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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!

The Worst Episodes of Family Ties

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

Seasons7

  1. Background image for Pilot
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Pilot

    S1:E1

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

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    Director:Asaad Kelada
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Not With My Sister You Don't
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    #2 - Not With My Sister You Don't

    S1:E2

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

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  3. Background image for I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend
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    #3 - I Know Jennifer's Boyfriend

    S1:E3

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

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    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Summer of '82
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    #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.

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  5. Background image for I Never Killed for My Father
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    #5 - I Never Killed for My Father

    S1:E5

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

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    Director:Dick Martin
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Give Your Uncle A Kiss
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    #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.

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  8. Background image for Oops
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    #7 - Oops

    S1:E12

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

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    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for Sherry Baby
    NaN/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.

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    Director:Dick Martin
  10. Background image for The Fugitive  (1)
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    #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.

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  11. Background image for The Fugitive  (2)
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    #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.

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  12. Background image for Margin Of Error
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    #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.

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  13. Background image for French Lessons
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    #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.

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    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for I Gotta Be Ming
    NaN/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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Suzanne Takes You Down
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    #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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for The Fifth Wheel
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    #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.

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  17. Background image for Stage Fright (a.k.a. Video Jitters)
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    #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.

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  18. Background image for Elyse D'Arc
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    #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.

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  19. Background image for The Homecoming
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    #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.

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    Director:Sam Weisman
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Batter Up
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Batter Up

    S2:E8

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for To Snatch a Keith
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    #20 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Birthday Boy
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    #21 - 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.

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  23. Background image for Go Tigers
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    #22 - 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.

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  24. Background image for "M" is for the Many Things
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    #23 - "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.

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  25. Background image for Say Uncle
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    #24 - Say Uncle

    S2:E14

    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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Ladies' Man
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    #25 - 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.

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    Writer:Unknown

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".