Family Ties
Family Ties is an American television 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 social shift in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s to the conservatism of the 1980s.[2] Because of this, Young Republican Alex P. Keaton (portrayed by Michael J. Fox) develops generational strife with his ex-hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton (portrayed by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter).
For other uses, see Family Ties (disambiguation).Family Ties
"Without Us" performed by Dennis Tufano and Mindy Sterling (season 1, episodes 1–10); Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (remainder of series run)
"Without Us" (instrumental)
United States
English
7
176 + one film (list of episodes)
- Gary David Goldberg
- Lloyd Garver
- Susan Borowitz
- Ruth Bennett
- Michael J. Weithorn
- Lloyd Garver
- Alan Uger
- Marc Lawrence
- Mikel Neiers
- Christopher Lynch
- Dominic Palmieri
- Robert F. Liu
- Gary Anderson
- Ed Brennan
- John Carroll
24 minutes
September 22, 1982 –
May 14, 1989
The show won multiple awards, including three consecutive Emmy Awards for Michael J. Fox as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
The show premiered on September 22, 1982, and for the first two seasons, aired on Wednesday nights. In the show's third season, it started airing on Thursday nights. In 1987, for its sixth season, it was moved to Sunday nights where it stayed until the series' seventh and final season on May 14, 1989.
Plot[edit]
Set in Columbus, Ohio during the Reagan administration, the show depicts Steven and Elyse Keaton (Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter) as baby boomers,[3] liberals and former hippies,[2] raising their three children: ambitious, aspiring 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.
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.[4] Alex, the eldest, is a Young Republican who embraces Reaganomics and exhibits conservative attitudes. In contrast to her feminist mother, Mallory is an apolitical and materialistic young woman[2] presented as a vacuous airhead, fodder for jokes and teasing from her brother. Jennifer, an athletic tomboy and the second-youngest child, shares more of the values of her parents and just wants to be a normal kid. Steven and Elyse have a fourth child, Andrew, who is born in early 1985. Alex dotes on his young brother and molds Andy in his conservative image.
Regarding the concept, show creator Goldberg observed, "It really was just an observation of what was going on in my own life with my own friends. We were these old kind of radical people and all of a sudden you're in the mainstream ... but now you've got these kids and you've empowered them, and they're super intelligent, and they're definitely to the right of where you are. They don't understand what's wrong with having money and moving forward."[5] A recurring theme involved Alex hatching a scheme involving some amount of greedy money-making, which led to a humorous misadventure and ended with Alex being forced to apologize for his choices. According to Goldberg, "We actually had this structure that we'd inherited from Jim Brooks and Allan [Burns], which was six scenes and a tag ... And then the last scene became Alex apologizes, in every show, we just left it up. Alex apologizes. Some version of it."[6] Nevertheless, Fox's portrayal of a likable Alex proved to be an important part of the show's success. Goldberg again stated, "With Alex, I did not think I was creating a sympathetic character. Those were not traits that I aspired to and didn't want my kids to aspire to, actually ... But at the end of Family Ties, when we went off the air, then The New York Times had done a piece and they said, 'Greed with the face of an angel.' And I think that's true ... [Michael J. Fox] would make things work, and the audience would simply not access the darker side of what he's actually saying."[5]
Syndication and international broadcast[edit]
NBC aired reruns of Family Ties weekday mornings from December 1985 until January 1987 before it was replaced by the Bill Rafferty version of Blockbusters. In the fall of 1987, the series went into syndication in the United States. Currently, reruns air on Antenna TV, Rewind TV and Pluto TV. Reruns previously aired on FamilyNet, TBS, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Hallmark Channel, The Hub and Pop.
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 seasons 1–7 on its "watch instantly" streaming service.[19]
In Australia, Family Ties originally screened on the Seven Network from 1983 onwards. It became a perennial favorite repeated many times before being bought by the Nine Network which screened it up until 2008. It later screened on pay TV network TV1 before airing on 10 Peach (then known as Eleven) in the afternoons and late night until June 2013. As of June 2020, two episodes are shown on Saturday afternoons between 1 and 2 p.m.
In Germany, Family Ties was first aired on ZDF in 1984 under the title "Hilfe, wir werden erwachsen!" ("Help, we grow up!"), later on RTL (1989) as "Familienbande" (translation of the original title) and on ProSieben as "Jede Menge Familie" ("Whole lot of family").
Austria aired the show on ORF as "Jede Menge Familie" similar to ProSieben.
In the UK, Family Ties aired on Channel 4 from July 1985.[20]
In Indonesia, Family Ties aired on RCTI and SCTV between 1990 and 1993.
In Italy, the show aired on Italia 1 under the name of Casa Keaton (Keaton House) from 1986 until 1992.
In the Philippines, the show aired on GMA Network and was simulcast on RPN-9, IBC-13, PTV-4 and ABS-CBN from 1983 to 1991. It moved to ABC-5 Pilipino and was dubbed in 1998–2000.
The show screened in New Zealand on TVNZ in the 1980s and early '90s, but has never been repeated.
Home media[edit]
DVD[edit]
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.[21]
In Australia (Region 4), after the first three seasons were released, no further release came to light. In 2016, Via Vision Entertainment obtained the rights to the series and re-released the first three seasons along with season four on July 6, 2016. The remaining seasons were released each month after including a 'Complete Series' box set.