Critic Reviews

Family Ties is the heir apparent to All in the Family. Equally relevant, it captures '80s home life better than anything else on television. [24 Sep 1982, p.B3]

Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross do a splendid job as modern-day parents with an attractive brood of convincingly "now" youngsters. [19 Oct 1982, p.34]

[Fox's] performance alone puts the series in the winner's circle. [22 Sep 1982, p.61]

Family Ties doesn't beat you over the head for laughs. The humor comes out of the situation. The situations come out of reality. [22 Sep 1982, p.6]

The husband and wife, played by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter Birney, are recognizable human beings who grapple with recognizable problems and emotions. And the children in the family, particularly Michael J. Fox, who plays teenage son Alex, are marvelously portrayed. [06 Oct 1982, p.9D]

The show is strong and funny. It portrays a family that lives and loves together in a house filled with mutual respect, but without cloying sentimentality. That's unusual for television. [22 Sep 1982, p.45]

It has a lot of positive factors, one being a good comedy actor in Michael J. Fox, who plays teenage son, Alex. The show may also develop a better sense of its characters as it goes along. [29 Sep 1982, p.C12]

The show is sometimes strained and tends to be a bit sappy, but Family Ties has some good writing. [22 Sep 1982, p.2B]

Family Ties has a one-joke premise in the reverse generation-gap angle, but it appears promising. [22 Sep 1982, p.E5]

A better-than-average new comedy series. [22 Sep 1982, p.8D]