DVD Review: Family Ties: Season Three
Filed under: — Box Set, DVD, Television
Written by: Ashtyn at 5:04 PM
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Michael J Fox, Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Tina Yothers, Justine Bateman, Brian Bonsall
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: February 12, 2008
Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Family Ties. That was back when sitcoms were actually entertaining. The family would pile around the console television and we would enjoy some good ole’ fashioned comedy. The shows always seemed to wrap up nice and neat in that 22 minute time frame (30 with commercials). On screen, the families were always faced with some sort of problem or dilemma, but you could always count on them to pull through. It would always work out in the end.
This was Family Ties and a million other shows like it. These days, it seems that there are fewer and fewer sitcoms like this anymore. Television is different, though shows like this remain popular because of the memories that they offer for people that grew up watching them. Come to find out, they don’t really lose their excitement value either.
Hearing the theme song brings back memories. Watching the show just seems to get me in that nostalgic mood. It’s quality television from ages ago and yet it serves its purpose well. I will admit that this season of Family Ties was not my favorite. There were some good and bad moments that are offered in this season three set, but it is definitely a season that is worth watching for fans of the show.
Release Information:
Family Ties was modeled after the producer of the show and his wife. Apparently, like Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith Baxter), Gary David Goldberg and wife, Diane, were hippies that ended up having to evolve into a suburban lifestyle at some point. The idea worked well and for many, Family Ties was a hit. Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) will forever live in infamy as one of the most popular sitcom icons ever. Additionally, he is probably the most likable Republican I’ve ever come in contact with. Then again, it was just the way they chose to write him in.
Family Ties: Season Three was released by Paramount Home Video on February 12, 2008. The set includes all 23 episodes and a small selection of special features. Fans of the show should be able to pick this up at any major retailer that sells television box sets. You can also pick this up online at Amazon where it is available for $29.99.
The Family Ties Plot
Family Ties is a true, traditional sitcom in the sense that every problem is solved in nearly 23 minutes. Well, it’s solved or there is a second part on the horizon. The third season offered some challenges that seemed to weigh down the show a little more than I would have liked. Michael J. Fox was just coming into his own as an actor and the filming of Back to the Future put him on a tight schedule.
This would have been bad enough because Alex was crucial to the success of Family Ties, but another monkey wrench was thrown in by Meredith Baxter being pregnant with twins all season. The pregnancy was incorporated for obvious reasons, which led to the addition of Andrew, the fourth Keaton child. The results were less than typical for this show. Season three seemed more stressful and less funny than the other seasons. However, there are some good moments here that fans will enjoy.
Unlike other seasons of Family Ties, you need to look for the humor rather than it finding you dead on. There are a lot of gloomy topics here, but in them and the moments of Keaton dysfunction that follow, are humor. For instance, Jennifer’s first crush lets her down and breaks her heart, only to profess his love to Mallory. On the surface this sounds somewhat harsh, but this episode offers its fair share of laughs especially when the scenes deal with Jennifer and Mallory.
There are some other amusing episodes, some of which could have been pushed further to make things more interesting. Those include Elyse taking the family to Atlantic City for work purposes only to become addicted to gambling all of a sudden. This causes her to blow off work for some fun gambling instead. This could have been taken a little further before the objection of the family came up. Of course, with 23 minutes to resolve a problem, you can’t expect too much time to be wasted. Although, I have to hand them to it, Alex is hilarious in this episode as he plots all of the things he can do with his mom’s winnings.
The episodes that deal with Alex show him growing fully into a man or at least a pseudo-man. Now in college, Alex has to deal with the failure of his first “F”, which makes him consider dropping out of school (rejection was never an overachiever, like Alex’s, strong suit). More amusing Alex moments come when Stephen wants him to come and work at the PBS station. Of course, this would be somewhat like death to the man that one day wants to be a bank president.
Things get a little better when the baby, Andrew, is born. There are some additional funny moments with Alex and the baby. Alex feels a definite fondness to Andrew, because the men need to stick together. Unfortunately, the season ends on a slight down note when Stephen’s father dies and there is a two-parter of flashbacks from Stephen’s relationship with his dad. However, season four looks to be promising now that Baxter is no longer pregnant and Andrew has been added into the fold for more amusement on the family front that only a child could provide.
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Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The video in season three of Family Ties looks about the same as it did in the previous box sets. For the time in which it was created (this season came out in 1984), things look great. Naturally, there are a few small issues, but overall the quality of this view including the 1.33:1 transfer, look decent. There is minimal grain and no real issues with noise or softness. The occasional small video issue is not going to bother anyone when viewing this. All in all, it looks fine.
The sound comes in with Dolby Digital. It sounds much like I remember it all those years ago, or like something you might hear on television should you decide to turn it on. I didn’t notice too many problems with the sound. It’s a sitcom so you are not going to be dealing with anything overly dramatic. No volume toggling was necessary and like the video, it worked well overall.
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Audio:
Bonus Features:
There are not too many bonus features available on Family Ties Season Three. However, when you consider that a large number of sets are coming out without any bonuses at all, some are better than none. The only features on this disc include a short gag reel that consists of the Michaels (J Fox and Gross) laughing at one another, along with some other mishaps. The other feature is a public service announcement.
The PSA is all about Parkinson’s disease and as you can guess it is handled by Michael J. Fox. It seems like a somewhat grim way to end the season, but that’s just my take on things. I really would have put this at the beginning personally, to ensure the message was received, but that it did not end things on such a solemnly somber note.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
While this was not my favorite season of Family Ties, as a fan of the show, it still offered enough good memories to keep me happy. There were some ups and downs this season, but overall the content was good and it had its fun moments. Fans of the show are likely to end up getting all of the sets, because there are so many good episodes spread throughout the series that nothing else would make sense. That being said, fans will want to pick this up. If you’re new to the show, I highly recommend starting with season one and going from there.
Overall Rating: Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Paramount Home Video, TV on DVD, DVD Review, Family Programming, Comedy, Family Ties, Alex P Keaton
Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Criminal Justice. She eventually plans to intern with the FBI, if she can. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.
