Despite the difficulty faced during the first two seasons of “Family Ties,” during which time the show barely etched itself into the top 50 television shows—perhaps, in part due to the sitcom’s predominately inconsistent television air time scheduling—the producers of “Family Ties” found it almost impossible to obtain any good ratings from viewers, and struggled to keep up with the more successful shows on TV at the time.
However, the show’s luck would soon change for the better. With the arrival of seasons three, four and five, the sitcom was finally able to reach its potential. In the years that followed, “Family Ties” would ultimately snag a spot among the top 5 television ratings. At its prime, the show even topped the charts, peaking at number two on TV rankings.
Brian Bonsall: From Child Actor to Musician
During his time on the show, the success of “Family Ties” quickly propelled a young Brian Bonsall into the overbearing limelight of child actor stardom. Not even ten-years-old while on the sitcom, though the young actor possessed the raw talent and potential for a long, illustrious carer ahead of him in the film industry, he eventually made the decision not to go down that road.
In 1994, Bonsall officially retired from acting and went on to pursue a career as a musician instead. However, a 2001 DUI arrest, and another 2007 charge of assault by his then-girlfriend, brought him further away from his dreams. After violating terms of his probation, the former child actor has been in and out of jail ever since.
Meredith Baxter Comes Out to the Public
Though in the past, many critics often ousted Baxter and her multiple failed marriages, claiming that, when it came to relationships, this “Family Ties” actress was inevitably bound to fail, as the public later learned in 2009, this was certainly not the case for Meredith Baxter.
Much to the shock of the public, in 2009 Baxter came out as a lesbian. According to reports, it was because the idea of being a homosexual was largely frowned upon and widely disapproved of back in the '80s, that Baxter states she was not allowed to be who she really was. Thankfully, with the progressive LGBTQ movement worldwide, the world has become a safer place to be whoever you want to be, and love whoever you want to love.
The Many Awards of Michael J. Fox
Over the years of his longstanding, successful career in acting, Michael J. Fox has continued to win awards for his talents. Some of the many prestigious acting awards Fox has collected include several Golden Globes (1998, 1999, and 2000) and a Grammy.
But above all, nothing even begins to compare to the incredible actor’s three-year Emmy-winning streak from 1986 to 1988, all of which he earned for his role as Alex on “Family Ties.”
The “Family Ties” Appearance of Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Most recognized for her role as Elaine on “Seinfeld”, or the POTUS on the HBO hit TV series, “Veep”—among many others—believe it or not, Louis-Dreyfus also appeared on “Family Ties” in 1988. On “Family Ties”, she played a lawyer by the name of Susan “Raindrop” White, who appeared on Season 6.
Prior to her starring role on Seinfeld, Dreyfus appeared on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL), a role which would lead Louis-Dreyfus to drop out of college at the age of 21 and move to New York City to pursue her dreams as an actress. She would remain a regular SNL cast member up until 1985. Louis-Dreyfus later expanded her acting career to film in 1986, with small roles in the fantasy-horror film “Troll,” and, more notably, in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters.