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The Worst Episodes of Family Ties

Every episode of Family Ties ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Family Ties!

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Former 1960s flower children Steven and Elyse Keaton raise their conservative son Alex, daughters Mallory and Jennifer, and later, youngest child Andrew.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Family Ties Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Pilot

    S1:E1

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

    Director:Asaad Kelada
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 2 - Not With My Sister You Don't
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #2 - Not With My Sister You Don't

    S1:E2

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

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Lloyd Garver

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  3. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 3 - I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #3 - I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend

    S1:E3

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

    Director:Michael Zinberg
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 4 - Summer of '82
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Summer of '82

    S1:E4

    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

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  5. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 5 - I Never Killed for My Father
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #5 - I Never Killed for My Father

    S1:E5

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

    Director:Dick Martin
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 6 - Give Your Uncle A Kiss
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Give Your Uncle A Kiss

    S1:E6

    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

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  7. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 12 - Oops
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Oops

    S1:E12

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

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 13 - Sherry Baby
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Sherry Baby

    S1:E13

    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

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  9. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 14 - The Fugitive (1)
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - The Fugitive (1)

    S1:E14

    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

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  10. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 15 - The Fugitive (2)
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - The Fugitive (2)

    S1:E15

    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

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  11. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 16 - Margin Of Error
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Margin Of Error

    S1:E16

    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

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  12. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 17 - French Lessons
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - French Lessons

    S1:E17

    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:Unknown

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  13. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 18 - I Gotta Be Ming
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #13 - I Gotta Be Ming

    S1:E18

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 19 - Suzanne Takes You Down
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Suzanne Takes You Down

    S1:E19

    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:Unknown

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  15. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 20 - The Fifth Wheel
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - The Fifth Wheel

    S1:E20

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Michael J. Weithorn

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  16. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 21 - Stage Fright (a.k.a. Video Jitters)
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Stage Fright (a.k.a. Video Jitters)

    S1:E21

    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

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  17. Family Ties Season 1 Episode 22 - Elyse D'Arc
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Elyse D'Arc

    S1:E22

    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

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  18. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 2 - The Homecoming
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - The Homecoming

    S2:E2

    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.

    Director:Sam Weisman
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 10 - To Snatch a Keith
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - To Snatch a Keith

    S2:E10

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 11 - Birthday Boy
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Birthday Boy

    S2:E11

    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.

    Director:Will Mackenzie
    Writer:Michael J. Weithorn

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  21. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 12 - Go Tigers
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Go Tigers

    S2:E12

    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.

    Director:Will Mackenzie
    Writer:Michael J. Weithorn

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  22. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 13 - "M" is for the Many Things
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - "M" is for the Many Things

    S2:E13

    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.

    Director:Will Mackenzie
    Writer:Lisa A. Bannick

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  23. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 15 - Ladies' Man
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Ladies' Man

    S2:E15

    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.

    Director:Will Mackenzie
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 21 - Diary of a Young Girl
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Diary of a Young Girl

    S2:E21

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Family Ties Season 2 Episode 22 - Working At It
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Working At It

    S2:E22

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Pilot" is the worst rated episode of "Family Ties". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Asaad Kelada and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/22/1982. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Not With My Sister You Don't".