"Teacher's Pet" is the twenty-first episode in the fourth season of the NBC family sitcom Family Ties. It originally aired on March 2, 1986, and is the eighty-ninth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
When selected as the assistant teacher of economics, Alex faces a difficult situation when Ellen is one of his students; Steven worries about Andy's inability to learn to handle toys.
Plot[]
Steven wants to enroll a too-young Andrew into preschool, which Elyse opposes. Alex gets a position as a teaching assistant for Freshman Economics and convinces Ellen to stay in the section that he is teaching (despite her reasonable objections). When Alex gives Ellen a C- on a paper, she recognizes that she needs to be a different student (much to Alex's displeasure).
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[]
- Tracy Pollan as Ellen Reed
- Macon McCalman as Professor Spanos
- Mark Moses as Rich Albert
Co-Starring[]
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Steven seeks information on enrolling Andrew at Harper Preschool (the same school that a miraculously-fast-growing Andrew attends in Season 5 - "Be True to Your Preschool".)
- Alex later teaches economics again in "They Can't Take That Away From Me".
- Alex uses the textbook: Money - Keep It Coming.
- Mallory says on the answering machine "[Alex] doesn't live here anymore", also the title of the series finale.
- Slowed down, the message Sherry leaves for Mallory goes, "…you, he was just beautiful, like he was tall, dark, and handsome, and he was... maybe Indonesian? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, wow. And I gotta tell you one more thing. If you ever wanna get a really good buy on a new pair of boxers, I know [unintelligible] now that women wear guys' boxers, there's a really great sale this weekend. You gotta go with me, okay? Pink, white, and I think they've got-"