Family Ties is an American television sitcom created by Gary David Goldberg about the fictitious Keaton family from Ohio. The mother, Elyse was a successful architect and the father, Steven ran a public television station.
The show originally aired in the USA on NBC, from 1982-1989. There are 180 episodes in seven seasons.
Family Ties aired in South Africa on SABC3.
Synopsis
Family Ties centered around the Keaton family. Mum, Elyse was a very successful architect and Dad (Steven) ran a public television station. They were both were former flower children of the 1960s. They lived in Columbus, with their three children: Alex, Mallory , and Jennifer.
The majority of the show's humour is derived from the tension between Alex's conservative mindset, Mallory's uninformed consumerism, and their parents' attitudes as liberal Democrats.
The show had been sold to the network on the basis of the pitch "hip parents, square kids," and the parents were originally intended to be the main characters.
However, the audience reacted so positively during the taping of an early episode in which Alex lost his virginity to a girl who shared his passion for Milton Friedman that the focus of the show was changed to him (and to a lesser extent, to his siblings).
In the 1985 season the mother, Elyse gave birth to Andrew, and the child was aged to a pre-schooler in 1986.
Other characters included the Keatons' socially inept neighbour Skippy Handelman who had an undying crush on Mallory, and in later years, Rambo-like budding artist Nick Moore, who became romantically involved with Mallory and alarmed various members of the family with how unknowingly crass and unmannered he could be.
The final two seasons also featured Courteney Cox as Lauren Miller, a love interest for Alex; before, his primary love interest was a college girl named Ellen Reed.