The first season of the sitcom Family Ties aired from September 22, 1982 to April 11, 1983 on NBC.
Plot[]
Chronicles liberal ex-hippies Steven and Elyse Keaton, their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew. Steven and Elyse Keaton, once 1960s radicals, now find themselves in Reagan-era America trying to raise a traditional suburban family.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Meredith Baxter - Elyse Keaton
- Michael Gross - Steven Keaton
- Michael J. Fox - Alex P. Keaton
- Justine Bateman - Mallory Keaton
- Tina Yothers - Jennifer Keaton
Co-Starring[]
- Marc Price - Skippy Handelman
- Tom Hanks - Ned Donnelly
Episodes[]
| # | # | Image | Title | Code | Writer | Director | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 
|
"Pilot" | 001 | Asaad Kelada | Gary David Goldberg | September 22, 1982 |
| Alex escorts a pretty socialite to a dance at her country club. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | 
|
"Not With My Sister You Don't" | 004 | Tony Mordente | Lloyd Garver | September 29, 1982 |
| Alex heads the household when Elyse and Steven go away for the weekend. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | 
|
"I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend" | 003 | Michael Zinberg | Gary David Goldberg | October 6, 1982 |
| Jennifer gets picked on when she befriends a boy at school. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | 
|
"Summer of '82" | 007 | Tony Mordente | Michael J. Weithorn | October 27, 1982 |
| Seduced by an "older woman" of twenty-one (Amy Steel), the hitherto inexperienced Alex is devastated to learn that she thinks of their relationship as casual. | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | 
|
"I Never Killed for My Father" | 008 | Dick Martin | Kimberly Hill | November 3, 1982 |
| A visit from Steven's father (John Randolph) evokes confrontation between the two. | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | 
|
"Give Your Uncle Arthur a Kiss" | 012 | Will Mackenzie | Lloyd Garver & Gary David Goldberg | November 10, 1982 |
| Mallory is horrified and confused when a close family friend and older business associate of her father's makes a pass at her. | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | 
|
"Big Brother is Watching" | 013 | Alan Bergmann | Ruth Bennett | November 17, 1982 |
| As the new editor of his school paper, Alex uncovers a cheating scandal and to everyone's chagrin, prints a list of students who were caught including Mallory. | |||||||
| 8 | 8 | 
|
"No Nukes is Good Nukes" | 009 | Frank Bonner | Ruth Bennett | November 24, 1982 |
| To the dismay of the Keaton children and their equally conservative grandparents (Dick Sargent and Priscilla Morrill), Steven and Elyse take time out Thanksgiving Day to attend an anti-nuke rally-and end up spending the holiday in jail. | |||||||
| 9 | 9 | 
|
"Death of a Grocer" | 011 | Will Mackenzie | Michael J. Weithorn | December 1, 1982 |
| Though Alex loves working at Mr. Adler's "Mom and Pop" grocery store, to the old man's dismay, he quits to "climb the corporate ladder" at an ultramodern supermarket. | |||||||
| 10 | 10 | 
|
"Have Gun, Will Unravel" | 006 | Alan Bergmann | Ruth Bennett | December 8, 1982 |
| The Keatons consider buying a gun for protection after getting burglarized. | |||||||
| 11 | 11 | 
|
"A Christmas Story" | 014 | Will Mackenzie | Joanne Pagliaro | December 15, 1982 |
| When a blizzard forces the Keatons to spend Christmas at home, Elyse's gift to Steven an album filled with fascinating old photos sparks flashbacks to the births of their three children. | |||||||
| 12 | 12 | 
|
"Oops" | 005 | Tony Mordente | Joanne Pagliaro | December 22, 1982 |
| Mallory resents Elyse for the advice she gives her pregnant friend. | |||||||
| 13 | 13 | 
|
"Sherry Baby" | 015 | Tony Mordente | Barbara Hall | January 12, 1983 |
| When popular sorority girl Sherry Marshall befriends Mallory to get close to Alex, Mallory brings them together in hopes of joining Pi Nu but her plan backfires. | |||||||
| 14 | 14 | 
|
"The Fugitive: Part 1" | 016 | Will Mackenzie | Michael J. Weithorn | January 19, 1983 |
| Elyse's younger brother (Tom Hanks) and Alex's idol, Ned, makes a surprise visit. However, everyone is puzzled by the go-getter corporate executive's suspicious behavior. | |||||||
| 15 | 15 | 
|
"The Fugitive: Part 2" | 017 | Will Mackenzie | Michael J. Weithorn | January 26, 1983 |
| With the FBI hot on Ned's heels for embezzling 4.5 million dollars in corporate funds, Elyse's ethical brother and Alex's idol tells the family why and where he hid the money. | |||||||
| 16 | 16 | 
|
"Margin of Error" | 018 | Tony Mordente | Michael Russnow | February 9, 1983 |
| Alex amasses a bundle by playing the stock market on paper for his economics class, and courts disaster by secretly investing his father's money. | |||||||
| 17 | 17 | 
|
"French Lessons" | 019 | Tony Mordente | Ruth Bennett | February 16, 1983 |
| Mallory's handsome but shy French tutor, Jeff, finally musters up the nerve to ask her out and then courts disaster by enlisting Alex's advice on how to behave on the date. | |||||||
| 18 | 18 | 
|
"I Gotta Be Ming" | 020 | Sam Weisman | Douglas Wyman | February 23, 1983 |
| As Big Brother to a 10-year-old Vietnamese boy, Alex tries to mold Ming into his own image, and he learns an unforgettable lesson when he breaks a promise to the adoring child. | |||||||
| 19 | 19 | 
|
"Suzanne Takes You Down" | 010 | Will Mackenzie | Ruth Bennett | March 16, 1983 |
| Soon after freelance architect Elyse Keaton hires her friend Suzanne Davis to handle clerical chores, she wants to fire the under-qualified, overly aggressive secretary. | |||||||
| 20 | 20 | 
|
"The Fifth Wheel" | 022 | Andrew McCullough | Ruth Bennett & Michael J. Weithorn | March 28, 1983 |
| Alex gets stuck babysitting for his little sister Jennifer, who is fed up with feeling in the way at his poker game and decides to disappear. | |||||||
| 21 | 21 | 
|
"Stage Fright" | 021 | Sam Weisman | Ruth Bennett & Michael J. Weithorn | April 4, 1983 |
| While gearing up to face the television cameras as captain of his high school's team on "Quiz-Em", Alex panics at first when a teammate drops out and then launches a tutoring program a la Eliza Doolittle for his sister Mallory. | |||||||
| 22 | 22 | 
|
"Elyse D'Arc" | 002 | Michael Zinberg | Michael J. Weithorn | April 11, 1983 |
| Elyse gets so wrapped up in work that she neglects her family. | |||||||
Trivia[]
- This is the only season where Michael Gross is clean shaven.
- The first season's opening credits consisted of the Keaton family on the couch looking at photo albums, such as 1966 and 1976, as well as interacting with scenes of the Keaton family, such as Elyse reading a piece of paper, Steven in an outdoor setting, Alex reading a newspaper in the kitchen, Mallory holding a coat rack, and Jennifer holding two books, with the cast's names appearing onscreen. The Family Ties logo appeared over a shot of the Keaton family on the couch, and ending with a shot of Steven and Elyse on the same couch.