7.1/10318 votes#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1982
Alex escorts a pretty socialite to a dance at her country club.
Director: Asaad Kelada
Writer: N/A
7.2/10244 votes#2 - Not With My Sister You Don't
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1982
Alex heads the household when Elyse and Steven go away for the weekend.
Director: Tony Mordente
Writer: Lloyd Garver
6.7/10215 votes#3 - I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1982
Jennifer gets picked on when she befriends a boy at school.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
7.6/10235 votes#4 - Summer of '82
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1982
Seduced by an "older woman" of twenty-one, the hitherto inexperienced Alex is devastated to learn that she thinks of their relationship as casual.
Director: Tony Mordente
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
7.3/10207 votes#5 - I Never Killed for My Father
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/1982
A visit from Steven's father evokes confrontation between the two.
Director: Dick Martin
Writer: N/A
7.6/10226 votes#6 - Give Your Uncle A Kiss
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/10/1982
Mallory is horrified and confused when a close family friend and older business associate of her father's makes a pass at her.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: Lloyd Garver
7.2/10192 votes#7 - Big Brother Is Watching
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/1982
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.
Director: Alan Bergmann
Writer: Ruth Bennett
7.0/10199 votes#8 - No Nukes Is Good Nukes
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/24/1982
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.
Director: Frank Bonner
Writer: Ruth Bennett
7.3/10202 votes#9 - Death Of A Grocer
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/1/1982
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.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
6.8/10189 votes#10 - Have Gun, Will Unravel
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/8/1982
The Keatons consider buying a gun for protection after getting burglarized.
Director: Alan Bergmann
Writer: N/A
6.8/10204 votes#11 - A Christmas Story
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1982
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.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: N/A
7.0/10180 votes#12 - Oops
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1982
Mallory resents Elyse for the advice she gives her pregnant friend.
Director: Tony Mordente
Writer: N/A
7.2/10183 votes#13 - Sherry Baby
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/12/1983
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.
Director: Dick Martin
Writer: Barbara Hall
7.8/10246 votes#14 - The Fugitive (1)
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/19/1983
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.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
7.7/10235 votes#15 - The Fugitive (2)
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/26/1983
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.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
7.3/10178 votes#16 - Margin Of Error
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/9/1983
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.
Director: Tony Mordente
Writer: Michael Russnow
7.0/10176 votes#17 - French Lessons
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/15/1983
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.
Director: Tony Mordente
Writer: N/A
6.8/10179 votes#18 - I Gotta Be Ming
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 2/22/1983
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.3/10165 votes#19 - Suzanne Takes You Down
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/15/1983
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.
Director: Will Mackenzie
Writer: N/A
7.1/10174 votes#20 - The Fifth Wheel
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/27/1983
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
7.6/10192 votes#21 - Stage Fright (a.k.a. Video Jitters)
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 4/3/1983
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.
Director: Sam Weisman
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
- 6.5/10153 votes
#22 - Elyse D'Arc
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/10/1983
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.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: Michael J. Weithorn
The Best Episodes of Family Ties Season 1
Every episode of Family Ties Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Family Ties Season 1!
Former 1960s flower children Steven and Elyse Keaton raise their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew.
Genres:ComedyDramaFamily
Network:NBC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "Family Ties" season 1. It scored 7.1/10 based on 318 votes. Directed by Asaad Kelada and written by N/A, it aired on 9/22/1982. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Not With My Sister You Don't".