- Network: NBC
- Series Premiere Date: Sep 22, 1982
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Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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Family Ties is the heir apparent to All in the Family. Equally relevant, it captures '80s home life better than anything else on television. [24 Sep 1982, p.B3]
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The show is strong and funny. It portrays a family that lives and loves together in a house filled with mutual respect, but without cloying sentimentality. That's unusual for television. [22 Sep 1982, p.45]
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Family Ties doesn't beat you over the head for laughs. The humor comes out of the situation. The situations come out of reality. [22 Sep 1982, p.6]
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The husband and wife, played by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter Birney, are recognizable human beings who grapple with recognizable problems and emotions. And the children in the family, particularly Michael J. Fox, who plays teenage son Alex, are marvelously portrayed. [06 Oct 1982, p.9D]
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[Fox's] performance alone puts the series in the winner's circle. [22 Sep 1982, p.61]
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Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross do a splendid job as modern-day parents with an attractive brood of convincingly "now" youngsters. [19 Oct 1982, p.34]
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The show is sometimes strained and tends to be a bit sappy, but Family Ties has some good writing. [22 Sep 1982, p.2B]
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It has a lot of positive factors, one being a good comedy actor in Michael J. Fox, who plays teenage son, Alex. The show may also develop a better sense of its characters as it goes along. [29 Sep 1982, p.C12]
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A better-than-average new comedy series. [22 Sep 1982, p.8D]
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Family Ties has a one-joke premise in the reverse generation-gap angle, but it appears promising. [22 Sep 1982, p.E5]
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Remembered fondly by children of the '80s as a warm, goofy show about ex-hippie parents and their materialist kids, Family Ties hasn't held up too well.
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Indeed, it’s Gross’ winning performance that makes the hit-or-miss first season of Family Ties worth your time. His impeccably dry delivery showcases the show’s humor, to be sure, but his good-guy aura makes him truly extraordinary.
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Broad strokes like these might be expected in a Norman Lear comedy of the '70s, but Goldberg's better instincts seem to be leading him to something subtler and more credible. [22 Sep 1982, p.4B]
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The cast is pleasant enough. The rest depends on how cleverly Gary David Goldberg, the creator and producer of the series, can bring a sense of freshness to an overworked device.
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Writer Gary David Goldberg, who also created the series and is the executive producer, should get some credit for trying to bring off something vaguely meaningful within the sitcom format, but at this point, he hasn't done a great deal of succeeding.
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There is, however, a certain warmth to the show -- maybe the openly affectionate relationship between Steve and Elyse (which grosses out daughter Mallory) -- that makes me hope that creator-writer Gary David Glodberg learns how to better translate his intriguing premise into scripts. [22 Sep 1982, p.E1]
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Despite being written by producer Gary David Goldberg (one of the brighter young comedy minds in TV), the script speaks the narrow, doctrinaire language of bumber stickers. [22 Sep 1982, p.7]