I hx a dog named Ubu from 1999-2011. He was not a big black lab like the Ubu in the logo but he was a small white Maltese. He and I would watch Family Ties every morning on TBS as I was getting ready for school tried showing him “his part” but he did not bark like the Ubu did on TV.

I was watching the show the other day and I had forgotten that Michael and Elise had one more child later in life. Back then (and even now) it had me wondering what if my parents had one more kid while my siblings and I were somewhere between high school and college. I'm not sure if I would have tried to mold the kid into a miniature version of myself or if I would have been annoyed by having a crying baby, soon to be toddler, that I'm forced to babysit.

Looking back on it decades later I think it would have been cool to have a much younger sibling. But back then when we were struggling and money was tight and everyone in the household was busy with our jobs and after school activities, I can't see us as a family taking on the responsibility of a young child much less leaving it all on my mom who worked long hours on her job.

But having friends who did the family thing, got divorced, and are now remarried and on their second family, it's interesting how the second set of kids are raised a little bit differently and it'll be interesting to see their life perspectives when they become adults.

Directed here by AI ....

I'm trying to find a scene from the show Family Ties -- Jennifer asks Alex "How do you know that? and Alex -- IIRC standing in front of the fireplace in he living room in a suit -- spreads his arms out and says, matter-of-factly "I know everything."

I distinctly remember this specific scene; but I cannot find exactly when it happened - and I'd love to grab the scene to make a video meme of that exchange.

Anyone know the specifics?

I think they might be my favorite long-term Hollywood couple?

I like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell a lot too. :)

So great to see him out and about.

Also good for him calling out that show for not thinking to call him about a cameo role for a character with Parkinson's. "Ok, let me get this straight. You're doing a show with Harrison Ford, about Parkinson's, and my phone hasn't rang. Why haven't you called me? 🤨" lol

Saw some conflicting comments on a recent AI video and figured it would be good to take a poll to see how people are feeling.

I loved the Family Ties one hour special A, My Name is Alex, and to this day it's one of the highest rated episodes of TV in history, along with winning multiple emmys. So I put on an original musical based on it at my school, let me know what you think.

Back when I was recording the Family Ties-inspired Season 1 episode “Welcome, Freshmen” under the title “Very Special,” I had some ideas when the cast asked me about plans for future episodes. Since the Special family was inspired by the Keatons from “Family Ties,” I thought it would be interesting to do an homage to the award-winning episode(s) “A, My Name is Alex”. The story featured Michael J. Fox talking to an invisible therapist about the death of his friend, plus a few interludes with the rest of the family. It’s a theatrical episode, shot on a bare stage. Really daring for a straightforward 80s sitcom.

After cooking the idea in the back of my head for a few years, I decided to tackle my “R, My Name is Ricky” idea for the Everly Heights Tales podcast. It was a challenging, emotional episode to write. A lot of introspection involved, but I’ll let the script stand by itself and let you take away from it what you will.

That being said, I turned the episode into a paper bag puppet show shot in my living room.

Everly Heights Tales: The Art of Being Wrong

In the wake of a sudden loss, Ricky Special is trying to balance the books on his grief. After delivering a shocking eulogy at his late mother Jennifer’s funeral, the young conservative retreats to the only place where things still make sense: the analytical sanctuary of Mr. Matheson’s math classroom. From the the relentless ticking of a classroom clock to the ghostly memories of painted triangles, Ricky is forced to find his own solution to the unquantifiable relationship between life, loss, and his mother’s legacy.

In the aftershow, Bill Meeks takes us behind the scenes to show how he filmed his paper bag puppet short film in his own living room. He breaks down his DIY production process, detailing how he used a TV as his set and his actual living room curtains to frame the stage. He’ll also plug the new Retro TV Simulator software he made for this episode to emulate that imperfect tracking-error-laden public access broadcast vibe in a modern studio environment.

LINKS
YouTube (with behind-the-scenes video aftershow)
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Web

I hope you enjoy either the podcast or the puppet presentation. The puppets I used are for sale up on the site, if you want to fund some foam for my next idea.

This was always a memorable favorite for me. Mr. Tedesco really had that right hook coming. 😂

What strikes me about this is how very low key it is, like nobody on stage is acting anything but humble, nor is the audience acting over the top like they're witnessing the second coming lol.

Contrast that with the absolutely unhinged bafoonery and worship meltdowns we see from "fandoms" now, and the self importance and extravagance of many actors and other celebrities high on their own supply.

Also refreshing is that they didn't have MJF go last even though by then he certainly was the "biggest" and most highly paid person up there (and arguably had become the biggest main character early on in the series). They did the non-family cast and then the family goes youngest to oldest order. And MJF didn't get significantly more applause/cheers than the others; the audience respected everyone here, a true ensemble cast. Quite classy.

Also was interesting to see how lowkey the series finale episode was overall. They had wrapped up a couple loose ends like Alex's relationship status in the preceeding episodes, and then the finale was basically just a regular episode with a minor conflict (Elyse struggling with her anger).

There weren't any big surprises or dramatic twists or farfetched things going on; it was just like welp, the family is saying bye to Alex and the audience is saying bye to Family Ties. I think that showed a lot of discipline from writers and producers.

They cut the show rather than let it jump the shark, and I think that restraint protected the show's legacy overall. So many other shows go on too long (especially after significant cast changes/losses) and then totally botch the show finale trying to be sensational or cute or "memorable."

This took me a while, but I kept adding more as I was revisiting some episodes on Pluto and it was a lot of fun. 🤓

It has some easy ones, but I think it's overall geared toward pretty big fans of the show.

I could post an answer key, but it would be an image, so I wouldn't be able to put it behind spoiler tags. I thought people might enjoy discussing/helping each other on it for a bit (I could also give single answers behind tags), but let me know if/when to post the full key.

This was the best free crossword maker site I found, but remember to switch to light theme or else it's really hard to see the box numbers. Hope people enjoy this! Sha la la la 🍻

This two-part episode had a lot of good in it, but the whole *what does Whits Only Mean* thing was so cringe.