This show is one of my favorite comedy shows and one of my favorite family sitcoms of all time. The show is also another childhood gem of mine as I was a kid from the 80's decade and this show was one of the first family sitcom I've ever seen when I was about six years old. This show also came out on my birth year 1982 which you could say makes the show extra special for me.
I really loved watching this when I was a kid and as an adult I still do to this day. I'll admit every time I would watch some of the promos of the episodes, the episodes themselves, along with that famous theme song, it always gives me the warm fuzzies, just makes me feel like I'm back in the 80's tuning into this show and any other sitcom of yesteryear.
There is so much to this show which is part of what makes this timeless to me and hold up after so many years. Like that theme song from Johnny Mathis and Denise Williams which is one of my favorite theme songs of all time, it is just beautiful and perfectly encapsulates the entire show.
One of the things I like about the show is the humor, which is mainly verbal and clever writing, it's much like with British humor which mainly relies on the same things. This made it stand apart from most sitcoms at the time, the fundamental problem with most of the sitcoms we had were there were times they relied too much on gimmicks, twists, outlandish plots, or worst of all dumb things down as a despite attempt for a laugh.
This show along with some British comedy shows don't do that, they never insult the audiences intelligence because like most verbal humor it always constantly builds up where things are funny but then as it builds up more it gets funnier and funnier, up until the payoffs.
What best of all makes the show work are the characters themselves whom are all well rounded and smart people. Why most of them are funny is that they tend to make a mistake or inadvertently get themselves into a dilemma. This doesn't make them stupid; this makes them human because some of the dilemmas in the show they get into are ones that we might have got into ourselves or had to deal with which helps in the relatability factor.
At times watching an episode of the show can be like looking at a journal entry and saying, yeah, I've been there too. I really like how they solve the dilemmas and even learn from them; not by some deus ex Machina where in a sitcom sometimes there is the patient or mentor that just happens to have the solution to the problem of the week. These characters do intelligently identify the problems and do their best to rectify and resolve them with and without help.
I also really like the dynamic with the Keaton's which was a bit unique for it's time. As usual with the sitcoms it does have that typical old and young conflict and bonding. But this show has a bit of a spin on an old somewhat clichéd dynamic in most sitcoms.
We hear that the parents are open minded Liberals and use to be protesters during the 60's and part of the 70's; this you can say makes the parents somewhat the rebels of the family sort of. As for the kids, each of them is clearly products of their time period, from one obsessed with money and politics, another fashion, another wise beyond years, this makes the kids on the conservative end of things.
This made the show unique and somewhat fresh at the time because usually it's the other way around where the kids are on the rebellious end of things and the parents are acting as products of their time. I also feel this dynamic is true with most families because both parents and kids really do hold onto certain values they've learned and collected from the times they lived in.
This dynamic is interesting as we see those diverse values are both in conflict with each other but at the same time are bonding together because the values of the present can't exist without the ones from the past, and past values can't live on unless they can transition into the present and beyond.
All the characters are great even some of the side characters. There is also development in both kinds of characters, which is another thing that made this show unique at the time. Each of the characters as the seasons go on you see signs of growth in each of them, this really gave the show a sense of time that years really have passed by for the Keaton's and each have been affected by them.
But most importantly each of the characters as they grew got more interesting, their still not perfect they still have new problems and dilemmas to deal with, but we see them deal with them differently and maybe a little better than they would before. Even certain feelings about things change, like with Alex on how he viewed certain things before but doesn't feel that way episodes or a season latter. This also increased the reliability factor because that's true with all of us as time goes on, we all start to acquire different views and feelings on certain things in life.
Finally, another interesting thing about the show are the amount of guest characters, most of the guest stars are familiar faces way before they became highly popular. Which makes watching the show even more interesting sort of like spotting Waldo in the "Where's Waldo" books, most A listers and other famous faces had their start in TV. And it was one hell of a start having it in a show that is now a classic; some of the famous faces consist of Tom Hanks, Gina Davis, Cortney Cox, and many more.
Here's a few of my favorite characters
Nick played well by Scott Valentine, he's my favorite side character and significant other for Mallory. This guy is just awesome, he's not the brightest bulb but his heart is in the right place and driving the right direction. I like that he's a guy that beats to a different drummer and an artist which cool cause I'm those myself.
He's a gear head as he's into motorbikes, really like the way he dresses from the leather coat and T shirts, one I like is that "Monty Python Flying Circus" T Shirt which is cool I love that show. I also like the way he talks as he's clearly a Stallone fan which is cool so am I and, though it also reminds me a little of the Fonz from "Happy Days" from certain tone and inflections.
But most importantly really love the back and forth between both Malory and him, I really bought into the chemistry and can easily see why both click together well.
Mallory Keaton played well by Justine Bateman. Justine was another one of my celeb crushes when I was a kid, I thought she was hot at the time. But anyway, I really like the character Mallory who is a person that is passionate and obsessed with fashion and has big dreams with working in the fashion world. Which is something I can emphasize with here as I have big dreams to and am passionate about certain things like movies and video games.
She's a highly intelligent girl but a bit of a slacker, but I just really love her really dry and deadpan humor and remarks mainly toward Alex.
Alex Keaton played by one of my favorite actors Michael J Fox. This show was the actor's debut in leading role and to me this is one of my favorite roles from him. Alex really is an interesting role because he's a guy that wouldn't seem likeable and yet he is.
He's a guy that is clearly wise beyond his years, he's highly intelligent, a heavy rational thinker, he's obsessed with money, success, politics, suits as he's most of the time is dressed in on, and has big dreams which is constantly working 24.7 to achieve. He's also a bit of a perfectionist as he wants things to go a certain way almost as much a Peril from "Steven Universe". Though it's true Alex isn't perfect as he's sort of guilty of being selfish, egocentric and self-absorbed almost as much as Ben Tennyson from "Ben 10 Alien Force/Ultimate Alien".
However, we can easily forgive the guy as he easily gets humbled and even stops being those things all together. The other reason we can easily forgive him is his humanity. Alex is actually a highly insecure person, the egotism he expresses is most of the time really a cover as he's really worried about almost just about everything. But all that dissolves when he realizes what really matters and what he needs to do and that makes him come through in the end for others and himself.
Things with him are even funnier whenever both him and Mallory are together. It's always funny and even touching seeing both clash with one another but also at the same time help each other out. You could say it's almost a buddy cop dynamic between the two which makes sense as the 80's had plenty of them like "Lethal Weapon" and the under the radar gem "The Hard Way" which Michael was in. Both really do balance each other out well as Alex acts as reason and stability for Mallory, while Mallory acts as aggression and sensibility for him.
The strong ties of a family are the ties that bind.
Rating: 4 stars
I really loved watching this when I was a kid and as an adult I still do to this day. I'll admit every time I would watch some of the promos of the episodes, the episodes themselves, along with that famous theme song, it always gives me the warm fuzzies, just makes me feel like I'm back in the 80's tuning into this show and any other sitcom of yesteryear.
There is so much to this show which is part of what makes this timeless to me and hold up after so many years. Like that theme song from Johnny Mathis and Denise Williams which is one of my favorite theme songs of all time, it is just beautiful and perfectly encapsulates the entire show.
One of the things I like about the show is the humor, which is mainly verbal and clever writing, it's much like with British humor which mainly relies on the same things. This made it stand apart from most sitcoms at the time, the fundamental problem with most of the sitcoms we had were there were times they relied too much on gimmicks, twists, outlandish plots, or worst of all dumb things down as a despite attempt for a laugh.
This show along with some British comedy shows don't do that, they never insult the audiences intelligence because like most verbal humor it always constantly builds up where things are funny but then as it builds up more it gets funnier and funnier, up until the payoffs.
What best of all makes the show work are the characters themselves whom are all well rounded and smart people. Why most of them are funny is that they tend to make a mistake or inadvertently get themselves into a dilemma. This doesn't make them stupid; this makes them human because some of the dilemmas in the show they get into are ones that we might have got into ourselves or had to deal with which helps in the relatability factor.
At times watching an episode of the show can be like looking at a journal entry and saying, yeah, I've been there too. I really like how they solve the dilemmas and even learn from them; not by some deus ex Machina where in a sitcom sometimes there is the patient or mentor that just happens to have the solution to the problem of the week. These characters do intelligently identify the problems and do their best to rectify and resolve them with and without help.
I also really like the dynamic with the Keaton's which was a bit unique for it's time. As usual with the sitcoms it does have that typical old and young conflict and bonding. But this show has a bit of a spin on an old somewhat clichéd dynamic in most sitcoms.
We hear that the parents are open minded Liberals and use to be protesters during the 60's and part of the 70's; this you can say makes the parents somewhat the rebels of the family sort of. As for the kids, each of them is clearly products of their time period, from one obsessed with money and politics, another fashion, another wise beyond years, this makes the kids on the conservative end of things.
This made the show unique and somewhat fresh at the time because usually it's the other way around where the kids are on the rebellious end of things and the parents are acting as products of their time. I also feel this dynamic is true with most families because both parents and kids really do hold onto certain values they've learned and collected from the times they lived in.
This dynamic is interesting as we see those diverse values are both in conflict with each other but at the same time are bonding together because the values of the present can't exist without the ones from the past, and past values can't live on unless they can transition into the present and beyond.
All the characters are great even some of the side characters. There is also development in both kinds of characters, which is another thing that made this show unique at the time. Each of the characters as the seasons go on you see signs of growth in each of them, this really gave the show a sense of time that years really have passed by for the Keaton's and each have been affected by them.
But most importantly each of the characters as they grew got more interesting, their still not perfect they still have new problems and dilemmas to deal with, but we see them deal with them differently and maybe a little better than they would before. Even certain feelings about things change, like with Alex on how he viewed certain things before but doesn't feel that way episodes or a season latter. This also increased the reliability factor because that's true with all of us as time goes on, we all start to acquire different views and feelings on certain things in life.
Finally, another interesting thing about the show are the amount of guest characters, most of the guest stars are familiar faces way before they became highly popular. Which makes watching the show even more interesting sort of like spotting Waldo in the "Where's Waldo" books, most A listers and other famous faces had their start in TV. And it was one hell of a start having it in a show that is now a classic; some of the famous faces consist of Tom Hanks, Gina Davis, Cortney Cox, and many more.
Here's a few of my favorite characters
Nick played well by Scott Valentine, he's my favorite side character and significant other for Mallory. This guy is just awesome, he's not the brightest bulb but his heart is in the right place and driving the right direction. I like that he's a guy that beats to a different drummer and an artist which cool cause I'm those myself.
He's a gear head as he's into motorbikes, really like the way he dresses from the leather coat and T shirts, one I like is that "Monty Python Flying Circus" T Shirt which is cool I love that show. I also like the way he talks as he's clearly a Stallone fan which is cool so am I and, though it also reminds me a little of the Fonz from "Happy Days" from certain tone and inflections.
But most importantly really love the back and forth between both Malory and him, I really bought into the chemistry and can easily see why both click together well.
Mallory Keaton played well by Justine Bateman. Justine was another one of my celeb crushes when I was a kid, I thought she was hot at the time. But anyway, I really like the character Mallory who is a person that is passionate and obsessed with fashion and has big dreams with working in the fashion world. Which is something I can emphasize with here as I have big dreams to and am passionate about certain things like movies and video games.
She's a highly intelligent girl but a bit of a slacker, but I just really love her really dry and deadpan humor and remarks mainly toward Alex.
Alex Keaton played by one of my favorite actors Michael J Fox. This show was the actor's debut in leading role and to me this is one of my favorite roles from him. Alex really is an interesting role because he's a guy that wouldn't seem likeable and yet he is.
He's a guy that is clearly wise beyond his years, he's highly intelligent, a heavy rational thinker, he's obsessed with money, success, politics, suits as he's most of the time is dressed in on, and has big dreams which is constantly working 24.7 to achieve. He's also a bit of a perfectionist as he wants things to go a certain way almost as much a Peril from "Steven Universe". Though it's true Alex isn't perfect as he's sort of guilty of being selfish, egocentric and self-absorbed almost as much as Ben Tennyson from "Ben 10 Alien Force/Ultimate Alien".
However, we can easily forgive the guy as he easily gets humbled and even stops being those things all together. The other reason we can easily forgive him is his humanity. Alex is actually a highly insecure person, the egotism he expresses is most of the time really a cover as he's really worried about almost just about everything. But all that dissolves when he realizes what really matters and what he needs to do and that makes him come through in the end for others and himself.
Things with him are even funnier whenever both him and Mallory are together. It's always funny and even touching seeing both clash with one another but also at the same time help each other out. You could say it's almost a buddy cop dynamic between the two which makes sense as the 80's had plenty of them like "Lethal Weapon" and the under the radar gem "The Hard Way" which Michael was in. Both really do balance each other out well as Alex acts as reason and stability for Mallory, while Mallory acts as aggression and sensibility for him.
The strong ties of a family are the ties that bind.
Rating: 4 stars