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Family Ties is a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism
Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante....
 of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between Young Republican Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the United States television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989....
 (Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
) and his hippie
Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster , and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district....
 parents, Elyse and Steven Keaton (Meredith Baxter-Birney
Meredith Baxter

Meredith Ann Baxter, formerly Meredith Baxter Birney, is an United States actor....
 and Michael Gross
Michael Gross (actor)

Michael Gross is an American television, movie, and stage actor who plays both comedy and dramatic roles. His most notable roles are fatherly figure Steven Keaton from Family Ties and graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors film and Tremors series....
).

President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 once stated that it was his favorite television show.

first season of the show (1982–1983) established its central premise.






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Encyclopedia


Family Ties is a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism
Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante....
 of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between Young Republican Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the United States television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989....
 (Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
) and his hippie
Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster , and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district....
 parents, Elyse and Steven Keaton (Meredith Baxter-Birney
Meredith Baxter

Meredith Ann Baxter, formerly Meredith Baxter Birney, is an United States actor....
 and Michael Gross
Michael Gross (actor)

Michael Gross is an American television, movie, and stage actor who plays both comedy and dramatic roles. His most notable roles are fatherly figure Steven Keaton from Family Ties and graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors film and Tremors series....
).

President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 once stated that it was his favorite television show.

Overview

Family Ties
The first season of the show (1982–1983) established its central premise. During the early years of the Reagan administration, Elyse and Steven Keaton (Meredith Baxter-Birney
Meredith Baxter

Meredith Ann Baxter, formerly Meredith Baxter Birney, is an United States actor....
 and Michael Gross
Michael Gross (actor)

Michael Gross is an American television, movie, and stage actor who plays both comedy and dramatic roles. His most notable roles are fatherly figure Steven Keaton from Family Ties and graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors film and Tremors series....
) are baby boomer
Baby boomer

Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom. Many analysts now believe that two distinct cultural generations were born during this baby boom; the older generation is often called the Baby Boom Generation and the younger generation is often called Generation Jones....
s and liberal
Liberalism

Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophy that considers individualism liberty and equality to be the most important political goals....
 Democrats raising their three children Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the United States television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989....
 (Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
), Mallory (Justine Bateman
Justine Bateman

Justine Tanya Bateman is an United States actor best known for her role as Mallory Keaton on the television sitcom Family Ties.Biography...
), and Jennifer "Jen" (Tina Yothers
Tina Yothers

Kristina Louise "Tina" Yothers is an United States Actor and Singing....
) and later Andrew "Andy" (Brian Bonsall
Brian Bonsall

Brian Eric Bonsall is an United States of America former child actor. He is best known for playing the youngest Keaton child, Andy, on the television sitcom Family Ties from 1986 through 1989....
) in suburban Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
. Married in 1964, Elyse, an independent architect, and Steven, a manager in a local public television
Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an United States non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States....
 station, were hippies during the 1960s. According to the first season episode "A Christmas Story", they were influenced by John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
 and thus participated in the Peace Corps
Peace Corps

The Peace Corps was established by Executive order 10924 on March 1, 1961, and authorized by United States Congress on September 22, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act ....
 when Alex was born in 1965. Mallory was born while they were students at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
 in 1967, and Jennifer was born the night Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
 won his second term in 1972
United States presidential election, 1972

The United States presidential election of 1972 was waged on the issues of radicalism and the Vietnam War. The Democratic nomination was eventually won by George McGovern, who ran an anti-war crusade against incumbent President of the United States Richard Nixon, but was handicapped by his outsider status as well as the scandal and subsequent...
.

The humor of the series focused on the cultural divide in the 1980s, when the "the Alex P. Keaton generation was rejecting the counterculture of the 1960s
Counterculture of the 1960s

The counterculture of the 1960s refers to the counterculture supported by a loosely connected yet large community of people who, in their strength of numbers, powerful personalities, creative or destructive works, politics, and/or other activities, served as counterpoints to the existing "The Establishment" of "powers that be" in American so...
 and embracing the wealth and power that came to define the '80s." While the youngest, Jennifer (an athletic tomboy) shares the values of her parents, Alex embraces Reaganomics
Reaganomics

Reaganomics refers to the Economics policies promoted by United States President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. The four pillars of Reagan's economic policy were to:...
 and consequent conservative values. He is a Young Republican who worships President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 and is a fierce supporter of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
 and William F. Buckley Jr.; Mallory is a more traditional young woman, in contrast to her feminist
Second-wave feminism

The "second-wave" of the Women's Movement, Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminism activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted throughout the late 1970s....
 mother.

In the Museum of Broadcast Communications
Museum of Broadcast Communications

The Museum of Broadcast Communications is located in Chicago, Illinois. Its mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform, and entertain through our archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online access to our resources." It is home t...
 entry for Family Ties, Michael Saenz argues that,

few shows better demonstrate the resonance between collectively-held fictional imagination and what cultural critic Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams

Raymond Henry Williams was a Wales academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts....
 called "the structure of feeling" of a historical moment than Family Ties. Airing on NBC from 1982 to 1989, this highly successful domestic comedy explored one of the intriguing cultural inversions characterizing the Reagan era
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
: a conservative younger generation aspiring to wealth, business success, and traditional values, serves as inheritor to the politically liberal, presumably activist, culturally experimental generation of adults who had experienced the 1960s. The result was a decade, paradoxical by America's usual post-World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 standards, in which youthful ambition and social renovation became equated with pronounced political conservatism. "When else could a boy with a briefcase become a national hero?" queried Family Ties creator, Gary David Goldberg
Gary David Goldberg

'Gary David Goldberg' is an United States writer and producer for television and film, best known for his work on Family Ties, Spin City, and his acclaimed semi-autobiographical Brooklyn Bridge ....
, during the show's final year.


The show ended in 1989 after Alex graduates from nearby Leland College, leaves home for the first time, and moves to a career on Wall Street
Wall Street

Wall Street is a street in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District, Manhattan....
. Over a decade later, when Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
 left his next series Spin City
Spin City

Spin City is an United States sitcom television series that ran from 1996 to 2002 on American Broadcasting Corporation. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence , the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J....
, his final episodes made numerous allusions to Family Ties. Michael Gross
Michael Gross

Michael Gross may refer to:*Michael Gross , American actor best known for his role in the sitcom Family Ties and the film Tremors and its sequels...
 (Alex's father Steven) is a therapist for Michael Patrick Flaherty
Michael Patrick Flaherty

Michael Patrick Flaherty is a fictional character played by Michael J. Fox on the American sitcom Spin City. He was the Deputy Mayor of New York for Mayor Randall Winston....
 (Michael J. Fox) and there is a reference to an off-screen character named "Mallory". After Flaherty becomes an environmental lobbyist in Washington D.C., he meets a "conservative congressman named Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the United States television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989....
."

In a March 3, 2008 article for The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
, Gary David Goldberg
Gary David Goldberg

'Gary David Goldberg' is an United States writer and producer for television and film, best known for his work on Family Ties, Spin City, and his acclaimed semi-autobiographical Brooklyn Bridge ....
 (the creator of Family Ties) speculated that in the year 2008 Alex P. Keaton would be an independent rather than a Republican, and would vote for Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the List of Presidents of the United States and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office....
.

Cast and characters

The show had been sold to the network using the pitch "hip
Hip (slang)

Hip is a slang term meaning fashionably current and in the now. Hip is the opposite of square or prude.Hip, like Cool , does not refer to one specific quality....
 parents, square
Square (slang)

Square used as slang may mean many things when referring to a person, or it may refer to a cigarette.The term "square", in referring to a person, originally meant someone who was honest, traditional, and loyal....
 kids", and the parents were originally intended to be the main characters. However, the audience reacted so positively to Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
's character Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton

Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the United States television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989....
 during the taping of the fourth episode that he became the focus on the show. Fox had received the role after Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick is an United States award-winning film and stage actor who is best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Nick in Godzilla and David Lightman in WarGames....
 turned it down:

At the time, the show's producers felt Fox was simply too short for the gig. To make the point, NBC Entertainment Chief Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff

'Brandon Tartikoff' was a television executive who was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A....
 asked the show's creator Gary David Goldberg
Gary David Goldberg

'Gary David Goldberg' is an United States writer and producer for television and film, best known for his work on Family Ties, Spin City, and his acclaimed semi-autobiographical Brooklyn Bridge ....
 if he could imagine Fox's face on a lunchbox. Some years later, after Back to the Future
Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction film adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, co-written by Bob Gale and produced by Steven Spielberg....
, Fox's face did find its way to lunchboxes--and he was sure to send one to Tartikoff, with a note attached that reportedly read: "Dear Brandon, this is for you to put your crow on. Lots of Love, Michael J. Fox." Rumor has it Tartikoff kept the lunchbox in his office for the rest of his NBC career.


Supporting cast and characters included neighbor Erwin "Skippy" Handelman (Marc Price
Marc Price

Marc Price is a television actor who is best known for his role as Erwin "Skippy" Handleman on Family Ties.Price also starred in the movie Trick or Treat in 1986 and Killer Tomatoes Eat France in 1991....
), Mallory's boyfriend artist Nick Moore (Scott Valentine
Scott Valentine

Scott Valentine is an United States actor. He began to pursue acting one year into his college education, attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York....
), Alex's feminist artist girlfriend Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan
Tracy Pollan

Tracy Jo Pollan is an United States actress. She is perhaps best-known for her recurring role as Ellen Reed on the sitcom Family Ties in the mid-1980s....
 who later became Michael J. Fox's real-life wife). Fourth child Andrew (Brian Bonsall
Brian Bonsall

Brian Eric Bonsall is an United States of America former child actor. He is best known for playing the youngest Keaton child, Andy, on the television sitcom Family Ties from 1986 through 1989....
) was eventually added to the cast.

Several Hollywood stars appeared on the show before they were famous; Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American film actor, film director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia , the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander J...
 appeared during the first and second seasons as Elyse's younger brother Ned, Geena Davis
Geena Davis

Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an Academy Awards-, Golden Globe-winning and Emmy Award-nominated United States actor, Film producer, writer, former fashion model and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist ....
 portrayed an inept housekeeper, Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox

Courteney Bass Cox , also known as Courteney Cox Arquette, is an American actor, film producer and former model, best known for her role as Monica Geller on the Situation comedy Friends....
 was Alex's girlfriend Lauren at the end of the series, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an United States actress and comedienne best known for her roles as Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s, and as Christine Campbell on the current CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine....
 portrayed a lawyer on the two-part episode "Read It and Weep".

Release


Ratings

  • 1984–1985: #5
  • 1985–1986: #2
  • 1986–1987: #2
  • 1987–1988: #2


Selected awards


Emmy Awards
  • 1988: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox

    Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
    )
  • 1987: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox

    Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
    );Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series; Outstanding Technical Direction
  • 1986: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox

    Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
    )


Golden Globes
  • 1989:Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series (Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox

    Michael J. Fox is a Canadian American actor. His roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy trilogy ; Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties , for which he won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award; and Mike Flaherty from Spin City , for which he won an Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awar...
    )


Reunion

In 1989, Michael Gross
Michael Gross

Michael Gross may refer to:*Michael Gross , American actor best known for his role in the sitcom Family Ties and the film Tremors and its sequels...
 appeared on The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show

The Pat Sajak Show was an American late-night television talk show which aired on CBS from January 9, 1989 to April 13, 1990....
 as a guest to discuss the ending of Family Ties. According to The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
:

Mr. Sajak asked Michael Gross of Family Ties what was going to happen to the Keatons in this, their last scheduled season. Mr. Gross: "I hope they die in a plane crash." He later explained that he would not like to see them being brought back for phony reunions.


While there has not been a "reunion show", the cast did come together for the first time in 18 years on February 7, 2008 for an interview on the Today show.

DVD releases

CBS Home Entertainment has released the first four seasons of Family Ties on DVD in Region 1. Season 5 will be released on March 10, 2009.

DVD Name Ep# Release Date
The Complete First Season 22 February 20, 2007
The Second Season 22 October 9, 2007
The Third Season 24 February 12, 2008
The Fourth Season 28 August 5, 2008
The Fifth Season 30 March 10, 2009
The Sixth Season 28 TBA
The Seventh Season 26 TBA


External links

|0083413|Family Ties}}