Michael J. Fox
Robert Spencer 
Rewatching Family Ties season 1 and it holds up much better than a lot of 80s sitcoms, especially before the last year or two when no one wanted to be there. There has been a lot of gossip here about MJF but he must have been paying off the tabloids (or BTTF producers were ) because I don’t remember a whisper of gossip about him in the 80s.
| by Anonymous | reply 117 | February 13, 2019 7:56 PM |
The show was a success because of the humility of Michael J Fox, who never let his brief surge in stardom go to his head.
The only gossip I heard was that his role in "Light of Day" was a "little too close to home."
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 3, 2019 10:24 AM |
He only admitted to a drinking problem , no idea about drugs. I never saw LofD but assume it has drug use. Wasn’t it sort of a Less than Zero with adults instead of college kids?
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 3, 2019 2:58 PM |
R1 wasn’t it more than a brief surge? He was everywhere during the 80s.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 3, 2019 3:06 PM |
Never ever even remotely hot.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 3, 2019 3:10 PM |
Oh yes. He was. Couldn't see it at the time.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 3, 2019 3:13 PM |
That Bruce Willis story seemed as plausible as Rod Stewart getting his stomach pumped.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 3, 2019 4:07 PM |
I think it was here that I read a story along time ago that someone went to a taping of family ties Because they knew a dealer.. Justine Bateman was apparently calling Michael J Fox a homosexual slur. I have a feeling none of this happened but more DL lore about the 80s.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 3, 2019 4:54 PM |
Was he considered hot in the 80s or more of a pretty boy ?
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 23, 2019 2:48 AM |
neither r8. Just a comic type. Sort of like SNL people who did films.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 23, 2019 2:53 AM |
I think that his talent and charisma are underrated.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 23, 2019 2:54 AM |
Justine has always been the black sheep of the family.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 23, 2019 2:57 AM |
Merideth Baxter Birney was a basket case through most of it.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 23, 2019 3:00 AM |
I LOVED him in Spin City. and he was my favorite character on the Good Wife
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 23, 2019 3:01 AM |
He was not necessarily considered a sex symbol - but a lot of girls I went to high school and college with thought he was cute perhaps bordering on pretty boy.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 23, 2019 3:18 AM |
He was talented enough to not be just a Matthew Broderick clone. They wanted him for Alex and I could see that, but I am so glad they had MJF jnstead
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 23, 2019 3:26 AM |
I think he was cuter than most people his age on tv now. He helped define the 80s. I was very young when FT was on but he looked so cute. Not sure who was hot in the 80s since it was before Pitt or Clooney but he seemed to be very good looking back then
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 23, 2019 3:31 AM |
He was a cutie. Would have made a great pass around bottom in a William Higgins film.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 23, 2019 3:32 AM |
His middle name is Andrew, so why is he Michael J. Fox??
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 23, 2019 3:37 AM |
Because of Michael Pollard.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 23, 2019 3:38 AM |
Because of Saul from The Bold And The Beautiful.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 23, 2019 3:39 AM |
I liked Michael J. Cox, the straight porn star of the '90s. He had a thick dick.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | January 23, 2019 3:42 AM |
Wow, OP. Most people comment on here how Family Ties doesn't hold up.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 23, 2019 3:43 AM |
At one time, he was the biggest star on TV and in movies. And he appeared in several big-budget commercials. His star shot to the top, but he stayed with Family Ties to the end, when most actors would have bailed. I've always thought that was pretty cool.
He was more "cute" than "hot". He was the main heartthrob for teen girls from about 1982 until 1988 (after Tom Cruise).
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 23, 2019 3:46 AM |
It was a cute show. It really was. It was funny how much his character worshiped Regan and how liberal the parents were compared to their son. Sign of the times then, but sad that so many young white males are into that Regan worship again.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 23, 2019 3:48 AM |
Wonderful with the comedy, bit his attempts at drama were mostly cringeworthy
I think the exception is a moving supporting role in 1995’s The American President opposite Mr Michael Douglas
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | January 23, 2019 3:52 AM |
He had, and still has, brilliant comic timing.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 23, 2019 3:56 AM |
The cringiest FT ep ever was this piece of dreck.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 23, 2019 3:58 AM |
Too smarmy for my tastes. There's just something off-putting about him, despite the superficial charm. I do like BTTF one and two though.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | January 23, 2019 4:02 AM |
[quote] Wow, OP. Most people comment on here how Family Ties doesn't hold up.
It doesn’t. Like many 80s sitcoms it’s pretty unwatchable now.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | January 23, 2019 4:06 AM |
I always thought he was absolutely adorable. He's the kinda guy you'd actually enjoy going on dates with and not just fucking. You'd bring him home to mom. Given everything that's happened to him and his illness, I'd say he still looks damn good. As they say, cute always ages better than gorgeous.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 23, 2019 4:16 AM |
[quote]I think it was here that I read a story along time ago that someone went to a taping of family ties Because they knew a dealer.. Justine Bateman was apparently calling Michael J Fox a homosexual slur. I have a feeling none of this happened but more DL lore about the 80s.
That was my posting — my friend was getting coke for MJF and partying with him for a while. He did indeed go to the Family Ties set a couple of times and MJF and Justine Bateman didn't get along at all that point.
This was around the time MJF was shooting Family Ties by day and Back to the Future at night, getting by on a couple hours sleep. There was lots of press about how this young actor could power through all of it, and my friend was amused because no one could do this weeks on end without coke or something like it.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | January 23, 2019 4:16 AM |
R19, Michael likes to joke that "Michael A Fox" sounded a little too presumptuous.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | January 23, 2019 5:02 AM |
The guy has been an amazing philanthropist. There's a foundation / charity in his name that is at the leading edge into Parkinson's Disease and other neurological disorders. I wish that most of us could contribute as much to society.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 23, 2019 5:15 AM |
Was a big ladies man. Even after he got married. Even after he got sick.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 23, 2019 6:01 AM |
Wut ‘choo talkin’ ‘bout Willis?
I mean R35?
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 23, 2019 6:55 AM |
Just watched Doc Hollywood. Sweet, funny movie. He has an impish charm, very cute in his prime, knew how to deliver a line for maximum comedic effect, but he was not really leading man material.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 23, 2019 7:08 AM |
He was only famous because of Back To The Future. He did have about five years of big fame, yes, so it WAS a brief surge. He quickly proved he couldn't do movies and got lucky and went back to TV.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | January 23, 2019 7:23 AM |
I thought he was cute and sexy. But I like pocket gays who are smart with good comic timing. I remember the Justine Bateman story as well. I think he’s bisexual.
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | January 23, 2019 7:46 AM |
He missed his true calling as an 80s pre-condom power bottom. He would have been perfect opposite Chad Douglas or Steve Hammond!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 23, 2019 12:02 PM |
I don't think he's totally straight. He could've landed someone much hotter than that Clydesdale of a wife.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | January 23, 2019 12:51 PM |
Both of his autobiographies are great, fun reads.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | January 23, 2019 1:12 PM |
He was too typecast as "Alex Keaton"/"Marty McFly" to be taken seriously as a dramatic actor.
And as much as I enjoyed FT back in the day, it doesn't really hold up today.
Although the BTTF trilogy is a series of my all-time favorite movies.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 23, 2019 1:36 PM |
He was an illegal immigrant
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 23, 2019 2:05 PM |
[quote]especially before the last year or two when no one wanted to be there.
Meredith was guzzling white wine out of a Solo cup for most of those seasons.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | January 23, 2019 2:33 PM |
I was very young at the time as well but if we're talking about 80s heartthrobs, I think Mel Gibson was the big #1 back then. This was long before the public knew what a crazy-ass nutcase he was. I think Tom Cruise was the second biggest 80s heartthrob. Again, this was before the public knew that Cruise was ALSO a crazy-ass nutcase.
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | January 23, 2019 2:38 PM |
Is it really philanthropic if the money is going to a self-serving purpose?
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | January 23, 2019 2:50 PM |
^^^Yes. Unless you’re retarded, you knew that already and just wanted to imply something nasty about a sick person.
What a treat you are.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 23, 2019 4:10 PM |
Because those with empathy for the ‘sick’ always use slurs such as ‘retarded’
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | January 23, 2019 4:19 PM |
The general gossip is that he's a genuinely nice guy, very modest and unassuming. I'm sure that Canadian heritage has something to do with it. (On a purely DL note - well endowed and being only 5'4" tall, it's almost freakish.)
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | January 23, 2019 4:30 PM |
Bright Lights Big City. wasn't too bad.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | January 23, 2019 11:17 PM |
Now that I have been re-watching on Amazon prime, it holds up better than I thought. The first season even has an episode where they talk about guns and also an episode where they talk about how it is difficult for girls to be friends with boys and it is important for girls to act intelligently (to Jen, not Mallory). The acting is decent all around. I just saw the episode where the dad starts to kidnap his son because his ex-wife moved across country. I looked up the dad and he was an accomplished theater actor for his whole career. They really had a great guest stars in addition to the cast. After they added Andrew it definitely got a little cheesy, but I think every sitcom in the 80s had to have a baby at some point. An episode they had about competitive parents could’ve been written last week.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 24, 2019 12:10 AM |
R35 I have never heard a whisper about this. Do you know this firsthand or is this some sort of blind item ? I always feel like those are made up
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 24, 2019 12:12 AM |
I wonder how much the drinking and cocaine contributed to his Parkinson's. I know he's never admitted to coke publicly, but he was a huge cokehead back in the day as others have mentioned.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | January 24, 2019 12:17 AM |
R55 Every single person in Hollywood would have had it. He worked on a show in Canada when he was young and another person o there also got young onset Parkinson’s . I can’t imagine the thousands of people in Hollywood from the 70s awesome that would’ve gotten it if that was the case
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | January 24, 2019 12:19 AM |
I don't know r56 maybe in his case the booze and coke contributed. Kind of like how some cigarette smokers get cancer and some don't.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | January 24, 2019 12:36 AM |
He drank 25 Pepsi's a day throughout the 80s, that's why he has Parkinson's
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | January 24, 2019 1:14 AM |
r58 - you, sir, are a CUNT!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 59 | January 24, 2019 1:45 AM |
Four people who worked with Fox on a Canadian sit com, back in the 1970s, called "Leo and Me" were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Freakish odds.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | January 24, 2019 1:59 AM |
R21 speaks the truth.
I read a story that if an actor reading for Alex got two laughs per line, Michael got three.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | January 24, 2019 2:53 AM |
To me he had a similar kind of appeal to John Ritter - cute and appealing in a non threatening way, great comedic timing, and no matter how smug their characters might have gotten it was always very clear that deep down they were really nice guys.
Incidentally I’ve met him twice, once when he was filming The Secret of My success across from where I was. I was 9 or 10 and had the hugest crush on him and approached him and he couldn’t have been nicer. I don’t know how long we talked but it seemed like a good 10 minutes, but it may not have been that long.
I met him again close to 20 years later in a charity context with his wife. Both lovely and he’s so incredibly unassuming.
I agree that the first couple of seasons especially really hold up and are much better acted then any other family sitcom of the time.
He also made a choice (I’m sure no doubt influenced by his wife) to be low key and fully East Coast based as soon as the show ended — and this was in the late 80s well before it became chic for stars to move/settle in New York.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | January 25, 2019 6:18 AM |
He was cute. I love the reruns, but like other shows, the minute they added another kid, it went downhill. I hated Nick also.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | January 25, 2019 6:23 AM |
R41 She was cute as Ellen. She definitely aged better than Courteney Cox, who was also in the show. His wife aged very similarly to those women with little to no body fat and didn’t get any fillers or Botox , at least not that is noticeable. His wife looks a lot better than most of the women in Hollywood her age who are mostly silly putty at this point.At least his his wife looks like a person. I don’t find her ugly, she does has a longer face shape.
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | January 25, 2019 11:09 PM |
R62 That is awesome you got to meet him as a kid and as an adult. I love that he was great to you both times.
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | January 25, 2019 11:09 PM |
He was dick to me once. Then again I was holding a can of Coca Cola.
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | January 25, 2019 11:42 PM |
The Secret of my Success is a fun little movie. So 80s, a total time capsule. And it also had the late Margaret Whitton, who was always fabulous.
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | January 25, 2019 11:49 PM |
I love that movie. So 80s in every way in his goal to work on Wall Street, the fashions, and iconic shots of New York. I wish lox around the clock was still open! A real moment in time. A young Cindy Crawford in the opening credits. I love it when he’s calling his mom from the payphone in the beginning while there was a shootout. He was so sweet and charming in that movie. Uncle Howard dated DL fave Marcia Cross until his death.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | January 26, 2019 12:45 AM |
R66 Is there a story there or is that a joke?
| by Anonymous | reply 69 | January 26, 2019 12:46 AM |
Ahhh thanks. That made me chuckle
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | January 26, 2019 3:17 AM |
The initial premise of Family Ties was that the kids were straight-laced and more conservative than their tree-hugging liberal parents. You can kind of see it in the casting, but I don't recall that angle ever being all that explored.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | January 26, 2019 3:26 AM |
R72 is that a joke? Alex’s entire character was being a Republican. I always think Tucker Carlson is just him role playing a repugnant version of him.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | January 26, 2019 3:33 AM |
“Do you mean to tell me....that you built a time machine.....out of a DeLorean???”
It’s such an awful line of dialogue but Michael makes it sound natural.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | January 26, 2019 3:35 AM |
"Around here, they call me Mr. Prescott," R68.
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | January 26, 2019 4:04 AM |
I don't know how young Michael got his Parkinson's, but I got mine from decades of exposure to that awful M person, and her hideous "click, click, click" style of "acting." Atrocious.
Spence-uh! Where are you?
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | January 26, 2019 4:09 AM |
I always found the dad hot as hell in a nerdy way lol
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | January 26, 2019 4:29 AM |
MBB looked beautiful as the mom. The dad never did for me, but Alex was my big crush after Ricky Stratton on Silver Spoons.
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | January 26, 2019 4:41 AM |
R76 wins. Why wasn’t Margaret Whitton a bigger star? I had no idea she passed away
| by Anonymous | reply 80 | January 26, 2019 5:34 PM |
You can tell by watching it, how much Meredith Baxter is eying her television daughter predatorily and hoping, Jennifer will be written out.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | January 26, 2019 5:36 PM |
r80 I loved Margaret Whitton. She was classy. I don't know why she didn't work more, she died from cancer a couple of years ago.
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | January 26, 2019 6:52 PM |
R74; exactly; Fox is great at that.
I've posted this before but I read a story that he read against, I think, Jimmy Baio or Scott Baoi and Jason Bateman and others for the role of Alex and if they each got two laughs per line, Fox got 3.
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | January 26, 2019 6:59 PM |
Oddly enough I met an Alex today with his daughter Mallory. I was dying to ask if thT was on purpose but I am not sure he was more than a few years old when it went off the air.
| by Anonymous | reply 84 | January 26, 2019 7:14 PM |
Met him in Japan many years ago. One of the nicest celebrities around (or at least then and there). Also friendly toward all of his fans.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | January 29, 2019 9:04 PM |
His ass is in the 1994 movie [italic]Greedy[/italic], which is coming to Blu-ray next month.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | January 29, 2019 9:30 PM |
I think the actor who played the dad cruised me on W 46th St one day, but also on W 46th, Bryah Ferry, Richard Gere and Slam.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | January 29, 2019 9:37 PM |
[quote]The initial premise of Family Ties was that the kids were straight-laced and more conservative than their tree-hugging liberal parents. You can kind of see it in the casting, but I don't recall that angle ever being all that explored.
Alex Keaton had a picture of Richard Nixon in his bedroom. Can't get more obvious than that.
| by Anonymous | reply 88 | January 29, 2019 9:39 PM |
Unproven theory of why he got Parkinson's at such a young age is because of the Diet Pepsi he drank. Besides being in the commercials, he reportingly drank a lot of it back in the 1980s. They say it's the Aspartame/NutraSweet.
| by Anonymous | reply 89 | January 29, 2019 9:45 PM |
Elton John did Diet Coke ads. He got fat.
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | January 29, 2019 9:47 PM |
Whitney Houston did Diet Coke ads. She died.
| by Anonymous | reply 91 | January 29, 2019 9:55 PM |
En Vogue did Diet Coke ads. Their career died.
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | January 29, 2019 10:01 PM |
Sounds like this is all the evidence we need
| by Anonymous | reply 93 | January 29, 2019 10:06 PM |
Brian Bonsall did Coca-Cola ads with Art Carney. Need I say more?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 94 | January 29, 2019 10:12 PM |
[quote] Alex Keaton had a picture of Richard Nixon in his bedroom. Can't get more obvious than that.
Today, he'd be Trump's secretary of the treasury while Steven Keaton turned WKS into BernieBro headquarters despite Elyse being for Hillary.
| by Anonymous | reply 96 | February 4, 2019 4:18 PM |
Some of the jokes about Alex’s love of money are so cornball today.
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | February 4, 2019 5:10 PM |
Kim Carnes did Diet Coke ads
| by Anonymous | reply 98 | February 5, 2019 6:12 PM |
one of my favorite exchanges was when Fox was given that showcase show about Alex's reaction to his friend's death.
Nick approaches.
Alex: Not now, Nick.
Nick: What, Alex? You don't think I ain't got nothing to teach you? You don't think you ain't got nothing to learn from me.
Alex: No, Nick. I don't think. I ain't. Got nothing. To learn from you.
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | February 5, 2019 6:33 PM |
By every account MJF is a good guy.
| by Anonymous | reply 100 | February 5, 2019 6:52 PM |
He was so freaking cute back in the 1980s
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 101 | February 9, 2019 9:17 PM |
The first couple of seasons showed the kids mortification of their parents. Like the episode of them going to demonstrate on thanksgiving and getting arrested. I watched a rerun yesterday and Jennifer was the weakest link of the core family. She was funny the first few seasons, but like Vanessa on the Cosby Show, Ben on Growing Pains, they grew up fugly and couldn't act. Off the top of my head, I can't think of show where the kid grew up to be cute and was charismatic. At least Growing Pain realized that Ben wasn't going to take over for Mike role and brought in DiCaprio.
| by Anonymous | reply 102 | February 9, 2019 9:31 PM |
This show helped Reagan- ize America. Kids watching it thought Alex was cute & funny and his parents were old, hypocritical hippies. Greed became good.
| by Anonymous | reply 103 | February 9, 2019 9:40 PM |
I loved him on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Larry: Michael, you wouldn’t like it if I went to see one of your movies & talked through the whole thing.
Michael: My movies? Whaddaya have a time machine, Larry? I haven’t made a movie on over 20 years
I didn’t know his wife came from money. That really was his father in law on the cover of the magazine Larry defaced with the Hitler mustache.
Then he trolls Larry — showering him with soda (after shaking the can), stomping on the floor late at night & blaming it all on his Parkinson’s
| by Anonymous | reply 104 | February 9, 2019 9:52 PM |
His mother im law is Corky Pollen who was my fave NY Magazine Best Bets editor. Tracey comes from a nice and connected NYC Jewish family. She is pretty has aged well and they supposedly really love each other.
| by Anonymous | reply 105 | February 9, 2019 9:56 PM |
I'm sure Michael's mom told him if he's got a stallion eatin' oates out his hand, best close the gate before you give her the sugar.
| by Anonymous | reply 106 | February 9, 2019 10:36 PM |
No one's gonna mention Teen Wolf?
| by Anonymous | reply 107 | February 9, 2019 11:25 PM |
My nephew went to see Teen Wolf about 4 times in the theaters. I think he was 7 or 8 years old.
| by Anonymous | reply 109 | February 10, 2019 9:24 PM |
His kids seem normal. Three of them graduated college and one is about to go. I saw a profile not too long ago. He is one of the few 80s stars that truly survived the 80s. Guess he was just a little too old to be preyed upon. I guess Tartikoff and Goldberg were really some of the good guys in Hollywood
| by Anonymous | reply 110 | February 11, 2019 1:30 AM |
His kids are totally normal. The older three are went to college (don’t Know if the oldest one graduated but you never hear about him doing anything crazy). Tartikoff and Goldberg were truly some of the good ones in Hollywood. Not a word about abuse from either of them.
| by Anonymous | reply 111 | February 11, 2019 1:32 AM |
Yeah, making a rapist into a role model just screams "good guy" to me.
| by Anonymous | reply 112 | February 11, 2019 1:33 AM |
Were there not catch phrases in the 80s? Or were the writers too good ? I am pleasantly surprised Alex did not have a catchphrase
| by Anonymous | reply 113 | February 11, 2019 2:23 AM |
That was more of a 1970s thing.
| by Anonymous | reply 114 | February 11, 2019 2:27 AM |
The 1970s did it unironically not knowing how it would affect the careers of those who made them famous.
| by Anonymous | reply 116 | February 11, 2019 2:51 AM |
Totally agree with R103. There was nothing funny or appealing about a child Republican.
| by Anonymous | reply 117 | February 13, 2019 7:56 PM |
