Believe it or not, Michael J. Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan have “Family Ties” to thank for their loving marriage. It was on the set of “Family Ties” that Fox would meet Pollan. Playing the role of Alex’s girlfriend, Ellen, on the show, according to Pollan, when she first met Fox, she actually thought him to be irritating and entirely full of himself. But obviously, she eventually got to know him and admitted she began to like what she saw.
Despite the alleged chemistry between Fox and Justine Bateman, who often got into playful water gun fights on the set of the show, in the end, it was Pollan that ultimately stole Fox’s heart. Married since 1988, Fox and Pollan are still happily married today and have four children together.
The Easy Life of Scott Valentine
For Scott Valentine, a.k.a Mallory’s humorous boyfriend on the show, life has always been easy. At one point in time, the actor was even playfully quoted as he complained about his privileged upbringing, which included an education at a prestigious school—only to ultimately secure the role of a “monosyllabic dude” on “Family Ties.” Valentine then went on to reveal that, despite his only line being a grunt during one episode, the successful actor still received a “bundle of cash for it".
Following his appearance on “Family Ties,” Valentine went on to do several guest appearances on a number of television shows and made-for-TV movies, including “Lady Boss (1992), two episodes of “Murder, She Wrote,” and even a 2004 cameo on "CSI: NY". Other credits include “Double Obsession” (1992), “To Sleep with a Vampire” (1993), and “Paranoia” (1998). Today, Valentine has largely stepped away from the limelight and holds the position of Executive Director at the investment firm Excelsior Capital Partner.
Valentine’s Multiple Spin-Off Attempts...And Failures
In addition to his role on “Family Ties,” it is also interesting to point out Valentine’s numerous attempts—and ultimate failures—at a leading role on three spin-off television shows. Despite the emptiness of the character known as Mallory’s boyfriend, Nick Moore, the public still loved this seemingly unimportant, lackluster character.
In fact, fans of the show loved Moore so much, that he was ultimately given a chance to star in his very own spin-off series—and another, and another. However, in the end, following the failure of all three attempted spin-offs, Moore ultimately proved not to be interesting enough to have his own show. However, Valentine was still able to experience much success as an actor over the years.
Fox as Alex: Initial Character Interpretations
Interestingly enough, Fox’s initial interpretations of his character, Alex Keaton, was that of someone who was ruled by a life of fear.
In one “Inside the Actors' Studio” interview, Fox said the following about the initial development of the iconic role: “He looked amazing, he felt good about what he presented to the world, but you could poke your finger through it any time you wanted to. And then the fun was watching him react to that and recover from it".
Alex Keaton’s True Opinion of Trump
With the rise of President Trump, the US Republican Party has had a clear and drastic change of political views from that of Alex’s 1980s Republicanism. In fact, “Family Ties” producer Gary David Goldberg went as far as going on record, claiming Alex would ‘in no way approve of,’ or ‘want to be affiliated with’ the Republicans of today.
Goldberg also said that he believed that if Alex was a real person, living in today's modern world, he would be a successful, pro bono lawyer for a children’s defense fund. He even said to the New York Times: “Alex would be unhappy with the plan to tax the wealthy at a higher rate,” Goldberg wrote. “But Obama’s slogan is very similar to Alex’s own personal mantra: ‘Of Course I Can.’”