« November 4 - November 10 February 10 - February 16 »

TV Lover at Family Ties/Spin City Reunion

February 07, 2008

TV Lover at legendary TV show creator Gary David Goldberg's seminar at the Paley Center tonight. Goldberg was reunited with his Family Ties cast members Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross. Also on the panel were Fox's Spin City co-stars Richard Kind and Michael Boatman. And Marion Ross was there representing Brooklyn Bridge, Goldberg's "brilliant but canceleld" sitcom.

Goldberg was celebrating the release of his autobiography "Sit Ubu Sit." Ubu was the name of his production company AND also his labrador retriever dog's name. The photo of the dog in his production company logo was a reminder of his struggling writer days. Goldberg now lives in Vermont with his author wife. His daughter Shana Goldberg-Meehan was a producer on Family Ties. He doesn't anticipate finding any project in today's tv landscape that would take him away from his wife.

He called his wife and Fox his two great adult relationships.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

Fox, as a dad of four kids, now identifies with his TV father Steven Keaton's fatherhood dilemmas. Michael Gross said fathers have come up to him through the years citing him as their role model.

All of the cast members credit Goldberg with creating a "family feel" on the set.

The show was filmed on the Paramount lot during the era of Cheers, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. In fact, early Ties audience tapings were filled up with the spillover crowd from Joannie Loves Chachi.

They all felt today's reality-inundated TV lacks quality situation comedies, especially with families.

Fox said that the essence of Family Ties was everyday moments, and recalled an episode that guest starred then unknown Geena Davis in a classic scene involving pop tarts. The shows often were resolved with a final segment involving Alex apologizing. Goldberg said to writers, he would accept story ideas when writers could vividly describe to him the final scene.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

Goldberg was protective of his cast members, and wasn't fond of most network programmers. In fact, NBC had encouraged him to toughen up the Steven Keaton character. He refused stating Keaton's gentle approach to parenting was part of his character.

The show shifted from focus on a show about liberal parents to a show about a conservative son.
Fox said that his character Alex B. Keaton had inspired a generation of financial hot shots. He recalled one millionaire who said he was inspired to go into finance by Fox's character. Then this person donated millions to Fox's Parkinson's Disease foundation.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

Meredith Baxter recalled her disappointment with the final episode ever of Ties. She expected it to have a big finale. Goldberg interrupted her, and said he wasn't as unhappy with that episode as her. She said it improved when it was remarkably re-written on the day of the taping.

They often overhauled scripts between a Wednesday and the Friday tape day.

Goldberg recalled cast member Courteney Cox, then a newcomer actress, once complained about having too many long words in her script.

After seven seasons, Goldberg and Fox admitted they were offered an eighth season by NBC and turned it down They now think they were crazy.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

Fox said that most Ties storylines wouldn't work now since his conflict on the show was Mallory hogging up the phone, now they would have cell phones. By year seven he felt as though Alex should've figured out how to resolve this problem. He said he was comfortable with the show ending in 1989 since he was getting married and having a baby, and didn't want to still portray the college-age problems of Alex.

Gross thought his positive creative experience with Ties would be the norm in TV, and was saddened to find it to be the exception.

Goldberg and Fox also admitted they only found out about the Family Ties DVD when it was released.

Goldberg's followup ABC sitcom Spin City was a hard show to execute, said co-exec producer and star Fox.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

In an effort to become the fast-paced "ER of sitcoms," he generated three storylines per episode.

Richard Kind was always in the silliest, shortest arc, and fought against becoming "the Skippy" of Spin City, a reference to Marc Price's character Skippy on Family Ties. The show also filmed in difficult location shoots in New York City.

Boatman recalled portraying a gay character, and found that even in Zimbabwe he was honored for being positive gay TV role model.

__MTPAGINATE_PAGE_BREAK__

Brooklyn Bridge was the most personal of the three Goldberg shows saluted. It was the CBS sitcom about Goldberg's autobiographical childhood in Bensonhurst in the 1950s. The pre-teen who portrayed him was a whitewashed version of his actual self, according to his Grandmother. Ross portrayed his grandmother, a pretty version of herself according to his Grandmother.
Ross said that her touching encounter with a Holocaust survivor from Poland, who connected with her character, made the entire show worthwhile.

Goldberg sold the show without a pilot to then struggling CBS in 1987. The series also had a commitment for a full series order, also a TV rarity.

Actress Jenny Lewis portrayed a young version of Goldberg's non-Jewish wife. Lewis is now a rock star in the alternative rock band Rilo Kiley.

These days, Michael J. Fox is working on his son's college essays. He'd like to work more often.

Ross stars opposite Leslie Nielsen in the upcoming movie comedy Superhero, and occasionally as Sally Field's Mom on Brothers and Sisters.

Baxter is a speaker on breast cancer and menopause awareness.

Boatman and Gross both wrote books. Boatman has a few independent films in the works.

Kind soon appears with a NY Opera, and continues to do Broadway work.