Family Ties (& The Mallory Keaton Lookbook)

Yesterday it was quite rainy, and I stayed inside with a pile of work, the heater and the telly for company. (And a budgie. He gets annoyed if I don’t mention him. So, the budgie was there too. Let’s get that straight.)

I flicked from channel to channel, with my budgie companion, and settled on the one which screens all those nostalgic sit coms from the seventies and eighties. Maybe you know it?  Anyoo.  I was watching THAT channel and Family Ties was on.  How great.

I had totally forgotten about that show, and was quite transfixed watching Alex Keaton (Michael J Fox) being interviewed by his soon-to-be-girlfriend Lauren (Courtney Cox!!!) about the perils of being an over-achiever.  Such a good ep.  (I looked it up for you, in case you want to watch. It’s Season 6, Episode One ‘The Last of the Red Hot Psychologists’.)

As I was looking through the episode list, I realised what a great show Family Ties was.  They covered all kinds of big issues: teen sex, teen pregnancy, infidelity, suicide, grief, birth, amphetamine use, relationship issues, bullying and more. And they did it in a gentle, intelligent way.  I’m so glad to be reminded of how much I loved it.

I was also reminded of how much the 15 year old me loved Mallory Keaton, Alex’s sister. She was played by Justine Bateman and sported the raddest outfits and cutest hairdos.  Granted, she was a bit of a goose at times, but she was sweet and could rock an off-the-shoulder sweat or quiff with the best of them.

I thought we could take a trip through Mallory’s looks over the Family Ties years.  Have a click through and see if you remember any of these…

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The Mallory Keaton Lookbook

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Are you a Family Times fan?

Did you know that Courtney Cox starred in the show? Or that Tom Hanks played Mrs Keaton’s brother?!  Other guest stars included Geena Davis, River Phoenix, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Corey Feldman, Christina Applegate, Dick Sargent and Crispin Glover.  And Mathew Broderick was offered the role of Alex originally, but he turned it down.  The show ran for seven seasons. OMG.

I’m off to buy the box set, peeps. The budgie and I are super keen on a weekend Family Ties marathon.

xx Pip