Intelligence and warmth never go out of style.
10) "To Snatch a Keith." When the Keaton's best friends get into a nasty custody battle, the father kidnaps his song.
11) "Birthday Boy." On his 18th birthday, Alex drives to West Virginia for some legal bar action, but because it was against Mom's orders Elyse is hot on his tail.
12) "Go Tigers." Alex's big interview at Princeton goes awry when Mallory tags along (and discovers her boyfriend with another woman).
13) "M is for Many Things." Elyse's parents are separating, and it throws her into an even bigger panic when her mother goes out on a date and stays out all night.
14) "Say Uncle." Another relative turns up, this time Uncle Ned, who wants a job at Steven's PBS station . . . but has a drinking problem.
15) "Ladies Man." Alex is attracted to a young feminist in this funny episode, and ends up in jail for his trouble.
16) "Ready or Not." To have sex, or not to have sex . . . that is the question in this "issue" episode that gets a little too issue-oriented at the expense of the comedy or plotline.
17) "Double Date." It's the old dump the girl you asked to the prom when a real fox becomes available plotline, this time with Alex as the cur.
18) "Lady Sings the Blues." Interesting episode has Elyse trying to revive a folk-singing career.
19) "Baby Boy Doe." Skippy, the next-door neighbor with a crush on Mallory, learns that he's adopted and Alex drives him to Dayton to meet his mother.
20) "The Graduate." Expecting to be selected valedictorian, Alex gets his come-uppance when his girlfriend Rachel is picked instead.
21) "Diary of a Young Girl." Jennifer has tonsillitis and recalls in diary entries written in the hospital all the mean things she did to her family.
22) "Working at It." Elyse finally gets the office job she thought she wanted, but it turns out to be unbearable.
All totaled, there's eight hours and 50 minutes of entertainment here.
Video:
As with all the shows in the Eighties, "Family Ties" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio in color that looks pretty good more than 25 years later. There's very little fading and only a little graininess throughout. Nice picture.
Audio:
The audio is a nothing-fancy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono. But at least there's little in the way of distortion. It's a nice, clear-sounding track that works well enough because the show is all dialogue . . . and audience laughter.
Extras:
After a first season with no extras, CBS-DVD responded with three short-but-sweet features on "The Making of Family Ties," "Michael J. Fox: The Best Gig in the World," and "The Year of the Beard," plus a brief PSA from Fox on Parkinson's Disease. The making-of feature uses artwork of an old TV with tuning knobs in which we see the various characters speaking about the show, and then it segues into the standard full-screen presentation. Creator Gary Goldberg tells how he was resistant at first to Fox, Marc Price (Skippy) tells how the crush he had on Justine Bateman was real, Tina Yothers says Michael Gross was the funniest cast member on the set, and for a brief feature there's a lot of fun information. The "beard" has a pretty simple explanation, but it's another excuse to see Gross on-screen talking about the show. Fox appears both now and in clips talking about the role of Alex P. Keaton in a bonus feature that's poignant because of Fox's progressive Parkinson's Disease. All three are worth watching, and should please fans who were disappointed by the lack of features the first time around.
It's worth noting that CBS-DVD/Paramount has gone to a standard-size keep-case for their multiple disc sets, and that's a relief for space-cramped collectors. These single-sided discs are easy to remove, too, with four separate holders. The only negative is that to see the episodes you have to slide the cover out of the sleeve to read it, or else remove a disc or two. But hey, that's a small price to pay for an otherwise thoughtfully designed set.
Bottom Line:
In the '80s, "The Cosby Show" may have been the top family sitcom, but "Family Ties" wasn't far behind. Though, as Price suggests, it may be the best time capsule of the decade, strong writing and endearing characters gave this family comedy a timeless appeal. Intelligence and warmth never go out of style.
11) "Birthday Boy." On his 18th birthday, Alex drives to West Virginia for some legal bar action, but because it was against Mom's orders Elyse is hot on his tail.
12) "Go Tigers." Alex's big interview at Princeton goes awry when Mallory tags along (and discovers her boyfriend with another woman).
13) "M is for Many Things." Elyse's parents are separating, and it throws her into an even bigger panic when her mother goes out on a date and stays out all night.
14) "Say Uncle." Another relative turns up, this time Uncle Ned, who wants a job at Steven's PBS station . . . but has a drinking problem.
15) "Ladies Man." Alex is attracted to a young feminist in this funny episode, and ends up in jail for his trouble.
16) "Ready or Not." To have sex, or not to have sex . . . that is the question in this "issue" episode that gets a little too issue-oriented at the expense of the comedy or plotline.
17) "Double Date." It's the old dump the girl you asked to the prom when a real fox becomes available plotline, this time with Alex as the cur.
18) "Lady Sings the Blues." Interesting episode has Elyse trying to revive a folk-singing career.
19) "Baby Boy Doe." Skippy, the next-door neighbor with a crush on Mallory, learns that he's adopted and Alex drives him to Dayton to meet his mother.
20) "The Graduate." Expecting to be selected valedictorian, Alex gets his come-uppance when his girlfriend Rachel is picked instead.
21) "Diary of a Young Girl." Jennifer has tonsillitis and recalls in diary entries written in the hospital all the mean things she did to her family.
22) "Working at It." Elyse finally gets the office job she thought she wanted, but it turns out to be unbearable.
All totaled, there's eight hours and 50 minutes of entertainment here.
Video:
As with all the shows in the Eighties, "Family Ties" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio in color that looks pretty good more than 25 years later. There's very little fading and only a little graininess throughout. Nice picture.
Audio:
The audio is a nothing-fancy Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono. But at least there's little in the way of distortion. It's a nice, clear-sounding track that works well enough because the show is all dialogue . . . and audience laughter.
Extras:
After a first season with no extras, CBS-DVD responded with three short-but-sweet features on "The Making of Family Ties," "Michael J. Fox: The Best Gig in the World," and "The Year of the Beard," plus a brief PSA from Fox on Parkinson's Disease. The making-of feature uses artwork of an old TV with tuning knobs in which we see the various characters speaking about the show, and then it segues into the standard full-screen presentation. Creator Gary Goldberg tells how he was resistant at first to Fox, Marc Price (Skippy) tells how the crush he had on Justine Bateman was real, Tina Yothers says Michael Gross was the funniest cast member on the set, and for a brief feature there's a lot of fun information. The "beard" has a pretty simple explanation, but it's another excuse to see Gross on-screen talking about the show. Fox appears both now and in clips talking about the role of Alex P. Keaton in a bonus feature that's poignant because of Fox's progressive Parkinson's Disease. All three are worth watching, and should please fans who were disappointed by the lack of features the first time around.
It's worth noting that CBS-DVD/Paramount has gone to a standard-size keep-case for their multiple disc sets, and that's a relief for space-cramped collectors. These single-sided discs are easy to remove, too, with four separate holders. The only negative is that to see the episodes you have to slide the cover out of the sleeve to read it, or else remove a disc or two. But hey, that's a small price to pay for an otherwise thoughtfully designed set.
Bottom Line:
In the '80s, "The Cosby Show" may have been the top family sitcom, but "Family Ties" wasn't far behind. Though, as Price suggests, it may be the best time capsule of the decade, strong writing and endearing characters gave this family comedy a timeless appeal. Intelligence and warmth never go out of style.
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[release]23626[/release]