Every season of Family Ties ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Family Ties!

Alex escorts a pretty socialite to a dance at her country club.

Pilot

Alex heads the household when Elyse and Steven go away for the weekend.

Not With My Sister You Don't

Jennifer gets picked on when she befriends a boy at school.

I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend

Seduced by an "older woman" of twenty-one, the hitherto inexperienced Alex is devastated to learn that she thinks of their relationship as casual.

Summer of '82

A visit from Steven's father evokes confrontation between the two.

I Never Killed for My Father

Mallory is horrified and confused when a close family friend and older business associate of her father's makes a pass at her.

Give Your Uncle A Kiss

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.

Big Brother Is Watching

To the dismay of the Keaton children and their equally conservative grandparents, Steven and Elyse take time out Thanksgiving Day to attend an anti-nuke rally-and end up spending the holiday in jail.

No Nukes Is Good Nukes

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.

Death Of A Grocer

The Keatons consider buying a gun for protection after getting burglarized.

Have Gun, Will Unravel

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 birth of their three children.

A Christmas Story

Mallory resents Elyse for the advice she gives her pregnant friend.

Oops

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.

Sherry Baby

Elyse's younger brother and Alex's idol, Ned, makes a surprise visit. However, everyone is puzzled by the go-getter corporate executive's suspicious behavior.

The Fugitive  (1)

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.

The Fugitive  (2)

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.

Margin Of Error

Mallory's handsome but shy French tutor, Jeff, finally musters up the nerve to ask her out and then courts disaster by enlistening Alex's advice on how to behave on the date.

French Lessons

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.

I Gotta Be Ming

Soon after free lance architect Elyse Keaton hires her friend Suzanne Davis to handle clerical chores, she wants to fire the under-qualified, overly aggressive secretary, but Suzanne's marriage breaks up, making the new job her only salvation.

After 20 years as a housewife, Suzanne feels she lacks an identity outside the home.  Swamped with paperwork, Elyse decides to solve that problem while easing her friend's mid-life crisis. Unfortunately Suzanne's take-charge approach to business throws a wrench into Elyse's client dealings and threatens to ruin the women's friendship.  On the brink of firing Suzanne, the frustrated Elyse faces a terrible dilemma when Ron Davis decides he ""needs space"" and leaves his wife.

Suzanne Takes You Down

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.

The Fifth Wheel

While gearing up to face the TV cameras as captain of his high school's team on "Quiz Off," Alex panics at first when a teammate drops out. He then launches a major tutoring program for his sister Mallory.

Stage Fright (a.k.a. Video Jitters)

In her zeal for good causes Elyse devotes so much energy to committee work that a neglected Steven feels shortchanged.

Ecstatic to have won an award for his public television documentary, Steven arrives home eager to celebrate, but every effort is foiled by Elyse's obligations to her various projects. Finally, the over-extended wife-mother-architect-committee   volunteer begins to realize she's neglecting her most important committee.

Elyse D'Arc

When pretty Carrie Newman and her mother Julia come to visit the Keaton's, Carrie's forward behavior sends Alex into a panic.

Tender is the Knight

When Mallory's boyfriend Jeff arrives home from college and wants to go steady, she's elated, but it's soon apparent that he's a little awed by school and merely grasping at the familiar and she must decide whether to ""let go"" and accept the change in their relationship.

Mallory is nervous that Jeff may have met someone new, outgrown her or forgotten her. When the opposite appears true, and he announces plans to quit school, she refuses at first to see the obvious; that he's just a little overwhelmed by college. What's thrilling to her is self-destructive on Jeff's part.

The Homecoming

Alex anxiously awaits a crucial college recommendation from his English teacher and urges Steven and Elyse to butter Mr. Tedesco up on parents' nite at school - but the obnoxious Tedesco is so insulting that Elyse slugs him, and a horrified Alex entreats Steven to make amends.

The usually calm and non-violent Elyse is amazed and ashamed at her uncharacteristic behavior, though Tedesco ""asked for it"". Steven visits him and after being subjected to disparaging remarks about his wife, winds up repeating her deed. Finally Tedesco, who does recognize Alex's intellect, accepts an invitation to the Keaton home where he alienates everyone again. Alex must decide whether a glowing recommendation from an influential but disgusting man is worth groveling for.

The Harder They Fall

After Mallory secretly submits a picture of Elyse and herself to an ad agency for a mother-daughter modeling contest, she's ecstatic to have won but dismayed and jealous when the reluctant Elyse becomes the star model.

Mallory is thrilled at the prospect of entering the glamorous world of modeling, but Elyse must be coaxed into participating. At the photo session, Elyse is showered with attention, while Mallory is shunted to the sidelines. To the chagrin of the teenager, her mother who is becoming seduced by the glamour, is offered a TV commercial for TV dinners to be filmed in the Keaton home. The filming ensues, but Mallory is determined to create a few stumbling blocks.

This Year's Model

Steven's assistant at the station is bright, talented, funny, witty...and in love with him. And it looks like Steven may be returning her affections.

It becomes obvious that Steven's assistant, Stacey Hughes, is very much attracted to him. And after a rough evening at home, as brief fling begins to look better and better to him.

Not An Affair to Remember

When Alex takes diet pills for a lift during mid-terms, his dependency level increases daily.

Alex is studying for several tests and convinces Mallory to obtain diet pills to help him stay awake. At his hyperness and irritability increase, so does his dependency on the pills. When he finally gets so desperate that he threatens Mallory to get more drugs, she becomes worried that he is headed for a ""crash landing"".

Speed Trap

While working as a DJ at the school radio station, Alex strikes up a telephone friendship with caller Lorraine Ferrar, who shares his love of swing music, and he and the attractive 40-year-old meet and develop a special relationship.

Drawn to Lorraine's sexy voice and love of swing music, Alex invites her to a Big Band concert. On arriving at her home for the date, he's shocked to find that she's an older woman and the mother of one of his sister's classmates. But they develop a platonic relationship, enjoying each other's company and discovering a wide range of shared interests. When Alex and Lorraine continue to ""date"", Steven and Elyse try to accept it but eventually ask her to stop seeing their son.

Sweet Lorraine

Steven and Elyse worry that Alex, who is the new coach of Jennifer's softball team, is pushing the girls too hard when Jennifer fails to jog all the way home he orders her to do 20 extra pushups.

Alex takes his coaching duties seriously and his players are leaving the team in droves. Two days before the championship game they don't even have enough players to qualify as a team unless Alex can convince Jennifer to persuade Skippy's klutzy sister Arlene to join the team. Arlene is happier making dresses for her turtles, but desperately wants Jennifer's friendship and agrees to play ball with some disastrous consequences.

Batter Up

A cynical Alex finds the spirit of Christmas in a dream, when he's shown shocking visions of the past and future by ghosts of Mallory and Jennifer.

While the family enjoys trimming the tree, singing carols and taking pictures, Alex would rather listen to stock reports and finds Christmas ""a silly sentimental farce"" except for the commercialism. That evening, when he drifts off to sleep, Jennifer, The Ghost of Christmas Past, takes him back ten years to a scene in the Keaton living room and a time when young Alex loved Christmas. Next, the Ghost of Christmas Future, Mallory, appears and transports Alex 15 years ahead in time. The impoverished Keaton household is a sorry sight, visited by a rich fat cat on his way to Las Vegas - the future Alex.

A Keaton Christmas Carol

Steven and Elyse realize how lucky they are when their friends come over for a visit, but are unaware that it will be for the last time.

Divorced ""Sunday father"" Richard Bailey and his son, Keith, come over to the Keaton's before taking off on a secret flight of their own. It seems Keith's mother is moving to California with her new husband and plans on taking her son with them. When a satisfactory visiting arrangement can't be reached, Richard decides it's time to make a move and it's up to Steven to put a stop to their travel plans.

To Snatch a Keith

On his 18th birthday, Alex defies his mother and goes off with some of his buddies to celebrate at an out-of-town niteclub, and to his dismay, the irate Elyse shows up and confronts him.

Birthday Boy

Alex is both amazed and furious when a critical admissions interview at Princeton University is shattered by his hysterical sister Mallory, who feels her anger over discovering her boyfriend kissing another girl is more important than his college education.

Alex is overjoyed at going to Princeton for the interview, but not too keen about taking his sister along so she can visit her boyfriend Jeff at the university. He drops Mallory off at Jeff's and heads for his important interview, only to be humiliated when he has to leave the meeting to comfort his weepy sister.

Go Tigers

Elyse is chocked by her soon-to-be-divorced mother's quick and free-spirited plunge into the singles world, and sparks fly between the two women when Elyse can't help but interfere.

"M" is for the Many Things

Alex discovers that his idol, young Uncle Ned, has a serious drinking problem when the bright, but ill-fated corporate whiz kid returns for a visit after losing another job.

Say Uncle

Alex pretends to support the Equal Rights Amendment to impress a pretty feminist and winds up behind bars after championing the cause at a debate that turns into a riot.

To get a date with Deena Marx, the conservative Alex starts spouting feminist rhetoric. While it's all a sham, he gets in over his head when he accompanies Deena to a debate, stands up for a feminist being heckled and is carted off to jail following a near riot. He's a hero to the women in his cell, but when he's asked to be the keynote speaker at an ERA rally, he realizes the charade has gone too far.

Ladies' Man

Mallory turns to Alex for some advice when she begins to fear she'll lose her new boyfriend unless she agrees to his pleas for a more ""adult"" romance.

Sixteen-year-old Mallory and eighteen-year-old Rick seem to have a special romance, and she fears that she'll ruin it unless she gives in to his request to enter a new phase of the relationship. Mallory becomes burdened with the question of what is the ""right time"" for the ""first time"".

Ready or Not

Alex courts disaster when he invites two dates to the senior prom and devises an elaborate scheme for escorting each of the unknowing girls on a night to remember.

Prom chairman Alex is all set to attend the big evening with an ecstatic Rachel Miller, when he finds that his heartthrob, Jocelyn Clark, has just broken up with her boyfriend. While consoling her, Alex invites her to be his date and finds himself in a major jam. With Skippy's help he tries to juggle both dates, until the truth comes crashing down.

Double Date

Excited at the prospect of reviving her folk-singing career at a local niteclub, Elyse faces the skepticism of Alex and Mallory and an audience unattuned to the songs of the sixties.

Lady Sings the Blues

When Alex's pal Skippy discovers he's adopted, Alex helps him cope with the shocking news and accompanies the nervous teenager on a memorable meeting with his real mother.

Baby Boy Doe

Alex is so sure that he will be named valedictorian of his class that he can't cope with the thought of being defeated by a girl especially his girl so his budding romance with Rachel is threatened when she wins the honor.

The dismayed and shattered Alex, who even memorized his valedictory speech, feels cheated out of an honor he felt was his destiny all thru high school and he precedes to sabotage his relationship with Rachel.

The Graduate

In the hospital awaiting a tonsillectomy, Jennifer fears she may never see her family again and, while writing in her diary, she flashes back to regrettable incidents with each family member.

Jennifer conjures up memories of the time she deliberately ruined Mallory's date with a boy, and also recalls an incident when her stubborn refusal to rehearse a play with Alex caused him to lose out on the lead.

Diary of a Young Girl

When Elyse lands a job with a top architectural firm, the load begins to get to her at work and at home.

Elyse feels the need to expand her horizons. She lands a job at one of the major architectural firms in the city. But twelve years of not working in an office have put her behind the times. When she becomes over-worked, she starts to neglect her family and the major presentation to the president of the company is jeopardized.

Working At It

Elyse is stricken with gambling fever on a business trip to Atlantic City, and while on a roll with Alex's "foolproof" blackjack system, she's oblivious to her family and job. Excited at the prospect of having his system put to the test, Alex urges his folks to "go for the gold", but Elyse insists her trip is strictly business. Finally, she's persuaded to try her hand at blackjack. Swept away on a seemingly endless winning streak, Elyse doesn't show up at the architects' convention, ignores her family's needs and casts all financial caution to the wind.

The Gambler

The news that their mother is pregnant sends the three Keaton kids into an angry outburst resulting in a family battle. The children react with panic and outrage at the though of having a baby around, and the Keaton household is in turmoil while Elyse tries to make them see the brighter side of the situation.

Here We Go Again

Alex is thrilled to be taking a college course taught by one of his personal heroes, Professor Ephraim Bronski, but in his eagerness to impress the teacher he gets off to a bad start and is humiliated by his idol when he fails the first class assignment.

Little Man on Campus

Little Jennifer is thrilled about a visit from Scott, a former neighborhood pal she hasn't seen in five years, but her happiness at the reunion is shattered when he ignores her in favor of her older sister, Mallory.

To win Scott's attention, Jennifer dresses up in a flirtatious outfit and goes to the restaurant where he is having dinner with Mallory.

Love Thy Neighbor

Alex reluctantly accepts a part-time job with his father at the non-profit station, and his dad is bursting with pride to have him following in his footsteps, but Alex feels his talents are being wasted.

Steven is excited to have Alex working with him and begins planning their future together, but Alex tries to convince his dad that he has other goals.

Keaton and Son

Mallory's enthusiasm for her part-time job at a boutique causes her school grades to slip even lower than usual and Steven and Elyse agree that she must quit work, but Alex comes up with a proposal that could resolve the situation.

Alex has his own reasons for wanting Mallory to keep her job, it keeps her away from the house, so he initiates a plan that will allow her to work and improve her grades at the same time.

Fabric Smarts

Alex is teamed with long-time rival James Jarrett and assigned to work at a ""hotline"" crisis center to fulfill a course requirement, and the two end up in a crisis of their own when they get a call from a suicidal student.

As an economics student, Alex finds it demeaning to be forced into a public service position, but his experiences at the crisis center gives him a new outlook on life.

Hotline Fever

While Steven and Elyse are away on vacation, the Keaton house becomes a hotel for the weekend after Mallory accidentally crashes her parents' car into a telephone pole and the kids need to raise money for auto repairs.

A lot of people are in town for the Leland homecoming game, so Alex decides to take advantage of the situation and rent out rooms but suddenly he's swamped with renters and the house looks like a three-ring circus.

4 Rms Ocn Vu

When his best friend, Doug, meets and falls in love with Eleanor, and decides to marry her, Alex resents the fact that someone has come between their friendship and refuses to be in the wedding.

Alex cannot accept the fact that he and everyone around him are growing up, and desperately clings to his old ways.

Best Man

Steven and Elyse plan a nostalgic weekend with the kids before the baby arrives, and are crushed to discover that the children are not at all interested in reminiscing about old times, they'd rather be with their friends.

Elyse's camping trip with Mallory and Jennifer is cut short when she realizes that the girls are bored to death, while Steven's plans to spend time with Alex at home are crushed when his son leaves on a date.

Lost Weekend

Alex plays Cupid to help his shy pal Skippy get together with Jane, the girl of his dreams, but his good intentions goes awry when the girl falls for him instead.

When Skippy and Mallory find Alex locked in a passionate embrace with Jane, Skippy accuses him of stealing his girl.

Don't Kiss Me, I'm Only the Messenger

Because of Elyse's pregnancy, the family decides to get a housekeeper, so Alex hires the lovely Karen Nicholson, a totally incompetent young lady whom the family immediately adores but Steven insists she must be fired.

Despite the fact that Karen has no domestic skills and is rapidly destroying every appliance in the house, the kids love her and Steven has a difficult time trying to fire her.

Help Wanted

Alex's chances or acceptance into a smug college fraternity are dependent upon his having a knockout date for the pledge dance and when the girl cancels he pleads with Karen, the housekeeper, to accompany him but his problems are far from resolved when they arrive at the dance.

Karen reluctantly agrees to be Alex's date, but does not tell him why she is so hesitant to go.

Karen II, Alex 0

Alex becomes involved with Donna, a young, unwed expectant mother from Elyse's natural-childbirth class but his interest in her becomes an obsession when he starts planning for her child's future and acting as if they were a real family.

Donna is flattered by Alex's concern for her and her unborn baby, but soon begins to realize that he is becoming a little bit too helpful.

Oh Donna

Mallory is crushed when her favorite aunt dies suddenly, but her feelings of sadness turns to anger when family and friends at the funeral seem to be taking Aunt Trudy's death too lightly.

Mallory feels that she has lost her best friend, and is shocked that no one else seems to share her grief.

Auntie Up

The Keaton family is transported back in time when Alex dreams he is at the Constitutional Convention at 1776, but history is off track. Steven Keaton is Thomas Jefferson and has just turned down John Adams' request to write the Declaration of Independence, so it's up to Alex to convince him to do it.

Alex falls asleep while working on a college term paper on Thomas Jefferson and dreams that his family and friends are living 200 years ago.

Philadelphia Story

To help Steven during pledge week at his TV station, the Keatons reluctantly agree to be a part of the entertainment, but the audience gets an unexpected show when Elyse goes into labor right on camera while in the middle of a song.

Elyse realizes that the baby is on the way. she and the kids begin to panic when they realize that Steven had to rush home to fix a plumbing problem and is now trapped there by a snowstorm. His TV set shows him what's happening at the station.

Birth of a Keaton (1)

Still trapped at the television station, Elyse realizes she cannot make it thru the snowstorm to the hospital and prepares to gibe birth in Steven's office. Meanwhile, stuck at home by the same storm, Steven enlists the help of Bud the plumber and his truck, and heads for the hospital, thinking Elyse will be there.

Elyse makes a plea on camera to Steven, wherever he is, to come to the station, so Steven, the doctor, the plumber and Skippy all frantically head for WKS, hoping they arrive in time for the birth.

Birth of a Keaton (2)

The Keaton family adjusts to life with the new baby but while everyone caters to the new arrival, Jennifer struggles with jealous feelings about not being the baby of the family anymore.

When Steven and Elyse realize that Jennifer feels left out, they overcompensate by trying too hard to make her feel loved.

Cry Baby

Alex and his good friend James go into business together as tutors for their fellow students at Leland. However, their competitiveness threatens to undermine their business let alone their friendship particularly when one of their students turns out to be a very attractive young lady.

Don't Know Much About History...

With two careers, three bickering children and one demanding baby, Steven and Elyse can't seem to find any time for each other. But when they do finally take the time for a quiet evening alone, they miss all the chaos.

Bringing Up Baby

With the rest of the family away for the weekend, Mallory is excited about having the house to herself until she is accidentally locked in the basement with the person she'd least like to be with her adoring neighbor, Skippy.

The mismatched pair do, however, come up with a unique way to keep warm and share some tender moments while waiting for their rescue.

Cold Storage

Steven takes a nostalgic trip to his hometown following the death of his father and, with the support of Elyse and the children, tries to prepare his mother for her new life in a special two-part episode.

Good and bad memories of Steven's childhood (including flashbacks to his boyhood) are stirred up as he sorts thru family photos and heirlooms. But an on-going rivalry with his older brother Robert, and the unsettled feelings he has about his dad make it a difficult period of adjustment for everyone.

Remembrances of Things Past

Alex implements a fail-proof, and extremely unromantic, method of meeting the girl of his dreams: He picks her from pictures in the freshman directory. His selection, Tricia, seems to fit his requirements perfectly, but his plan goes off-track when he is strongly attracted to her roommate, Ellen. Ellen and Alex dislike each other instantly, and though he can't figure out why, he finds himself thinking about her constantly.

The Real Thing  (1)

Alex realizes he must make Ellen aware of his feelings, but she is on a train on her way to marry another man, so he takes drastic measures to stop the wedding. The usually cool Alex decides he must let down his defenses or lose the girl he loves.

The Real Thing  (2)

Mallory brings home her new boyfriend, Nick, a Rambo-type environmental artist, to meet her family, but Steven and Elyse are shocked by his crude appearance and gruff manner.

Mr. Wrong

Jennifer takes on the class bully to defend her boyfriend and unwittingly humiliates him by undermining his masculinity and Alex is devastated when Mallory scores higher than him on an IQ test. Jennifer tries to apologize to Adam, but discovers that all the boys are making fun of him and he won't speak to her.

Designated Hitter

Alex does some fancy footwork on the dance floor to impress Ellen when he thinks he is losing her because of their divergent interests. Alex feels he has to compete with Ellen's artsy friends for her attention and attempts to change himself to fit into her world.

Don't Go Changin'

When Mallory informs her parents that she has no intention of going to college after graduation, they are sure she is being influenced by her boyfriend, Nick, a high school dropout. Elyse is crushed by Mallory's decision to forego a college education, and Mallory turns to Nick for support.

The Old College Try

Alex hires a tutor to help him with math, but his ""teacher"" turns out to be a 13-year-old genius who suddenly becomes more interested in Jennifer than in helping Alex. When Eugene, Alex's tutor, meets Jennifer he loses his concentration and Alex comes up with a scheme that will benefit both him and Eugene.

My Tutor

Mallory's boyfriend, environmental artist Nick Moore, swaps his T-shirt, camouflage pants, combat boots and earrings for a three-piece suit and a haircut to impress Mallory's parents, but while Steven and Elyse love the new Nick, Mallory is ready to leave him.

Mr. Right

Steven's old college buddy Richard Schofield is in town for and Steven looks forward to reminiscing about old times until he learns that Richard and Elyse share some memories he wasn't aware of. Steven loses his normally cool composure and becomes insanely jealous, imagining that Elyse and Richard are secretly attracted to one another.

Just One Look

Alex, who prides himself on being in control of his life, is embarrassed to admit that he is having a problem with insomnia, which is creating stress in his personal life as well as in school. Although Alex refuses to discuss his sleeping problems with anyone, his restlessness is disrupting the whole family.

How Do You Sleep?

Mallory begins to feel severe guilt after reporting a young girl to the police for shoplifting, especially when he learns that the girl is from a home for abused children. Mallory visits Jessie at the home but is suspicious of the girl's intentions. Nick warns Mallory that she can't change Jessie overnight, but Mallory is sure that she can at least be a good influence.

You've Got a Friend

Steven gets the promotion he has been waiting years for, but as the new regional manager of the station, he is required to put in long hours at the office, and soon realizes he has no time for his family. Although Elyse and the kids are happy about Steven's new position, they begin to miss the days where he would come home for dinner every nite and have time to take part in day-to-day activities.

Nothing But a Man

Alex offers to help Jennifer with a speech project and winds up creating a monster, the speech is such a success that she is asked to repeat the performance for an awards panel. Jennifer does her class project perfectly, but doesn't understand what she said because Alex coached her on most of the material. So when asked to present it to the panel of judges, her nerves get the best of her.

The Disciple

Alex secretly invites Ellen's dad to Parent's Day Weekend at Leland College, thinking that she will be pleasantly surprised to see him, but what he doesn't know is that Ellen has no desire to see her father. Ellen can't forgive her father for not spending time with her when she was growing up, and although he wants to make amends she refuses to forgive and forget.

Where's Poppa?

Skippy's lifetime obsession with Mallory builds to a climax when he refuses to accept that she is in love with Nick, and creates an embarrassing scene at the Homecoming dance. Alex tries to convince Skippy he should forget about Mallory and find someone else, and even enlists the help of a psychiatrist, but Skippy can't let go of his fantasy.

Fool for Love

A chess tournament between Leland College students and a visiting Soviet team turns into a wrestling match when Alex and his opponent, Ivan Rozmirovich, match wits and "fight" for their countries. Alex considers it his patriotic duty to beat the Russian, but as the game progresses he realizes his opponent is not really the enemy he had envisioned him to be.

Checkmate

Elyse enrolls in an auto mechanics class to prove Alex and Steven that women can be just as competent with cars as men, but to protect his own masculinity, Alex joins the class to prove her wrong.

Engine Trouble

The Keaton family fills in his girlfriend, Ellen, on some of the more humorous events in Alex's life before they met in this special one-hour episode. Flashbacks to previous episodes include some highlights from the series' past shows. Alex and Ellen celebrate their six-month anniversary as boyfriend and girlfriend, and the family think it's time for Ellen to know the truth about Alex.

A Word to the Wise

Mallory suspects there's more involved than ""art appreciation"" when a wealthy and beautiful older woman takes a special interest in Nick's creations. Promising to help launch his career, art patron Victoria Hurstenberg takes Nick under her wing, occupying nearly all of his time and interfering with his relationship with Mallory, who insists that the older woman has her eye on more than Nick's art.

Art Lover

Alex lands a teaching-assistant position and runs into big trouble when he has to grade a student who also happens to be his girlfriend, Ellen. When Ellen is assigned to Alex's economics class, he has trouble treating her as just another student, and ends up causing a strain on their relationship.

Teacher's Pet

Steven has a very difficult time accepting that his youngest daughter, Jennifer,is growing up and no longer wants to ""pal around"" with him.

As Jennifer grows and finds new interests, Steven feels rejected because she no longer spends time with him. The situation comes to a head when Steven insists on accompanying Jennifer on her girls-club outing, and she is mortified when he is the only male there.

My Buddy

Elyse must deal with Paul, a young architect associate who falls in love with her.

After working for a year in the same office as Elyse, Paul, a very promising architect, can no longer ignore his feelings for her. He quits the job and confronts Elyse's husband, Steven, with his dilemma.

Once in Love with Elyse (a.k.a. Loan Arranger)

Mallory discovers that her high school graduation is in jeopardy unless she can pass a very tough history exam. Never an avid student, Mallory faces the possibility of failing her senior year in high school because of her poor grades. As the school term rapidly draws to a close, her only hope is to score extremely well on a tough final exam.

Paper Chase (a.k.a. Mallory's Graduation)

Alex shocks his parents when he visits his 3-year-old brother Andrew's very special preschool class, decides the wrong values are being stressed and withdraws him from the school.

Steven and Elyse had pulled strings to get Andrew into the special preschool. They are shocked when Alex announces that the school teaches ""anti-competitive"" values, and argues that his brother should be taught in a more aggressive manner.

Be True to Your Preschool

Distraught that his girlfriend Ellen has gone to Paris on a dance scholarship, Alex desperately tries to find someone to take her place, but finally realizes that falling in love again will take time.

Alex mopes around the Keaton house pining for Ellen until Sharon, a pretty waitress, attracts his attention. Once on a date with her however, Alex tries to transform her into another Ellen, with disastrous results.

Starting Over

Mallory is teamed with 66-year-old Margaret Hollings on a college sociology project and fins that she has a lot to learn about honesty, sensitivity and older people when she almost causes the woman to quit the class.

As Mallory facves the fact that te widowed senior citizen has her own special problems as a college freshman, Alex takes a special interest in the terms of the last wills and testaments of his parents.

The Freshman and the Senior

When Steven is asked by an old college friend to help him re-establish a left-wing political magazine they had worked on 20 years before, Steven realizes he is no longer in tune with the radical thinking it reflected and that his values are more middle-of-the-road than he had ever expected.

When Matt Gilbert tells Steven he has the funds to revive ""The Scavenger,"" Steven is excited about the opportunity to again express his viewpoints and to vividly recall the college days when he pursued Elyse. It only takes one story for him to realize, however, that he no longer represents the revolutionary left.

My Back Pages

Alex is emotionally torn when he goes to work in a bank and finds that the vice president to whom he reports is Ms. Ryan, a beautiful, smart and self-confident woman and that he's growing more romantically interested in her each day.

The Keaton family delights in Alex's taking orders from Ms. Ryan, but their playfulness wanes when they discover his attitude toward her is taking a toll on his career and ego.

Beauty and the Bank

Nick and Mallory make sudden plans to elope when Steven and Elyse vehemently oppose their marriage plans and threaten to ground their teenaged daughter.

During a quiet evening together, Mallory pops the ""big question"" to Nick. They are ecstatic until they learn that the entire Keaton family is solidly against the idea.

Mrs. Wrong  (1)

Alex sees Mallory and Nick leaving the Keaton residence in the predawn hours to elope, and unable to stop them, follows them to New Jersey where he finds the young couple taking a hard look at their decision.

After Nick bumbles around the outside of the house with a 16-foot ladder, Alex makes a desperate attempt to keep his younger sister Mallory from marrying Nick.  But they are too much in love to listen. It takes Erin and Mike, another couple, to give them perspective on their maturity.

Mrs. Wrong  (2)

When Terry Bridgeman, a colleague of Elyse's, confides that he has broken up with his girlfriend, Elyse decides to fix him up with a family friend, the beautiful Liz Obeck.

What Elyse doesn't realize, however, is that Liz has been seriously involved with someone else for two years.

The Big Fix

Alex must choose between his friendship with Skippy and allegiance to his college fraternity when Theta Pi Sigma pledges Skippy with the idea of making him the object of a cruel prank.

Skippy is desperate to become a member of a fraternity, but in his zealousness he fails to recognize that he is the ""Big Stooge"" of the semester.

My Brother's Keeper

Nick faces a serious dilemma when he learns that to teach an art class he must have a high school diploma. Mallory volunteers to tutor him, but it takes the skills of another Keaton to help him prepare for his final exam.

When Mallory fails to make Nick understand grammar, Alex finds a unique way to help him grasp the basics.

The Best Seasons of Family Ties

The Best Seasons of Family Ties

Season 3

Season 4

Season 2

Season 5

Season 7

Season 1

Season 6