Family Ties: The Seventh Season

Great Send-off for a Classic
I was so glad when Paramount/CBS decided to finally put out the rest of this series. This was my favorite show during the 1980's. As a teen I had a crush on Mallory/Justine Bateman. I even got to go to a taping while serving in the Army in California. In fact I still have the autographed T-shirt (signed by everybody) that I won for singing the theme song at the taping. I jumped right to the last episode when my DVD set came in the mail and let me tell you that you will not be disappointed. From what I can tell this is the original episode and not a cut down version. Paramount/CBS did the fans right on this one. The final curtain call is included at the end of the episode. I don't think it was included in the re-runs nor is it in the netflix streaming version of the episode. I emailed CBS years ago when they first started releasing the show on DVD and ask that they include the curtain call on the DVD if they ever put out the final season and it looks like someone actually paid...

Saying good-bye to the Keaton family!
Finally, I own all seven seasons!
Having waited and waited to buy the sixth and seventh seasons of Family Ties, I was finally able to get Season 6 in April and Season 7 in August. Of course, I watched all the episodes of Season 7 in rapid succession, and I enjoyed most of them very much. I think that Gary Goldberg realized in Season 7 what he didn't quite get in Season 6...that the members of this family are all older now and that their concerns can't be the same as they were when the show started years before. Of course, the humor and the irrepressible Alex P. Keaton are essential, but the shows deal with serious themes as well. Steven's heart attack is a three-episode event that doesn't leave much room for humor, and the theme of racism is tackled when Steven's black co-worker and his family move into the Keatons' neighborhood. In the final episodes, Alex is off to his dream job in NYC, and the other Keaton children aren't far behind in leaving the nest (with the...

At last
It was great to finally see the last season released on DVD after a long wait. Overall I liked the DVD set in that the picture and audio quality for all of the episodes were very good. I believe this last season was recorded in stereo (new to TV broadcasts in 1988-89), and it appears they preserved the audio track. It was also great seeing the final episode uncut instead of divided into two parts like it was for syndication, and I especially liked seeing the cast come out and take their final bows as I saw back in May 1989 when it first aired.

The only disappointments I have with this last season is that there weren't any extras included. It would've been nice to hear some thoughts from the cast & crew about that final season and how they came to the decision to end the show at that point. Particularly since creator Gary David Goldberg has passed away and sadly will no longer be able to share any more stories about this show.

Still, though, it's nice to have the...

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