael J. Fox) and his ex-hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton (portrayed by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter).

Contents

Family Ties A Millennial Reviews 39Family Ties39 a Haunting Portrayal of the

The show won multiple awards, including three consecutive Emmy Awards for Michael J. Fox as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Family Ties Family Ties TV Series 19821989 IMDb

Family ties uncle ned


Overview

Family Ties TV Listings Grid TV Guide and TV Schedule Where to Watch TV Shows

Set in suburban Columbus, Ohio, during the Reagan administration, Steven and Elyse Keaton (Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter-Birney) are baby boomers, liberals and former hippies, raising their three children: ambitious, would-be millionaire entrepreneur Alex (Michael J. Fox); fashion-conscious, gossipy Mallory (Justine Bateman); and tomboy Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Married in 1964, Elyse is an independent architect and Steven, a native of Buffalo, New York, is the station manager of WKS, a local public television station.

Family Ties Ties Online

Much of the humor of the series focuses on the cultural divide during the 1980s when younger generations rejected the counterculture of the 1960s and embraced the materialism and conservative politics which came to define the 1980s. Both Alex, and, to a lesser extent, Mallory, embrace Reaganomics and exhibit conservative attitudes: Alex is a "Young Republican", and Mallory, while not overtly political, is a more materialistic young woman in contrast to her feminist mother. Mallory was also presented as a vacuous airhead, who was fodder for jokes and teasing from her brother. Jennifer, an athletic tomboy and the youngest child, shares more the values of her parents and just wants to be a normal kid. Steven and Elyse had a fourth child, Andrew (or "Andy", for short), who was born in early 1985. Andy is the youngest, on whom Alex doted and quickly molded in his conservative image.

Main cast

Family Ties Family Ties39 cast reflects on show 3 decades later 39We all loved

  • Meredith Baxter-Birney as Elyse Keaton
  • Michael Gross as Steven Keaton
  • Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton
  • Justine Bateman as Mallory Keaton
  • Tina Yothers as Jennifer Keaton
  • Brian Bonsall as Andrew "Andy" Keaton (seasons 5–7)
  • Garrett and Tyler Merriman as Baby Andrew "Andy" Keaton (season 4)
  • Main stars Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross were exactly the same age, sharing the same birthday on June 21, 1947. In the series, their characters were intended to be approximately five or six years older, given that their "son", played by Michael J. Fox, was in fact only fourteen years younger than Baxter and Gross in real life.

    Recurring cast

  • Marc Price as Irwin "Skippy" Handelman
  • Scott Valentine as Nick Moore (seasons 4–7)
  • Tracy Pollan as Ellen Reed (season 4)
  • Courteney Cox as Lauren Miller (seasons 6–7)
  • The show had been sold to the network using the pitch "hip parents, square kids." Originally, Elyse and Steven were intended to be the main characters. However, the audience reacted so positively to Alex during the taping of the fourth episode that he became the focus on the show. Fox had received the role after Matthew Broderick turned it down.

    Supporting cast and characters includes neighbor Irwin "Skippy" Handelman (Marc Price); Mallory's Sylvester Stallone-esque boyfriend artist Nick Moore (Scott Valentine); and Alex's feminist artist girlfriend Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan, whom Michael J. Fox later married in 1988). In season 3, episode 17, Elyse gave birth to her fourth child, Andrew (who was played by Brian Bonsall from season 5 onward). Garrett Merriman played baby Andrew. Bewitched actor Dick Sargent guest-starred as Elyse's father Charlie in Season 1.

    Guest stars

    A number of Hollywood stars appeared on the show before they were famous or during the early years of their careers.

  • Judith Light appeared in Season 2 as a colleague of Steven, unsuccessfully attempting to seduce him.
  • Tom Hanks appeared during the first and second seasons as Elyse's alcoholic younger brother Ned Donelly.
  • Geena Davis portrayed inept housekeeper Karen.
  • River Phoenix played a fourteen-year-old math genius who develops a crush on Jennifer after coming to tutor Alex. Phoenix's sister, Rain, would also appear as one of Jennifer's friends in a different episode.
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus portrayed a lawyer in the two-part episode "Read It and Weep", which was about Jennifer's wanting to do a book report on a banned book.
  • Crispin Glover played one of Alex's friends on the episode "Birthday Boy". Glover had played George McFly, the father of Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly in the original Back to the Future in 1985.
  • Barry Jenner played the head of Mallory's fashion agency in the 1988 episode "Designing Women". Jenner later became well known as "Admiral Ross" in the science fiction series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
  • Wil Wheaton, known for playing the character "Wesley Crusher" from Star Trek: The Next Generation, played the target of Jennifer's affection in the episode "D is for Date".
  • Richard McGonagle, who appeared as a supporting character on Star Trek: Voyager, and also appeared in the pilot episode of 21 Jump Street, appeared in two episodes of Family Ties as separate characters.
  • Corey Feldman played a 7th grade classmate of Jennifer who was a nominee to win the Thomas Dewey best student achievement award on the episode "The Disciple".
  • Jeff Cohen played two different characters; Marv Jr. on the episode "The Visit", and Dougie Barker on the episode "4 Rms Ocn Vu".
  • Christina Applegate played Kitten, a member of Jennifer's band, on the episode "Band on the Run".
  • Stephen Baldwin appeared as a member of a therapy group that Alex attends with his girlfriend.
  • Daniel Baldwin appeared as an army recruit who harasses Skippy.
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt played Dougie, a kindergarten friend of Andrew in two episodes, "Sign of the Times" and "Father, Can You Spare A Dime?"
  • Jane Adams played Marty Broadie in two 7th season episodes, "They Can't Take That Away from Me: Part 1" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me: Part 2".
  • James Cromwell played John Hancock in the 3rd season episode "Philadelphia Story".
  • John Randolph played Jacob Keaton, Steven's father, in "I Never Killed for My Father". He was revealed to be dead in "Remembrance of Things Past, Parts 1 & 2".
  • Timothy Busfield played Doug in two 1984 episodes ("Best Man" and "Little Man on Campus"), and "Young Matt" in a 1986 episode ("My Back Pages").
  • Hank Azaria played a co-worker of Mallory's in the season 7 episode "Designing Women".
  • David Faustino played Keith Bailey the son of a divorced family friend who was taken away from his mother by his father in the episode "To Snatch a Keith".
  • Danny Nucci played a school bully who got beaten up by Jennifer after harassing her boyfriend at school in the episode "Designated Hitter".
  • Anne Ramsey played Mrs. Warfield in the episode "Help Wanted". Ramsey played Mrs. Fratelli in the Goonies.
  • John McCook played the commercial character of "Sir Penguin" in the season 2 episode "This Year's Model" where Elyse was filming a commercial and Mallory kept sabotaging it.
  • Martha Plimpton played Jessie, a young girl Mallory befriends after she catches her shoplifting.
  • Theme song

    The theme song, "Without Us", was composed by Jeff Barry and Tom Scott in 1982. During the first season, it was originally performed by Dennis Tufano and Mindy Sterling. For the rest of the show's run, the song was performed by Deniece Williams and Johnny Mathis.

    Connection to Day by Day

    During its final two seasons, Family Ties was scheduled on Sunday nights often followed by Day by Day, another series from Ubu Productions. Michael Gross and Brian Bonsall brought their respective roles of Steven and Andy Keaton to the Day by Day episode "Trading Places", which reveals that Steven went to college with Brian Harper (Doug Sheehan).

    Emmy Awards

  • 1986: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox)
  • 1987: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox); Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series; Outstanding Technical Direction
  • 1988: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox)
  • Golden Globes

  • 1989: Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series (Michael J. Fox)
  • TV Land Awards

  • 2011: Fan Favorite, Presented by Ben Stiller
  • Syndication

    NBC aired reruns of Family Ties weekday mornings from December 1985 until January 1987. In the fall of 1987, the series went into syndication in the United States. Currently, it airs on UP and Antenna TV. Reruns previously aired on WFMZ, MeToo, Disney Channel, FamilyNet, WGN America, TBS, YTV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Hallmark Channel and The Hub.

    In Canada, reruns of Family Ties began airing on CTS, a Christian-based network, on September 6, 2010. On May 15, 2011 Netflix began to stream season 1-7 on its "watch instantly" streaming service.

    In Australia, reruns aired on Eleven (a digital channel of Network Ten) in the afternoons and late night until June 2013. As of November 2015, two episodes are shown on weekdays between 11 am and midday. Family Ties was a perennial favourite seen on the Nine Network from 1983 to 2008. Prior to Eleven, the show screened on pay TV network TV1.

    In the UK, Family Ties aired on Channel 4 from July 1985.

    DVD

    CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all seven seasons of Family Ties on DVD in Region 1, as of August 13, 2013. The second through fifth season releases contain special features, gag reels and episodic promos. The second season contains interviews with Michael Gross and Michael J. Fox along with other cast members. The fourth season contains the made-for-TV-movie, Family Ties Vacation. Paramount has also released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 4.

    On November 5, 2013, CBS Home Entertainment released Family Ties - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

    On November 11, 2014, CBS Home Entertainment re-released a repackaged version of the complete series set, at a lower price, but did not include the bonus disc that was part of the original complete series set.

    Streaming

    All seven seasons of the series were made available for streaming through Netflix (removed again August 15, 2015) and Amazon Video as well as Hulu Plus.

    References

    Family Ties Wikipedia


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