Family Ties
I Gotta Be Ming
TV Flash files “I Gotta Be Ming” as hour 18 of 176 in the TV Flash guide — Family Ties (1982–1989) on NBC, season 1, episode 18, aired 1983-02-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E18: listed hour 18 of 176 in the Family Ties guide, hour 18 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1983-02-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “French Lessons” (S01E17). Next is “Suzanne Takes You Down” (S01E19).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
As Big Brother to a 10-year-old Vietnamese boy, Alex tries to mold Ming into his own image, and he learns an unforgettable lesson when he breaks a promise to the adoring child.
Viewer FAQ
Where does I Gotta Be Ming sit in the Family Ties guide?
S01E18 is listed hour 18 of 176 — hour 18 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 18.
When did Family Ties S01E18 air?
I Gotta Be Ming aired 1983-02-23 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is Family Ties only the Alex P. Keaton show?
It became that, which is the story. Liberal former-hippie parents were the premise; Fox's popularity reshaped the center of gravity mid-run, and the series survived by handing him the engine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Fox at full young-star voltage: Alex P. Keaton as the Reagan-kid yuppie mascot opposite hippie parents Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross. Family multi-cam that actually engages 1980s politics without a textbook. His Back to the Future scheduling wars are the gossip; the rebalance around Fox is the show. Economics never had a cozier sitcom spokesman.
The kid ate the series. Not a rumor — a rebalance. NBC's Family Ties (1982–1989) opened as Gary David Goldberg's living-room gag about hippie parents and a Reagan-kid son, then Michael J. Fox's Alex P. Keaton vacuumed the center of gravity until Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross were playing opposite a superstar. Seven seasons, 176 episodes, supply-side sitcom spokesman in a sweater. The museum guard wants the decade's politics as text. Fine. **The heat was a supporting kid who became the show.**
Filed against
- Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton
Michael J. Fox minted Alex P. Keaton as Family Ties’ Reagan-kid yuppie mascot opposite hippie parents, then spun a mayor’s office like a war room on Spin City. 1980s politics without a textbook; 1990s political farce with muscle-memory…
- Meredith Baxter as Elyse Keaton
Meredith Baxter’s Elyse Keaton held Family Ties’ hippie-parent line against Alex P. Keaton’s Reagan-kid yuppie mascot — 1980s family multi-cam that actually engaged the politics without a textbook. Michael Gross on the other couch, Fox at…
- Michael Gross as Steven Keaton
Michael Gross’s Steven Keaton held the other hippie couch on Family Ties — 1980s multi-cam that put Reagan-kid Alex P. Keaton against parents who still had the old arguments. Meredith Baxter as partner, Fox at young-star voltage. TV Flash…
- Justine Bateman as Mallory Keaton
Justine Bateman’s Mallory Keaton was Family Ties’ shopping-mall counterweight — Alex P. Keaton as Reagan-kid yuppie mascot, hippie parents Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, family multi-cam that actually engaged 1980s politics without a…
- Tina Yothers as Jennifer Keaton
Tina Yothers youngest-childed Family Ties as Jennifer Keaton — Alex P. Keaton as the Reagan-kid yuppie mascot opposite hippie parents, family multi-cam that actually engaged 1980s politics without a textbook. Rebalance as the long game.…