Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy TV Shows - 1980s 4 Mins Read

    Family Ties

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 9 (USA)
    157 x 30 minute episodes
    6 x 60 minute episodes
    1 x 90 minute episode
    1 x 120 minute episode

    Set in the heartland of middle America (Columbus, Ohio) in the money driven, ultra-conservative 80s, Family Ties features sixties flower children Elyse and Steven Keaton who are now parents.

    She is now an architect and he is the General Manager of a public TV station called WKS-TV.

    While they cling to their idealistic views from their hippie days, their academically brilliant eldest son Alex is the ultra hardcore conservative. He loves Richard Nixon and wears a tie at all times.

    Their 15-year-old daughter Mallory is a tad ‘intellectually challenged’ and is more interested in clothes and boys than any academic pursuits.

    Nine-year-old Jennifer just wants to be a kid, and next door neighbour, Skippy, is Alex’s best friend who has a crush on Mallory and is a little dense.

    During the 1984-1985 season, Elyse gives birth to a baby called Andy. The series then follows Alex to Leland College where he finds love with another student, Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan who became the real-life Mrs Michael J Fox).

    Back at home, Mallory is dating an illiterate aspiring sculptor called Nick Moore. Mallory barely graduates from high school and embarks on a career in fashion design.

    Ellen, it was said, went to Paris – and a new entanglement was introduced for Alex, psychology student Lauren Miller, who encourages him to take part in a study of over-achievers, attend therapy sessions and reach inside to expose his repressed inner self.

    The part of Lauren was a very early career highlight for future Friends superstar, Courteney Cox (pictured below).

    In the last episode, the nuclear family is finally, and inevitably dissolved, as Alex graduates and takes a $75,000 a year job as an investment banker in New York with a large Wall Street firm.

    Besides its continuing parody of Reagan-era values, Family Ties tackled some sensitive subjects in unusual episodes. Perhaps the most famous episode was ‘My Name Is Alex’, performed theatre-style on a nearly bare stage, in which Alex worked through his grief and disorientation following the sudden death of a young friend in a car accident.

    During the 1988-1989 season, the Keaton’s confronted racism when a black family moved into the neighbourhood and faced their own greatest crisis when Steve suffered a heart attack and had to undergo bypass surgery.

    familyties_020

    The biggest problem faced by the Family Ties team was in ensuring that the radical and often rude Alex won over rather than alienated the viewers. Gary David Goldberg overcame this by maintaining an open-door policy on the set (which, of course, fitted perfectly with his ideals), embracing suggestions from the entire production crew.

    It was also customary for Alex to win his way through most of an episode but be defeated or deflated by show’s end, and be depicted as someone who undoubtedly cherished his family, even if he did have an odd way of showing it.

    Though the show hit some bumps in its first couple of seasons, Family Ties hit its stride once the producers realised Fox was their real star, and the five-foot-four-inch unknown Canadian actor became a household name.  

    Fox wasn’t originally supposed to even play the role of Alex – Matthew Broderick was, but he decided he didn’t want to be weighed down with series work.

    US President Ronald Reagan stated publicly that Family Ties was his favourite show. That’s the eighties for you!

    Elyse Keaton 
    Meredith Baxter-Birney
    Steven Keaton 

    Michael Gross
    Alex P. Keaton 

    Michael J. Fox
    Mallory Keaton 

    Justine Bateman
    Jennifer Keaton 

    Tina Yothers
    Andrew Keaton 

    Brian Bonsall
    Irwin ‘Skippy’ Handelman 

    Marc Price
    Ellen Reed 

    Tracy Pollan
    Nick Moore 

    Scott Valentine
    Lauren Miller 

    Courteney Cox

    Related Posts

    • Sunday Dinner
      Sunday Dinner
      1 9 9 1 (USA) 6 x 30 minute episodes Sunday Dinner chronicled the family conflicts caused by the engagement of…
    • Gung Ho
      Gung Ho
      1 9 8 6 - 1 9 8 7 (USA) 9 x 30 minute episodes Based on the successful film…
    • Crazy Like A Fox
      Crazy Like A Fox
      1 9 8 4 - 1 9 8 6 (USA) 35 x 60 minute episodes 1 x 90 minute episode Crazy…
    • Albert and Victoria
      Albert and Victoria
      1 9 7 0 - 1 9 7 1 (UK) 12 x 30 minute episodes This Yorkshire Television comedy series was…
    • Bridget Loves Bernie
      Bridget Loves Bernie
      1 9 7 2 - 1 9 7 3 (USA) 24 x 30 minute episodes This sitcom from CBS/Screen Gems starred…
    • Royle Family, The
      Royle Family, The
      1 9 9 8 - 2 0 0 0 (UK) 18 x 30 minute episodes, 2 x specials 2 0 0…
    • Viva Valdez
      Viva Valdez
      1 9 7 6 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes Viva Valdez was the story of a Chicano family (long before…
    • Breakaway
      Breakaway
      1 9 8 0 (UK) 12 x 30 minute episodes Detective Superintendent Sam Harvey (Martin Jarvis) would like to retire to…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleWorking Girl
    Next Article Wonder Years, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Alfonso Bonzo
      1 9 9 0 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes Billy Webb (Scott Riley) is […]
    • Tickle, The
      Having grown out of the obscure mod rock band The Bunch of […]
    • Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush (1967)
      From director Clive Donner (What’s New Pussycat?) this […]
    • In Melbourne Tonight
      1 9 5 7 – 1 9 7 0 (Australia) 1 9 9 6 – 1 9 9 8 […]
    • Campus Man (1987)
      In an effort to meet tuition costs, Todd Barret (John Dye) an […]
    • Ratboy (1986)
      Sondra Locke directs and stars in yet another tale of an […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.