Family Ties
The Real Thing (1)
TV Flash files “The Real Thing (1)” as a desk essential hour — Family Ties (1982–1989) on NBC, season 4, episode 1, aired 1985-09-26, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E01: listed hour 69 of 176 in the Family Ties guide, first listed hour of season 4. It aired 1985-09-26 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Remembrances of Things Past (2)” (S03E24). Next is “The Real Thing (2)” (S04E02).
Essential hour: “The Real Thing (1)”. The Real Thing (1) is mid-run Fox voltage at full rebalance: the will-they hour that admits the show now orbits Alex.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Alex picks out his dream girl from the school directory and falls for her roommate.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Real Thing (1) sit in the Family Ties guide?
S04E01 is listed hour 69 of 176 — first listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 1.
When did Family Ties S04E01 air?
The Real Thing (1) aired 1985-09-26 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.…