Daily One Inch Button - Andrew Keaton

It's really a sad story. For one, a lot of people hated him right from the start. They didn't appreciate that Andrew Keaton was born and was nearly immediately hit with what is frequently referred to as SORAS, or Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome - he went from being born to being able to talk in about a year. This blog makes the claim that Andrew was the reason that Family Ties "jumped the shark," so to speak.

Then you have problems with dear actor Brian Bonsall. For one, he has never found lastinc success since Family Ties ended. Then there are the law problems: he has had at least three encounters with the long arm of the law since 2001. Can things get better for Mr. Bonsall? I'm not interested in writing him off and personally think that he can do great things for himself; it's not impossible, and other actors have pulled themselves out of deeper slumps to achieve greatness. (Remember where John Travolta's career was before Pulp Fiction? Was anyone looking for another Look Who's Talking sequel?)

$1.00

Daily One Inch Button - Steven Keaton

Growing up, sometimes I think that I had several father figures. There was of course my wonderful biological father, without whom I would not have much of the knowledge I possess today. Then there were great inspirational fathers of the television variety; fathers that would educate us children indirectly by means of teaching their ficitonal television children.

One of my "television fathers" happened to be none other than Mr. Steven Keaton. Long before I realized how really cool PBS was, I admired his awesome job and the way he could go into a television studio to make quality programming. Naturally he also did quite a good job of instilling good values in the kids; though they opposed in political viewpoints even Alex had a great deal of respect for him.

$1.00

Daily One Inch Button - Elyse Keaton

She was the mighty matriarch of the Keaton family and she kept things together. Elyse, like her husband Steven, was of the more liberal variety even though the actress who portrayed her was really not; I guess that's why they call it acting. We could always count on Mrs. Keaton for moments of humor and to discipline the children when good old dad just was being too nice. When the rest of the family was complaining about being stuck in their home due to a terrible snow storm, she managed to make the best of it and showed them how awesome it could be to spend time with your family in front of a fire.

$1.00

Daily One Inch Button - Mallory Keaton

She was the ying to Alex's yang, or the yang to his ying. She couldn't be bothered to take school seriously but she certainly knew how to take shopping at the mall and dating seriously. When I was a kid, going to the mall was an experience unto itself. Now that I'm prematurely old, it is more of a tedious thing to do, to be avoided whenever possible. Oh, to be able to recapture the joy Mallory felt at the mall. Hey, that's funny, you can't spell Mallory without "mall."

$1.00

Daily One Inch Button - Jennifer Keaton

Even thought I was a wee child when my family started watching Family Ties and Jennifer was a teenager, I found that I could relate to her character in a way that I couldn't relate to the others. Being the younger sibling probably had something to do with that. I was amused by the jealousy issues Jennifer had when her younger brother Andy was born just a few years later and I was a bit closer to being a teenager myself. She certainly was a lot more level-headed than her older sister but she wasn't nearly as serious as her older brother Alex. You had to love her, though.

$1.00

Daily One Inch Button - Alex P Keaton

For me, Alex Keaton was a hero. He stood up to his parents when he felt that he was in the right and, at an age when I was constantly trying to come up with businesses that would "make it big", Alex was there to say, "Hey; Capitalism is Awesome." Would he have voted for GWB? I somehow doubt it. This is the first in the Family Ties series.

$1.00