Family Ties - General Discussion

[VCRTracking]

On 9/21/2018 at 5:52 PM, gesundheit said:

I am an episode from the end. Michael Gross is a GENIUS. Yes, I know Michael J Fox was great but it's MUCH harder to be the quieter one.

 

Can our little appreciation thread put together a GoFundMe to make him the star of something? (I know, I know. But I'm so retroactively angry.)

He was great in the original Tremors and star of the sequels playing the exact opposite of Stephen as survivalist gun nut Burt Gummer. Reba McEntire played his wife in the first movie:

[Glendenning]

AlternateHistory Dot Com has a timeline where Family Ties goes for the Keatons adopting a little girl rather than Elyse having a boy. The little girl is played by Our Time Line's ill-fated Judith Barsi.

[sinkwriter]

A favorite of mine is the one where Alex turns 18. He's pretty insufferable, sneaks out with his friends to go to a bar, trying to pick up girls by pretending to be a military pilot only in town for the night or something, and then his mom comes to get him ("Can I have a word with you, Colonel?") and he gets in a massive fight with his mom when she makes him come home with her. The fight is HILARIOUS.  

"I've got EIGHTEEN YEARS under this belt..." (with a hand gesture with his belt that cracks me up)

Most of the yelling is done by Alex. His mom just stands there, listening to him rant. He keeps talking as if she's responding to him, snapping at her like she actually said something and he's got another retort ready. But the whole time she's silent, and when he finally stops talking...

ALEX: Have you anything else to say?

MOM: (silent but definitely fuming)

ALEX: I thought not.

...and then his mom just FLATTENS HIM with her words. Just tells him off, and he's stunned and really sorry, and it's awesome and so funny. Michael J. Fox and Meredith Baxter at their best.

Edited February 3, 2021 by sinkwriter

[sinkwriter]

Ha! I found the fight. Gotta love Youtube. (It's not the whole thing, but most of it.)

Someone in the comments reminded me that they left out some good stuff that came at the end, including when Alex finally softens a bit and says he hadn't really thought about his mom caring so much about it, and she says, "Surprise, Alex. I am a real person! Flesh and blood! Real feelings!" I wish CBS had kept the whole clip, where you can see them make up. It's very sweet.

Edited February 3, 2021 by sinkwriter

[Egg McMuffin]

Also agreed that Michael Gross was the unsung hero of this show. I really liked the Alex/Ellen romance, and that’s probably the best season of the show in general. I didn’t care for “A My Name Is Alex,” because Alex’s “best friend” who came out of nowhere to get killed is straight out of the Bonanza school of dramatic laziness. I also didn’t like the moppet with the bowl cut playing Andrew in the last few seasons, or Courteney Cox as Alex’s girlfriend (no chemistry).

Best episode: 4 Rms Ocn Vu, where the kids turn the house into a hotel to pay for damage to the car. Gross’ reactions at the end are hysterical.

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

Best episode: 4 Rms Ocn Vu, where the kids turn the house into a hotel to pay for damage to the car. Gross’ reactions at the end are hysterical.

Definitely my favourite episode as well.

Steven: Alex, parents are conditioned to put up with a few minor accidents when they leave their children home alone. A broken vase, spilt milk on the rug... There was a kangaroo... in my living room.
Alex P. Keaton: ...He was just here for the party dad.
Steven: Then I guess I'm overreacting.

[ifionlyknew]

3 hours ago, Kyle said:

Also agreed that Michael Gross was the unsung hero of this show. I really liked the Alex/Ellen romance, and that’s probably the best season of the show in general. I didn’t care for “A My Name Is Alex,” because Alex’s “best friend” who came out of nowhere to get killed is straight out of the Bonanza school of dramatic laziness. I also didn’t like the moppet with the bowl cut playing Andrew in the last few seasons, or Courteney Cox as Alex’s girlfriend (no chemistry).

Best episode: 4 Rms Ocn Vu, where the kids turn the house into a hotel to pay for damage to the car. Gross’ reactions at the end are hysterical.

 

2 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Definitely my favourite episode as well.

Steven: Alex, parents are conditioned to put up with a few minor accidents when they leave their children home alone. A broken vase, spilt milk on the rug... There was a kangaroo... in my living room.
Alex P. Keaton: ...He was just here for the party dad.
Steven: Then I guess I'm overreacting.

Great episode. But for me the funniest scene of the series was Steven teaching Jennifer to drive.  The scene in the kitchen in the pretend car makes me laugh till I cry every time I see it.

 

[sinkwriter]

On 4/1/2021 at 9:13 AM, WinnieWinkle said:

Definitely my favourite episode as well.

Steven: Alex, parents are conditioned to put up with a few minor accidents when they leave their children home alone. A broken vase, spilt milk on the rug... There was a kangaroo... in my living room.
Alex P. Keaton: ...He was just here for the party dad.
Steven: Then I guess I'm overreacting.

That was my first thought as soon as I read Kyle's description of the episode: "There was a kangaroo... in my living room." LOL. Cracks me up every time. Michael Gross said that so perfectly.

[readster]

34 minutes ago, sinkwriter said:

That was my first thought as soon as I read Kyle's description of the episode: "There was a kangaroo... in my living room." LOL. Cracks me up every time. Michael Gross said that so perfectly.

To this day, that was one of the most oddest things to happen and even more how Michael Gross replied and his reaction was so spot on. 

[Bastet]

I was perusing Paramount+ and came across this; I know I watched it back in the day, but kind of just because it was on, not because I had a particular affection for it.  I remember very little - I do remember it's where I learned what scuba stands for - so I figured I'd give it a second look.

I've watched the first season, and I'm not sure how far I'll wind up going with it.  It's okay, but not really grabbing me. 

I like the actors, though.  Justine Bateman did a terrific job in the episode where Steven's friend, who is "Uncle Arthur" to the kids but they apparently haven't seen each other in a while, sexually assaulted Mallory.  (Of course, this being the '80s, it's not called that, it's referred to as making a pass at her/trying to seduce her.)

Mallory senses from the beginning something is wrong, when he asks her how old she is (15) and says she's become such a beautiful girl, then asks "Or should I say young woman?"  She quickly says, "Girl, girl.  Young girl."  Yet when he grabs her ass while hugging her, she lets Alex convince her she misinterpreted, because she's so confused, embarrassed, and hurt (and all of that is on Justine's face the moment Mallory jerks away from him -- absolutely perfect) she desperately wants to believe it didn't happen.

 

[stonehaven]

I adore Michael Gross. I loved him on FT. My favorite episode with him was his temptation to sleep with Judith Light. I mean who can resist a man who coordinated his socks with the rest of his wardrobe?

There was one line that he said that runs through my head but have no idea what episode it came from. "Hey, that's rad...or bad....or mad...or (big sigh) whatever means groovy these days".

Someone mentioned the Philidelphia Story episode. I watch that every 4th of July. What I find interesting and almost quaint about it is Alex begging his dad to testify before Congress. Even though,as a Republican, voting for more funding for PBS would have been against his beliefs, he supported his dad. He also loved the process of citizen responsiblity.

You couldn't really see that happening in modern sitcoms. Family Ties may be remembered as the MJF show but it was so much more than that. A time capsule of time and place and attitudes that aren't quite as alive anymore.