Family Ties
| Family Ties | |
|---|---|
| Family Ties title scene from the third season The iconic Family Ties "family painting, used in the opening sequence from 1983 to 1985. | |
| Created by | Gary David Goldberg |
| Starring | Meredith Baxter-Birney Michael Gross Michael J. Fox Justine Bateman Tina Yothers Marc Price Scott Valentine (1985-1989) Tracy Pollan (1985-1986) Brian Bonsall (1986-1989) Courteney Cox (1987-1989) |
| Opening theme | "Without Us" by Dennis Tufano and Mindy Sterling (Episodes 1-10) and by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (Episodes 11-180) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 180 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 22, 1982 – May 14, 1989 |
Family Ties is an American television sitcom which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. At the height of its popularity, Family Ties was #2 in the yearly Nielsen ratings, as it aired in the prized time-slot right after the top-rated Cosby Show on Thursday nights.
It starred Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, the conservative, business-oriented son of liberal parents Elyse and Steven (Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross). Elyse was a successful architect, while Steven ran a public television station. They lived in suburban Columbus, Ohio with their children: Alex, Mallory ("Mal") (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer ("Jen") (Tina Yothers). Another child, Andrew ("Andy") (Brian Bonsall), was added later.
This show began two spinoffs, Day by Day, which lasted two seasons, and The Art of Being Nick, which was produced as a pilot but never picked up as a series.
Premise
The show had been sold to the network using the pitch "hip parents, square kids," and the parents were originally intended to be the main characters. However, the audience reacted so positively during the taping of the fourth episode, in which Alex lost his virginity to a girl who shared his passion for Milton Friedman, that the focus of the show was changed to him (and to a lesser extent, his siblings).
The majority of the show's humor is derived from the tension between Alex's conservative, Republican mindset, Mallory's uninformed consumerism, and their parents' attitudes as liberal Democrats, who grew up as hippie flower children in the 1960s (as seen in one of the intro themes).
Other characters
In the third season, Elyse gave birth to Andrew; the child "grew" into a pre-schooler (Brian Bonsall) by the fifth season.
Other characters included the Keatons' socially inept neighbor Erwin 'Skippy' Handelman (Marc Price), who had an undying crush on Mallory, and in later years, Rambo-like budding artist Nick Moore (Scott Valentine), who became romantically involved with Mallory and alarmed various members of the family with how unknowingly crass and unmannered he could be.
Alex's primary love interest was a college student named Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan, who later became Michael J. Fox's real-life wife). The final two seasons featured Courteney Cox as new girlfriend Lauren Miller.
Casting
Michael J. Fox almost wasn't cast because the producers felt he was too short compared to Michael Gross. Fox is only 165 cm (5'5") while Gross is 195 cm (6'5"), leading the producers to worry that no one would believe someone as tall as Gross would have a son as short as Fox. Additionally, Fox was viewed as too much of a smart aleck in his first audition, but the casting director liked him and brought him back. The second time, he gave a slightly different pitch, and the part was his.
Several Hollywood stars appeared on the show in the early days of their careers before they became famous, including Tom Hanks as Elyse's immature, alcoholic younger brother Ned, Geena Davis as an inept housekeeper, and Courteney Cox as Alex's girlfriend, Lauren.
Episodes
Popularity
Family Ties was broadcast on Thursday nights from 1984 until 1987, immediately following the top-rated program The Cosby Show and just before another wildly popular sitcom, Cheers. That period represented the height of all three programs' popularity; they were, for example, the top three most-watched U.S. television programs during the 1986-1987 TV season, when 33% of all U.S. households with televisions tuned in to Family Ties during an average week. The ratings began to decline in 1987, when the show was moved to Sunday nights at the request of Bill Cosby, to make room for A Different World. Producer/creator Gary David Goldberg decided to end the show with the 1988-1989 TV season. In the final episode Alex moved to New York to begin his career on Wall Street.
On The Pat Sajak Show, Michael Gross suggested that the finale episode have the Keatons die in a plane crash. He said the cast wanted to close off any chances of a reunion in the future.[1]
DVD releases
CBS has released the first two seasons of Family Ties on DVD in Region 1, with Season 3 scheduled to be released on February 12, 2008.
| DVD Name | Release Date | Ep# |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | February 202007 | 22 |
| The Complete Second Season | October 92007 | 22 |
| The Complete Third Season | February 122008 | 24[2] |
| The Complete Fourth Season | TBA | 28 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | TBA | 30 |
| The Complete Sixth Season | TBA | 28 |
| The Complete Seventh Season | TBA | 26 |
Alternate versions
The Italian version of the sitcom is named "Casa Keaton" ( Keaton's house ).
The German version was first named "Hilfe, wir werden erwachsen!" (Help, we're growing up!), which was changed to "Familienbande" (Family Ties) and again to "Jede Menge Familie" (A whole lot of family).
References
- ^ "Review/Television; Late-Night Chitchat Additions: Pat Sajak and Arsenio Hall". NYTimes. Retrieved 1989-01-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Oh, Baby! Andrew's On The Way Along With 3rd Season DVDs". TVShowsOnDVD. Retrieved 2007-10-23.