hello and welcome to 80s Nostalgia today we are going over the80s comedy sitcom Family Ties it premiered on September 22nd 1982 and ran seven seasons concluding on May 14th 1989 a true 80 [Music] show the show starred Meredith baxer Bernie as Elise Keaton Michael Gross is Steven Keaton Michael J fox is Alex P Keaton Justine baitman is mallerie Keaton an Tina Ys is Jennifer Keaton Family Ties was produced by Paramount Television and ubu Productions sit ubu sit good dog the series which was situated in Columbus Ohio aired on NBC for the first three seasons on Wednesday nights then it was moved to Thursday nights until 1987 and finally to Sunday nights for its final two seasons Steven and Elise Keaton were two baby boomer hippies with liberal perspectives who married during the 1960s Elise is an independent women's activist who is an architect and Steven a native of Buffalo New York is the station manager of wks a local public TV station Steven and Elise had trusted their youngsters would Embrace similar qualities and characteristics but how wrong they were particularly regarding their most established child Alex P Keaton Alex was an enthusiastic Reagan lover and card carrying youthful business business-minded teenager who walked through the house in a shirt and tie and hung an image of William F Buckley over his bed he always spoke out the extreme right dialogue which had aise and Steven uncomfortable the show was so well written and acted by Michael J fox and others that these worries that the world was becoming a heartless Place actually made us laugh Alex P Keaton became an icon in family households and to this day is a beloved figure in pop culture mallerie was as underachieving and no doubt a slacker I think he went a little overboard on the pepper mallerie I only put in a cup Jennifer was the Gifted young tomboy who simply needed to be a typical youngster Skippy handlan vex's dearest companion was a quirky nextdoor neighbor with a crush on mallerie no no during the 1984 to 1985 season Elise birthed Andrew their fourth child Alex immediately encouraged him and after a short time he was reading the Wall Street Journal while eating his fruit Loops money comes out keep the money take the card throw it in the trash as the years passed Alex moved on from high school as salutatorian and sought after a college degree from Leland College where he also formed the young Republicans Club it was there that he met his most memorable serious sweetheart the lovely Ellen Reed played by Fox's future spouse Tracy pollen Alex and Ellen had some of the most touching moments on the show as they did fall in love the episodes called The Real Thing were when Alex tried to date Ellen's roommate Trisha but it didn't work out however Alex ended up falling for Ellen when he found out that Ellen was leaving to get married he raced to the train station to try and stop her and tell her how much he loved her a sweet moment for the show I love you all right I love you I love you I love you the beautiful thing about Family Ties is the emotional moments whether sweet or somber okay got to go see you I love you too Ellen later won a dance scholarship and left Alex to go to Paris the scene of their breakup was one of the most touching moments of the series given their true love a truly Bittersweet heartbreak the letter that Alex write to Ellen is a beautiful one dear Ellen how is Europe actually I don't want to know the even more beautiful thing is that Tracy and Michael are happily married in real life to this day when that relationship finished he met Psychology major Lauren Miller played by Courtney Cox in 1987 for the last three years of the show Courtney Cox from friends had her recurring role as Alex's love Lauren Miller in the meantime mallerie who was in serious trouble of failing out of high school Found Love and Rambo wannabe in high school dropout Nick Moore parents Elise and Steven Keaton nice to meet you Nick it's a pleasure having you here hey Steven and Elise in some measure at first completely objected Nick and Alex hated the motorcycle riding more considerably more my brother and sister Alex and Jennifer hey mallerie be that as it may moved on from high school and turned into a fashion design major at Grant college Nick additionally got his General equivalency diploma Jennifer was a tomboy who unlike her conservative siblings was more like her parents she is shown to be aggressive yet sweet stop in 1985 the future hear throb River Phoenix did an episode as a genius math tutor named Eugene Forbes he developed a crush on Jennifer and stated she was the future mother of his children your vision he was one of many guests on the show who went on to be celebrities along with Courtney cooch during the Show's first two seasons Tom Hanks performed his uncle Ned Donnelly the struggling raging alcoholic who chugged a bottle of vanilla extract when he couldn't find any more alcohol in the house at 2 a.m. he even slapped Alex in the face in another scene give me those leave me alone give me leave me alone what the hell are you doing however not all of Tom's scenes were dramatic he was very funny with Michael in particular in the second season Judith light had her eyes on Steven Keaton before starring and who's the boss in season 3 Gina Davis co-starred as the incompetent housekeeper Karen before starring as Thelma and Thelma and Louise among many other movies you're hired in 1987 Christina Applegate the Married with Children star played a keyboard player in Jennifer's band coincidentally Christina's co-star unmarried with children a young David FAO who we know as Bud Bundy appears in season 2 as Keith come on Mom can't we stay a little longer there's still one cut we haven't broken a sun caught between a custody battle that Steven and Elise must mediate in 1988 Julia Luiz draus played the Katon lawyer who was hired to defend Jennifer from the school board after being suspended from school thrilled to meet someone of your generation who's interested in something other than just maintaining the status quo in season 4 1986 Cory Feldman of the Lost Boys played a brainy student decade before Third Rock From the Sun Joseph Gordon leit played as one of Andrew's classmates douge while there was the ideal opportunity for the sake of entertainment and laughs numerous Family Ties episodes investigated serious subjects for example high school or pregnancy oversight dependence on pills insulting teachers sexual assault the impacts racial minority mortgage holders have on property estimations alcoholism and lamenting the passing of a dear companion Greg in this case Uncle Ned played by Tom Hanks in the alcoholic's case different episodes manage Steven's far-off associations with his own family one of the greatest scenes in television history is said to be the heartstrings episode in 1988 when Steven gets a heart attack I'm alive or is this Heaven hey when the series wrapped up Alex acknowledged the most amazing job he could ever ask for offer a job on Wall Street 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 Reaganomics politics which came to define the 1980s Ronald Reagan was President of the United States and Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of Britain but the governments were fairly moderate there was the drive to try and end the American Society of sex drugs and rock and roll while restoring Conservative Christian values so liberals felt they were seeing the end of a civilization in the early 8s if you were young you were liberal by today's standards keeping all this into perspective the sitcom Family Ties literally tied those generations and cultural viewpoints together making a very funny entertaining and sometimes serious sitcom that taught lessons your Mr Tesco is a rude crass vile human being I could have told you that but it was show that was wholesome and loving and lived up to its name Family Ties son there is a bond between us that the two of you could never break we hope you liked our review in love for the 80s classic comedy sitcom Family Ties we hope you enjoyed the memorable moments and thank you for your time 80s forever for