"A Keaton Christmas Carol" is the ninth episode in the second season of the NBC family sitcom Family Ties. It originally aired on December 14, 1983, and is the thirty-first episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
With Christmas just around the corner. Alex finds himself lacking holiday spirit as the rest of the Keaton clan prepares for the celebration. On Christmas Eve Alex is visited in a dream by ghostly messengers who give him a view of his past and future Christmases along with a different perception of the holiday.
Plot[]
Christmas at the Keatons with a nicely decorated tree and snow. Alex is clearly the Ebenezer Scrooge of the story (lover of money with no Christmas spirit). As he sleeps, Alex begins to realize the importance of the Christmas season. Jennifer appears as "The Ghost of Christmas Past" and takes Alex to Christmas ten years ago. Mallory appears as "The Ghost of Christmas Future", where he sees how poor his family has become (while he's rich in New York). Changed by the dreams, Alex goes to 7-Eleven to shop for gifts.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Meredith Baxter as Elyse Keaton
- Michael Gross as Steven Keaton
- Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton
- Justine Bateman as Mallory Keaton
- Tina Yothers as Jennifer Keaton
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
Quotes[]
- Boy: "Hi, Mr. Keaton! Christmas cheer to you, sir."
Alex: "Get off the lawn before I call the cops!" - Elyse: "I'm sorry about that Alex. That was our fault."
Alex: "Yeah, but I'm the one that sweated out the audit."
Trivia[]
- The title is from the novella by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.
- The traditional Keaton Christmas photo (as in "A Christmas Story"), three times - once botched, once in the flashback, and a better one at the end.
- Young Alex (played by Chris Hebert) and Young Mallory (this year played by Kaleena Kiff) appear again in a flashback to the time when Jennifer is a baby.
- In the flashback scene Steve wore a Santa beard to hide his real beard as his character was clean-shaven per all pre-1983 flashbacks.
- Young Alex also pleads about the innocence of President Nixon (this is Christmas 1973).
Gallery[]
