The Office and 25 TV shows that were never supposed to be hits
By Kareem Gantt
22. Family Ties (NBC)
Series run: 1982-1989 (7 seasons/155 episodes)
Today, Family Ties is known as a TV classic, but, back in 1982, series creator Gary David Goldberg was praying that it would make it through its first season.
Speaking of the early ’80s, that was a rough time period for NBC. The network was a clear distant third in the ratings behind ABC and CBS, and the network had a number of shows that didn’t cut the mustard. By 1982, NBC was seriously on the brink, and it needed a show that would spark a revival of the Peacock.
Family Ties was not seen as that show.
The premise for the show was rooted in the cultural divide that occurred at the time. The series was originally supposed to be about a liberal married couple, Steven and Elysee Keaton, dealing with the growing conservative attitudes of that would characterize the ’80s. That would be shown through the characterizations of the Keaton’s three kids, who rejected the counterculture of the ’60s and ’70s and embraced the conservative, materialistic stylings of the ’80s.
The standout would be Alex P. Keaton, portrayed by Michael J. Fox, who became the conservative counterpunch to his parent’s liberal ways. The show wasn’t a hit in its first season, but audiences reacted positively to Alex, and based on that, NBC, who was desperate for a hit, gave the series a second season and re-tooled it to focus more on the kids rather than the adults.
The show took off from there, becoming one of the network’s standout comedies by the mid-’80s, and launching the career of Fox.