"The Old College Try" is the sixth episode in the fourth season of the NBC family sitcom Family Ties. It originally aired on November 7, 1985, and is the seventy-fourth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
Elyse is planning for Mallory's future by sending away for college applications. However, Mallory can't bring herself to tell her mother that she doesn't want to go to college at all. After a disastrous interview with a recruiter, Mallory explains her resistance, which infuriates Elyse, and tempers flare between the two. However, things change when Nick offers Mallory some surprising advice.
Plot[]
Steven and Elyse try to get Mallory interested in college because she really doesn’t want to go. She plans instead to work her way up the chain of command at the clothes store. Unfortunately, she hasn't found a way to break the news to her mother (at least not until she's at a college interview). And it's Nick of all people that convinces her that college is a good idea.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- College catalogs come from Ohio State and Rutgers.
- Elyse mentions Pembroke (probably not this one), but likely something local.
- Elyse recites Mallory's poem from third grade: "Snow is falling all around / From the sky down to the ground / Never the other way around."
- Nick got Andrew to sleep by reading him Motorcycle Maintenance, Volume 1.
- Mallory lists several successful people that never went to college: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, and Moses.
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