Family Ties

Rating:
Summary: fabulous show
Review: a MUST for every Michael J. Fox fan, this is a great TV show!

Rating:
Summary: A great addition to your family's dvd library
Review: If you are always on the look out for a worthwhile addition to your family's dvd library, I highly recommend this one. This 1980's sitcom featuring Michael J. Fox in his break out roll, Merideth Baxter Birney and Justine Bateman as well as the very young Courtney Cox and Tracy Pollan, is still hilarious for the whole family, if a bit dated owing to the references to politics. This is a series just waiting to be rediscovered by all of us 80's buffs who sincerely miss all the great things of that often criticized decade. Please preorder this series! Let them know we want it on dvd!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Must Buy Item of the Year
Review: If you're one of Michael J. Fox's fans, show some support and pre-order this item. Not only Family Ties a great show, but more interests shown in buying the DVD may convince the studio to produce other series on DVD. It'll be great if we could own all series on DVD. Pre-order to show your preference. I'm not going to miss this chance myself.

Rating:
Summary: The family arguing politics together stays together
Review: In this Gary David Goldberg sitcom, Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter Birney) and Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) are former hippies who want nothing more to relate to their children...but have difficulty figuring them out.

They live somewhere in Ohio which (by the interior looks of the house) I am led to believe is a historic district with lots of ornate Victorians. Elyse is an architect and Steven is the manager of the local PBS station.

Eldest son Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox in the role which made him a Hollywood name!) is a Nixon-Reagan worshiping Republican who loves nothing more than money. Although he is supposed to be the 'Archie Bunker' character in this family, Alex is not racially/ethnically/religiously bigoted (maybe his parents upbringing did influence him a little!). Alex is the type of conservative who is more concerned with money than social issues.

Besides, the Keatons are really concerned about Mallory (Justine Bateman) who is completely obsessed with boys and clothes. The parents agree that looking nice is important, but not to the point of failing to develop other interests.

The Keatons also have a younger daughter named Jennifer (Tina Yothers) who is trying to find her own way in the world. During this season, she has one notable episode "The fifth wheel". Alex is supposed to be babysitting Jennifer, but he is (of course) more engrossed in the poker game going on with his buddies than spending time with his littlest sister. Feeling (naturally) ignored, she leaves---and Alex is left in lots of trouble because he was supposed to be the one watching Jennifer.

In the pilot episode, Alex wants to impress a spoiled socialite, but Elyse and Steven are appalled that (despite their child rearing methods) Alex wants to join this club and lie about his own upbringing.

Another serious episode "Give Uncle Arthur a kiss" has the Keatons confronting a long-time family friend after he tries to hit on Mallory at the PBS station during a fundraiser. They come to an uncomfortable realization that somebody whom they had trusted hurt their family.

Finally, "Have gun, will unravel" has the Keatons wondering what to do after their home is burglarized. Having always believed in non-violence, they cannot believe they are buying a gun. They also learn that having a gun in the house does not necessarily mean the family is any safer.

Because the parents met in the 1960's, nifty flashbacks to this time period are interspersed throughout the series, and the first season is no exception. During the "Thanksgiving" and the "Christmas" episodes we see Elyse and Steven Keaton in all their counterculture glory. I was too young to appreciate this technique when the series first aired, but now like imagining what my own baby boomer parents must have looked like in the 1960's.