"Family Ties": oral history of the 1980s sitcom

Family Ties debuted in 1982 and ran seven seasons. Although the 35th anniversary of something is not acknowledged as regularly as the 25th or 50th, there ain't no nothin' like Family Ties. A TV show that can get away with a triple negative in its theme song can get away with nearly anything.

As part of my ongoing/bizarre commitment to preserving our pop culture past, welcome to the first oral history of Family Ties. It comprises the never-published memories and rare set photos of 53 of the show's notable guest stars. Some of them left show business long ago while others are still active—even Emmy-winning. Among them:

Peter Scolari (Girls, Gotham, Newhart, Bosom Buddies)
Timothy Busfield (thirtysomething, The West Wing, Field of Dreams)
Kate Vernon (Battlestar Galactica)
Alan Blumenfeld (Heroes)
Christina Pickles (Friends, St. Elsewhere)
Lily Mariye (ER)
Stuart Pankin (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Julie Cobb (Star Trek)

What they all have in common: they're people we haven't yet heard from on this topic. I asked everyone a core set of questions and then certain questions specific to certain people.

Interviews (10 parts):

1—casting
2—shooting anecdotes
3—reactions
4—Michael J. Fox
5—rest of the family
6—other cast
7—favorites
8—your life today
9—your family, show legacy
10—mementos, memories

season 1

seasons 2-3

season 4

seasons 5-7

Over several months, I rewatched all 168 episodes for the first time since the 1990s. The following surprised me:

how often characters (mostly Alex) opened and drank cans of soda and how much OJ they drank out of that glass container
how certain actors appeared only two times, as the same character, but in different seasons (Chris Hebert, Sonia Curtis, Jason Naylor)
how Alex's teasing of Mallory got crueler over time and her character got ditzier
how dimly lit it sometimes was (shadows across faces); maybe other sitcoms of the era were also like that and I never noticed?

Season 5, episode 1 ("Be True to Your Preschool") ends with Alex P. Keaton asking his young brother Andrew "Who loves you?" Andrew responds "Alex loves me." I often ask my kids the same—but did not remember till now that it came from Family Ties.

Another special if indirect connection: I went to Brandeis University as did Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg (he was class of '66, I was '94). A key Family Ties director, Sam Weisman, is also a Brandeis alum (MFA'73). When Gary died in 2013, Sam memorialized him.

Here is a longer version of the theme song "Without Us," as performed by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams.

Guest stars who declined to participate (not including people who didn't get back to me):

Tom Hanks, seasons 1 and 2
Amy Steel, season 1
Deborah Foreman, season 1
Daphne Zuniga, season 2
Jami Gertz, season 2
Geena Davis, season 3
Beverly Archer, season 3 (willing but didn't even remember doing Family Ties)
Shawn Schepps, season 3 (willing but all she remembered was "Justine was nice")
Isabelle Walker, season 3
Tracy Pollan, season 4
Martha Plimpton, season 4
Noah Hathaway, season 4
Albert Macklin, season 4
Christina Applegate, season 5
Wil Wheaton, season 5
Jennifer Salt, season 5
Haviland Morris, season 5 (willing but upon seeing my questions reported "I honestly have not one interesting anecdote or impression")
Joan McMurtrey, season 5
Constance McCashin, season 6
Jane Adams, season 7