Shark Bytes

I taought it did the job...mjfox can really carry a show and the lefty parents were hilarious...

the episode where michael's friend dies, and he pretty much carries the whole show on his own talent to carry it, only goes to show the acting ability of this actor. I tuned in just to see if, and how, he would/could do it.
I'm 52 yrs old, and he kept me glued to the t.v. for the whole show. Not just to see how he did it, but by his portrayal of his character....an amazing feat for an actor of his limited experience (at that time). I think him (michael) carrying that episode was what opened the doors that made him the star that he has become..........& a good decent human being.

Whenever I ocassionally catch a Family Ties rerun (the show that followed Cosby on Thurs. nights.) I'm reminded of just how much better and fresher TV is now. As a child the show seemed so stale and aimed at an even younger development than mine humour wise. I mean the nerdy neighbour in love with the daughter who practically lives at their house-how many times has that been done?
As for Mallory dressing old. This was the eighties, no one looked good.
To the person commenting about the creepy house: I loved for once seeing an old house with character on TV, not the standard entry way, cardboard cut out perfect upper class anti-septic soulless suburban tract houses you always see on TV. Even in Married with Children, despite Peg not cleaning, everything looked pretty dust free and orderly.
And yes Tina Yothers: I can't resist being cruel here. How did she ever get to be a child star? She was never cute. And even my normally kind parents were astonished at how ugly she became. And not in the ugly screwed up but interesting Mckenzie Philips way, but boring and ugly. seriously, who was she related to?

Definitely agree that this is one show that didn't age well. I actually liked the way Alex, Mallory and Jennifer matured into their characters. They became less stereotypical sitcom teens, and they're acting improved dramatically. I think Justine Bateman really did a hilarious job of playing ditzy fashionista Mallory. If you think about it, the show was generally bad, but once in a while would have a moment or two of comedic brilliance. It was one of those shows you desperately wanted to like but had to work hard to find the good parts.

I also noticed that the writers often ran out of ideas. Family Ties had more episodes of the family sitting around reminiscing about previous seasons than any sitcom in history.

I love you michael!!! you are such a sweetie. (even though i don't really know you, you just seem that way in everything you're in)

michael j fox is my favorite actor, so full of life and funny. everything i've seen him in (i have almost every one of his movies), he does a fantastic job. his character as alex was a great start 4 him, he really made a name 4 himself. Michael, i love u, and i love how u are so energetic and happy. Spin city and Family Ties are excellent shows!

This show actually reverse-jumped when Tina Yothers started growing up. During the first few seasons she was an irritating, bratty, ANNOYING kid whom made me want to throw something at the screen every time she appeared on the show -in fact I have to fast-forward all the scenes with her in it when watching reruns of the earlier episodes. At least Rudy Huxtable was funny

But then Tina Yothers started growing up and she became a much more likable person. And the new kid (despite his rapid aging) was much less annoying and much more endearing that Tina Yothers could ever be as a child actress

I loved this show when it aired in the 1980s. I loved the political satire and the real sense of family that they conveyed (similar to the Cosby show).

Unlike the Cosby show, Family Ties has not aged well. The writing is awful, there often stilted moments that seem awkward between the actors, the acting is sub-par (especially the latter seasons) and the addition of yet another so called cute child added nothing to the show.

In short, don't rewatch this show if you had good memories of it. Sometimes it's best not to revisit the past.

To Joe:

Tom Hanks' character ingests vanilla extract. His line was, "This stuff is 50% alcohol!"

ANd that's my vote for the sharky-jumping!

The show JTS with the episode where the dad had to have open heart surgery !
Hey, that's always funny stuff. It never got the groove back completely after that.

Good god, that song was horrendous. I guess now we'll have to vote for either "The Best Break Up Songs" or "Break Up Songs That They Should Have Used But Did Not". My vote goes to (naturally) "The Break-up Song (They Don't Write 'Em)", by The Greg Kihn Band.

Guess I'm in the monority about the Alex break-up song. I liked that scene. I remember it was Tracey Pollan who broke up with him to go become a ballet dancer or whatever. But, Michael J. Fox later married Tracey so it worked out ok.

Did anyone else ever think there was something meloncholy about Meredith Baxter on this show? That there was something just a little off kilter about her?

The first season of FT, Mike Gross had no beard. He went back to New York during the hiatus after season 1 and grew the beard for an off Broadway play. So he called the people at FT before he came back and said to them "I have this beard. This guy is this ex-hippie. Before I cut this thing off and come back and do the show, maybe we should think about keeping it." So he went back to the lot and rehearsed that first week with the beard, then it came to a night or two before their first taping of the second year, and he said "Do I cut this beard off tonight or what?" Most of them said "We think it's great! "Keep it!" So that's why he had a beard in the second season and then forever after. He hasn't had his beard in years! But he did something recently where they wanted him to have a beard. So he said "OK, I'll grow it back." And so here he is talking on the DVD about Family Ties with all this fuz on his face.

The Tsunami Stock Episode, my favorite FT’s show of all time... APK running around and jumping over chairs.

As far as scenes an alcoholic uncle (younger Tom Hanks) searching through the cupboard to get his fix, vanilla extract or jarred cherries, does anyone remember what exactly he ingests?