He’s nice in all the ways that someone from the Midwest is nice, until he’s not.
It’s only now, when I no longer live in the Midwest, that I can see the brilliance of what Gross was doing as Steven Keaton. Family Ties is set in Columbus, Ohio and if there’s an overlapping trait about people from the Midwest, it’s our passive-aggressiveness. I have mixed feelings about the character of Nick Moore* – Mallory’s dolt of a boyfriend best known for saying “ayyy” instead of “hello.” But I will concede that his paring with Michael Gross really works, bring out the best/worst of Steven’s passive-aggressive politeness. His comedic timing was so perfect that it’s hardly noticeable.Īnd here’s a great example of the chemistry between Gross and Fox (Gross was only 14 years older than Fox), as Steven, in all earnestness, makes a wager with his son over a football game for “a buck.” Keaton (which reportedly ruffled some feathers), Gross became even better. As Family Ties shifted its focus from Steven and Elise to Fox’s Alex P. The show played up his activism a bit too much for a comedy. In the early episodes – basically any episode where Michael Gross has no facial hair – Steven Keaton was a bit too dramatic. But so many of Fox’s punchlines are set up by Gross, who plays the straight man perfectly.
Fox is so likable that a character who’s essentially a parody of a Nixon- and Reagan-loving Republican, comes off as “cool,” while his liberal parents, Steven and Elise come off like squares. Fox was the well-deserved Emmy winner, because for those of us who remember the show, that’s the part we remember. Rewatching Family Ties in 2016, I’m struck by just how good Michael Gross is at playing Steven Keaton. The most fascinating thing to me about Millennials is how often Millennials use the word “Millennial.”)
“ Man, us Gen Xers aren’t that lazy,” never once came out of my mouth. At least I didn’t and I didn’t know anyone who ever did. Also, I have a hard time referring to myself as “Generation X” because no one really used that term much, except magazines. See, this is foolhardy because, compared to the generation in front of Gen X and behind Gen X, there just aren’t as many of us. (To be honest, I didn’t try to set out to write a piece that will probably only be appreciated if you are in the generation referred to as Generation X. It’s here where I’m going to suggest it should be Steven Keaton.
#EVIL ALEX P. KEATON TV#
When Generation X looks back at the ’80s, we need a new TV dad. Bill Cosby was the TV dad of the 1980s, but that isn’t the case anymore. But, now, it’s impossible to look back on The Cosby Show and feel good about it. It’s one of the most important television shows ever to air and that’s always going to be the case. I already wrote at length about what The Cosby Show meant to the many people who grew up with it. I’d like to spend as little time as possible right now discussing Bill Cosby. In its fifth season, it was the second-highest-rated show on television. (For its sixth and seventh seasons, Family Ties was moved from Thursday to Sunday to make room for A Different World. The Keatons were a distant second, maybe third. The Huxtables were America’s first family. But Family Ties also lived in The Cosby Show’s shadow. Fox’s popularity and benefited from its The Cosby Show lead-in. In the ’80s, Family Ties thrived thanks in part to Michael J.
#EVIL ALEX P. KEATON SERIES#
(Later, the show would add a fourth child, Andrew, played by Brian Bonsall.) It’s a series that, today, is kind of forgotten (as in people know what it is, but isn’t really part of the zeitgeist, except for maybe the two times Tom Hanks showed up) when compared with its contemporaries at the time, like Cheers and The Cosby Show - two shows that, along with Night Court (another kind of forgotten show), made up the first true “Must See TV” NBC Thursday night comedy block. They have three children: Alex (Fox), Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Steven works at the local Public Television Station and Elise is an architect. Steven (Michael Gross) and Elise Keaton (Meredith Baxter) are liberal former hippies who now live in Reagan’s America’s version of Columbus, Ohio. This rule does not apply to Seinfeld or Friends.)Įvery night at midnight, Antenna TV plays Family Ties, an extremely popular television show that aired from 1982 until 1989, starring a still today very famous Michael J. (The short version: we have access to more media than we’ve ever had, and no one watches reruns anymore because we don’t have to. It’s basically rerun heaven, in a world where the television rerun is dead. Is anyone else familiar with Antenna TV? (I have no idea what kind of response I’m expecting here.) I discovered it by accident when I was on vacation when it was one of maybe ten channels that were offered by the hotel.
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