Family Ties: A Personal All-Time Classic

CLEVELAND - Television has always been a part of my life, especially during my formative years. 

Count Family Ties as one of my all-time favorites.

The popular NBC sitcom ended its run 20 years ago today with Alex P. Keaton leaving Ohio to pursue a political career. The fictional Keaton, played expertly by Michael J. Fox was an enormous supporter of President Ronald Reagan's policies during the show's tenure. Coincidentally, Reagan's two terms in the White House (1981-89) closely spanned the life of Family Ties, which ran from 1982 to 1989.

I remember watching the show on Thursday nights at 8:30 PM EST, right after the runaway hit The Cosby Show. I believe that lasted until 1987, when Cosby himself created a spin-off vehicle entitled, A Different World for his on screen daughter Lisa Bonet.  Then, the Keatons moved to Sunday nights where they stayed until their '89 exit.

The cast of Family Ties weren't previously well-known, though Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter had been actors before being cast in this series. Baxter was the very attractive, albeit sharp blonde mother Elyse and Gross was the hilarious Steven, both had been Woodstock-era young adults and were originally intended to be the show's focal point. Justine Bateman's Mallory was the typical airheaded teenaged shopaholic and Tina Yothers' Jennifer was the resident awkward youngest child (until Brian Bonsall arrived in 1986).

Fox was the obvious headliner.

It is a misconception that the 1985 film Back to the Future made Fox a star. While that movie became both a box office smash and cultural icon, it was Family Ties that made the Canadian-born actor a household name. Back to the Future only extended his celebrity wattage, but he was still quintessentially Conservative Alex P. Keaton more than he was Marty McFly.

I greatly miss that incredible series and i remember being choked up while watching the finale on Sunday, May 14, 1989. It will always be in my personal stash box of favorite TV shows and of course, forever be the place where I first discovered the awesome Michael J. Fox.

Now if I could just find it on TV Land.