"Fabric Smarts" is the sixth episode in the third season of the NBC family sitcom Family Ties. It originally aired on October 25, 1984, and is the fiftieth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
Mallory is working hard at a clothing store, and her supervisors are noticing. However, her grades aren't doing as well as she is at the store. Steven and Elyse tell her she'll have to quit her job. Alex convinces their parents to give Mallory another chance at the store (provided she can get three Bs on her upcoming midterms). Alex helps Mallory study, even in the midst of a rush at the store.
Plot[]
For once, airhead Mallory impresses even Alex by being a really good salesperson in a clothes shop. When her parents decide that her bad grades are a result of too much time on her job, she's ordered to quit it, but Jen challenges Alex to convince them to give her another chance. Even though her dad realizes they're being scammed by a master, they agree to a deal: She can keep working if she scores at least Bs on her next three tests. Alex decides to prevent his honorable victory becoming hollow by tutoring her, and succeeds with two tests. However the last, in history, coincides with a clothes sale, and even his tutoring isn't foolproof in such a crowd; she scores only C-, but everyone feels she worked too hard to lose out anyhow.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest-Starring[]
- Marc Price as Skippy Handelman
- Doris Belack as Mrs. Willis
- Alison La Placa as Barbara Alexander
- Bunny Summers as Mrs. Binney
Co-Starring[]
Quotes[]
- When trying to convince his parents to let Mallory keep her job, he gets her to admit that she didn't know that her parents expected good grades from her. She says, "I had no such knowledge."
- Elyse says that after 20 years of marriage, she can predict exactly what Steven is going to say. And then she proves it.
Trivia[]
- The title references Alex saying that while Mallory does not have "Book Smarts", she instead has "Fabric Smarts".
- In "Keaton and Son", Mallory tries to get Alex to work at WKS so that he won't be home as much. In this episode she tries to get Alex to talk with their parents, with the added bonus to Alex that she won't be home as much.
- After her second B, Alex introduces Mallory into the kitchen like a prize fighter (from Tenafly, New Jersey) - not sure where the connection comes from. Perhaps a writer was from there.
- Elyse suggests Mallory call later "when the rates go down", an idea so common to 1984 and so uncommon in the 21st century of cell phones.
Gallery[]
