Ned Donnelly is a minor character in the first and second seasons of the NBC comedy Family Ties. He is Elyse Keaton's younger brother and an uncle to Alex, Mallory, Jennifer, and Andy Keaton.
Background[]
Elyse was very protective of Ned when they were growing up and was always helping him out of problems. When Ned stole the bully Joey Lagrande's baseball mitt and was afraid to give it back, Elyse went with him to take it back, then beat up Joey. When Ned was a teenager, he took Charlie Donnelly's car without permission, leaving him stranded in Cleveland; Elyse bailed him out of that one, too.[1]
Ned attended Harvard University, majoring in economics. At this point he was already a drinker, but it hadn't become a serious problem yet.[2] He was recruited at Kelton Electronics as soon as he graduated. He would work there for two years before being hired by the Syntram Corporation in New York City. He started off as the Eastern Regional Manager before working his way up to Junior Vice President of the company by the time he was 28 years old.
He was eventually promoted to be put in charge of a merger between Syntram and Hemsdale Machine Parts that was actually a huge tax write-off scam that would put 1,800 people out of work. After he expressed his concerns to his boss, the two had an argument and Ned poured coffee on his boss which led to him being fired. Before he left though, he secretly embezzled a $4.5 million from the company and hid it in a private account to prevent the merger from going through, with the intention of eventually giving the money to the people who would've been put out of work. He was then hunted by the FBI for his crimes, and travelled to Columbus to seek refuge with his sister Elyse under the pretense of a visit, giving two hours notice of his impending arrival.
Personality[]
Physical Description[]
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
Ned officially visited the Keatons during the events of "The Fugitive". He bought NYC skyline snow globes for the entire family. After their mother called, Ned insisted that Elyse not tell her that he was there but didn't disclose the reason for it. He claimed that he was taking a leave of absence, feeling burned out, and that he would be staying for awhile.
While having dinner, Ned received a call for Allied International Airlines where he was planning a flight to Russia under a false name "Stanislaw Demkowski". When questioned by the family, he claimed that he used a fake name to book his ticket so the company wouldn't call him repeatedly. He then made another call where he gave a speech in code: "The falcon has landed and the fat man walks alone". The family's suspicions continued.
As Ned's erratic behavior continued the next day, he admitted to Steven and Elyse that he was having problems at work and was fired. He explained the first part of his problem while leaving out the details of his crimes.
Alex later expressed pride at Ned's actions, but was shocked when Ned said that he wasn't going back to the business world. He prepared to tell Alex the whole story, but after a US Government car pulled up in the driveway he fled for his own protection on the pretense of getting ice cream.
The man at the door was Bert Carlyle, a local FBI agent. He explained the full details of Ned's crimes much to the shock of the family.
Ned returned after dinner where has confronted by the family. He confirmed that everything was true but explained his reasons for doing so. He said that he's leave in the morning so as not to involve them any further. Alex later expressed disappointment at Ned for abandoning the business world. Alex tried to give an extended metaphor for why the deal was important using breakfast supplies, but Ned was able to expand the metaphor using other parts making Alex fully understand.
Alex ultimately agreed to help Ned discreetly purchase a plane ticket so he could escape the country and they left for the airport in the middle of the night. Alex botched the purchase by changing the name on the ticket multiple times, but he eventually got a ticket under the name Alfredo Gomez. Secretly though, Carlyle followed them and nearly arrested Ned before he slipped away with a group of people that were dressed identical to him.
Ned eventually returned home to hide again until he could think of another plan, but Elyse tried to convince him to turn himself in. When Carlyle returned with the President of the Syntam Corporation Rob Peterson, Ned tried to run to get a ten-minute head start.
Ned had a change of heart though and returned to face the music. When asked by Elyse why he came back, he explained that he tripped over Jennifer's baseball mitt and was reminded of the past. Ned left and co-operated with the FBI and managed to avoid jail time.
Season 2[]
Throughout the next year, Ned travelled around the country by train taking up short lived jobs in various cities and towns to make ends meet. Along the way, despondent about the situation he was in, he developed a drinking problem.
Eventually, he was invited back to the Keaton household during the events of "Say Uncle" where he was welcomed back with open arms. Steven even pulled some strings to get him a full time job at WKS.
All seemed fine with him until Alex came into the kitchen for a midnight snack and discovered Ned's drinking problem. He was particularly shocked when Ned chugged an entire bottle of vanilla extract and a jar of maraschino cherries. He also grew very concerned about Ned's erratic behavior he was intoxicated, ranging from severe depression to full on hostility.
The next morning, Alex mentioned what happened to Elyse and expressed his concern, but she brushed it off thinking that Alex was over-dramatizing things. Her concern was further put off by the fact that Ned acted like himself again in front of everyone. Elyse specifically told Alex that Ned has always been a drinker, but he had always had it under control.
Elyse did get worried after Alex specifically mentioned the vanilla extract incident. She realized that Alex might have a point after Ned poured a little vodka into his orange juice, despite the interview being in just a few hours. Ned said that he could stop anytime he wanted to, so Elyse told him to stop. Ned agreed to stop for her and left for the interview.
At the interview, despite Ned having excellent qualifications for the role, he had ultimately had a lot to drink beforehand out of nervousness and he ruined his chances. He had stolen Jennifer's clarinet and tried to play it for Mr. Wertz. Fortunately he was stopped after Mr. Wertz had to answer a phone call.
Steven tried to calm Ned down, telling him to be himself, but his drunkenness began to show after he started making inappropriate jokes. After almost drunkenly sitting on Steven, he then took the seat next to Mr. Wertz and started acting like he was interviewing Steven for the job. He continued to act erratic by pushing chairs, talking loudly, and telling Mr. Wertz to take it seriously.
Mr. Wertz and Steven then noticed that Ned didn't have any socks on. Ned then pulled them out of his inner coat pocket saying that he had them right there. He asked Mr. Wertz if he wanted to try them on and accidently knocked a cup of pencils and pens over. Ned apologized and crawled under the desk to fix it. As Steven tried to apologize to Mr. Wertz for this, Ned looked under Mr. Wertz's pants and noted that he wasn't wearing any socks either, even though he was.
Steven ordered Ned to get up. After Ned did, Mr. Wertz said that the interview was over. Ned acted like he had conducted the interview and told him he had done a fine job and that he would let him know in a few days. He then walked out of the office.
Later that evening, Steven told Elyse and Alex what happened and Elyse was finally convince that Ned needed help.
Ned suddenly showed up prepared to celebrate with a bottle of wine. As Steven mentioned how he blew the interview, Ned remarked that Mr. Wertz would never have given him the job even if he had been sober. Steven said that that wasn't true, but Ned once again brushed it off saying that the rest of them could keep the family banner high and that his life doesn't matter.
Steven commented on how pathetic that speech was, and Ned ended off going into a rant about how he's not even thirty years old and yet a washed up has-been. Elyse tried to convince Ned to call Alcoholics Anonymous but Ned still refused to believe that he had a drinking problem. Steven mentioned how this would eventually kill him, but said that he didn't care as it was over for him.
Alex tried to convince Ned otherwise by saying how he was once on top and could make it there again, showing him newspaper clippings he had saved of Ned's achievements. Ned asked what Alex was doing with them, and Alex said that he looked to them for inspiration when he thought he could achieve something. Ned said that they were ancient history and proceeded to throw them in the fireplace. Alex tried to stop Ned, but Ned yelled "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and slapped Alex away so hard that he fell to the ground.
Steven angrily demanded to know what Ned was doing, and Ned broke down in tears saying that he didn't know and apologized to Alex. Steven told Ned that this was the last straw: that he either get help or get out of their house. Ned still in tears asked how he could hit Alex like that, and Elyse handed him the number for A.A. for him to call.
Ned walked over to the phone, dialled the number, and said after saying a joke, spoke "My Name is Ned Donnelly, and I have a drinking problem". Ned supposedly received help for his drinking problem afterwards, though he was never seen or mentioned again after that.
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