Family Ties: Season 4

1985 · 23 episodes · ★ 1.0

What Season 4 of Family Ties

Columbus, Ohio, in the heart of the Ronald Reagan era. Steven and Elyse Keaton, former hippies from the baby boom generation, are raising four children whose liberal ideas clash with those of Alex, the eldest, an ambitious Republican who dreams of becoming a millionaire businessman. This season, Alex becomes obsessed with Ellen, the roommate of the girl he picked from a photo, while Mallory comes home with Nick, a rugged environmental artist. Jennifer, the family's athlete, stands up to a bully to defend her boyfriend, and Steven, who works at local public television, faces his children's changes.

23episodes

Sep 26, 1985premiered

May 8, 1986latest episode

9.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 4 Episodes

4x01 The Real Thing (1)
Sep 26, 1985 · 24 min
Alex implements a fail-proof, and extremely unromantic, method of meeting the girl of his dreams: He picks her from pictures in the freshman directory. His selection, Tricia, seems to fit his requirements perfectly, but his plan goes off-track when he is strongly attracted to her roommate, Ellen. Ellen and Alex dislike each other instantly, and though he can't figure out why, he finds himself thinking about her constantly.
Directed by: Will Mackenzie · Written by: Michael J. Weithorn · Starring: Suzanne Snyder, Tracy Pollan, Judson Allen
4x02 The Real Thing (2)
Oct 3, 1985 · 24 min
Alex realizes he must make Ellen aware of his feelings, but she is on a train on her way to marry another man, so he takes drastic measures to stop the wedding. The usually cool Alex decides he must let down his defenses or lose the girl he loves.
Directing: Will Mackenzie · Writing: Michael J. Weithorn · Starring: Suzanne Snyder, Tracy Pollan, Marc Price, Peter Van Norden
4x03 Mr. Wrong
Oct 17, 1985 · 25 min
Mallory brings home her new boyfriend, Nick, a Rambo-type environmental artist, to meet her family, but Steven and Elyse are shocked by his crude appearance and gruff manner.
Directed by: Will Mackenzie · Starring: Scott Valentine
4x04 Designated Hitter
Oct 24, 1985 · 24 min
Jennifer takes on the class bully to defend her boyfriend and unwittingly humiliates him by undermining his masculinity and Alex is devastated when Mallory scores higher than him on an IQ test. Jennifer tries to apologize to Adam, but discovers that all the boys are making fun of him and he won't speak to her.
Directed by: John Pasquin · Starring: Noah Hathaway, Marc Price, Danny Nucci, Simon Burgess
4x05 Don't Go Changin'
Oct 31, 1985 · 25 min
Alex does some fancy footwork on the dance floor to impress Ellen when he thinks he is losing her because of their divergent interests. Alex feels he has to compete with Ellen's artsy friends for her attention and attempts to change himself to fit into her world.
Directed by: Asaad Kelada · Starring: Tracy Pollan, Pamela Springsteen, John Scott Clough, Jesse Welles
4x06 The Old College Try
Nov 7, 1985 · 24 min
When Mallory informs her parents that she has no intention of going to college after graduation, they are sure she is being influenced by her boyfriend, Nick, a high school dropout. Elyse is crushed by Mallory's decision to forego a college education, and Mallory turns to Nick for support.
Directed by: Barbara Schultz · Starring: Scott Valentine, Molly Cheek, Marc Price
4x07 My Tutor
Nov 14, 1985 · 24 min
Alex hires a tutor to help him with math, but his ""teacher"" turns out to be a 13-year-old genius who suddenly becomes more interested in Jennifer than in helping Alex. When Eugene, Alex's tutor, meets Jennifer he loses his concentration and Alex comes up with a scheme that will benefit both him and Eugene.
Starring: Tracy Pollan, River Jude Phoenix, Peter Hobbs, Kim Sebastian
4x08 Mr. Right
Nov 21, 1985 · 24 min
Mallory's boyfriend, environmental artist Nick Moore, swaps his T-shirt, camouflage pants, combat boots and earrings for a three-piece suit and a haircut to impress Mallory's parents, but while Steven and Elyse love the new Nick, Mallory is ready to leave him.
Directing: James Burrows · Starring: Scott Valentine, Alan Blumenfeld, Bunny Summers, Denise D'Amico
4x09 Just One Look
Dec 5, 1985 · 24 min
Steven's old college buddy Richard Schofield is in town for and Steven looks forward to reminiscing about old times until he learns that Richard and Elyse share some memories he wasn't aware of. Steven loses his normally cool composure and becomes insanely jealous, imagining that Elyse and Richard are secretly attracted to one another.
Directed by: Michael J. Weithorn · Starring: Robert Desiderio
4x10 How Do You Sleep?
Dec 12, 1985 · 24 min
Alex, who prides himself on being in control of his life, is embarrassed to admit that he is having a problem with insomnia, which is creating stress in his personal life as well as in school. Although Alex refuses to discuss his sleeping problems with anyone, his restlessness is disrupting the whole family.
Starring: Marc Price
4x11 You've Got a Friend
Dec 19, 1985 · 24 min
Mallory begins to feel severe guilt after reporting a young girl to the police for shoplifting, especially when he learns that the girl is from a home for abused children. Mallory visits Jessie at the home but is suspicious of the girl's intentions. Nick warns Mallory that she can't change Jessie overnight, but Mallory is sure that she can at least be a good influence.
Directing: John Pasquin · Starring: Scott Valentine, Martha Plimpton, James N. Hamilton
4x12 Nothing But a Man
Jan 2, 1986 · 24 min
Steven gets the promotion he has been waiting years for, but as the new regional manager of the station, he is required to put in long hours at the office, and soon realizes he has no time for his family. Although Elyse and the kids are happy about Steven's new position, they begin to miss the days where he would come home for dinner every night and have time to take part in day-to-day activities.
Directed by: Will Mackenzie · Written by: Jürgen Wolff · Starring: Tracy Pollan, Marc Price, John Hancock, Robert Costanzo
4x13 The Disciple
Jan 9, 1986 · 25 min
Alex offers to help Jennifer with a speech project and winds up creating a monster, the speech is such a success that she is asked to repeat the performance for an awards panel. Jennifer does her class project perfectly, but doesn't understand what she said because Alex coached her on most of the material. So when asked to present it to the panel of judges, her nerves get the best of her.
Directing: Will Mackenzie · Starring: Marc Price, Corey Feldman, Amy O'Neill, Belita Moreno
4x14 Where's Poppa?
Jan 16, 1986 · 25 min
Alex secretly invites Ellen's dad to Parent's Day Weekend at Leland College, thinking that she will be pleasantly surprised to see him, but what he doesn't know is that Ellen has no desire to see her father. Ellen can't forgive her father for not spending time with her when she was growing up, and although he wants to make amends she refuses to forgive and forget.
Directing: Will Mackenzie · Starring: Tracy Pollan, Ronny Cox
4x15 Fool for Love
Jan 23, 1986 · 25 min
Skippy's lifetime obsession with Mallory builds to a climax when he refuses to accept that she is in love with Nick, and creates an embarrassing scene at the Homecoming dance. Alex tries to convince Skippy he should forget about Mallory and find someone else, and even enlists the help of a psychiatrist, but Skippy can't let go of his fantasy.
Directed by: Lee Shallat Chemel · Starring: Scott Valentine, Marc Price, Suzanne Lederer, Jerry Hardin
4x16 Checkmate
Jan 30, 1986 · 25 min
A chess tournament between Leland College students and a visiting Soviet team turns into a wrestling match when Alex and his opponent, Ivan Rozmirovich, match wits and "fight" for their countries. Alex considers it his patriotic duty to beat the Russian, but as the game progresses he realizes his opponent is not really the enemy he had envisioned him to be.
Starring: Tracy Pollan, Alex Henteloff, Elsa Raven, Albert Macklin
4x17 Engine Trouble
Feb 6, 1986 · 25 min
Elyse enrolls in an auto mechanics class to prove Alex and Steven that women can be just as competent with cars as men, but to protect his own masculinity, Alex joins the class to prove her wrong.
Directed by: John Pasquin · Starring: Scott Valentine, Marc Price, Robert Costanzo, Anthony Tyler Quinn
4x18 A Word to the Wise
Feb 13, 1986 · 49 min
The Keaton family fills in his girlfriend, Ellen, on some of the more humorous events in Alex's life before they met in this special one-hour episode. Flashbacks to previous episodes include some highlights from the series' past shows. Alex and Ellen celebrate their six-month anniversary as boyfriend and girlfriend, and the family think it's time for Ellen to know the truth about Alex.
Directed by: Will Mackenzie · Starring: Tracy Pollan, Marc Price, Crispin Glover
4x19 Art Lover
Feb 20, 1986 · 25 min
Mallory suspects there's more involved than ""art appreciation"" when a wealthy and beautiful older woman takes a special interest in Nick's creations. Promising to help launch his career, art patron Victoria Hurstenberg takes Nick under her wing, occupying nearly all of his time and interfering with his relationship with Mallory, who insists that the older woman has her eye on more than Nick's art.
Starring: Scott Valentine, Marc Price, Harvey Jason, Christine Belford
4x20 Teacher's Pet
Mar 3, 1986 · 24 min
Alex lands a teaching-assistant position and runs into big trouble when he has to grade a student who also happens to be his girlfriend, Ellen. When Ellen is assigned to Alex's economics class, he has trouble treating her as just another student, and ends up causing a strain on their relationship.
Directing: John Pasquin · Starring: Tracy Pollan, Mark Moses, Macon McCalman
4x21 My Buddy
Mar 6, 1986 · 25 min
Steven has a very difficult time accepting that his youngest daughter, Jennifer,is growing up and no longer wants to ""pal around"" with him.As Jennifer grows and finds new interests, Steven feels rejected because she no longer spends time with him. The situation comes to a head when Steven insists on accompanying Jennifer on her girls-club outing, and she is mortified when he is the only male there.
Starring: Miriam Flynn, Dion Rottman, Anne Marie McEvoy, Laura Jacoby
4x22 Once in Love with Elyse (a.k.a. Loan Arranger)
May 1, 1986 · 25 min
Elyse must deal with Paul, a young architect associate who falls in love with her.After working for a year in the same office as Elyse, Paul, a very promising architect, can no longer ignore his feelings for her. He quits the job and confronts Elyse's husband, Steven, with his dilemma.
Starring: Peter Scolari, Matthew Faison, John Petlock, Enid Kent
4x23 Paper Chase (a.k.a. Mallory's Graduation) Season Finale
May 8, 1986 · 24 min
Mallory discovers that her high school graduation is in jeopardy unless she can pass a very tough history exam. Never an avid student, Mallory faces the possibility of failing her senior year in high school because of her poor grades. As the school term rapidly draws to a close, her only hope is to score extremely well on a tough final exam.
Starring: Scott Valentine, Tracy Pollan, Marc Price, Gracie Harrison