The BEST episodes written by Alan Uger

#1 - “A”, My Name is Alex (2)

Family Ties - Season 5 - Episode 24

#2 - Mr. Wrong

Family Ties - Season 4 - Episode 3

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.

#3 - Super Mom

Family Ties - Season 6 - Episode 6

As Elyse wraps up a major project for her firm, she realizes that her busy architectural career is causing her to neglect her family, especially Andy. Although Elyse feels terrible about not devoting more time with Steven and the kids, she doesn't want to give up her rewarding position at the firm. Just when she expects a breather, Elyse's boss dumps a prestigious project into her lap. Inspired by the challenge, she accepts the enormous job, despite initial misgivings. Later that afternoon, when a teacher calls to tell Elyse that no one has come to pick Andy up from school, "Super Mom" begins to feel like a failure, unable to juggle her private and professional demands.

#4 - “A”, My Name is Alex (1)

Family Ties - Season 5 - Episode 23

When Alex's friend Greg dies in a car accident, Alex is thrown into a state of shock and begins to seriously question the meaning and purpose of his own life. Having been asked to accompany his friend on the fatal trip and refusing because it wasn't convenient, he is overcome by guilt. He tries to fathom why he was spared in the face of such selfishness, and begins to have encounters with Greg's ghost. His family urges him to get help. Alex seeks the counsel of a monk, Father Timothy, about changing his life, but ultimately decides against joining the order because of the chastity vow, Still hallucinating and tortured, Alex agrees to see a psychiatrist. In trying to come to terms with Greg's death, he talks about his life-long love of money and experiences flashbacks which reveal periods of his "selfish" past. During these flashbacks, Alex asks the various members of his family how they feel about their lives and about death, and comes to a new appreciation of them as individuals.

#5 - 4 Rms Ocn Vu

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 8

While Steven and Elyse are away on vacation, the Keaton house becomes a hotel for the weekend after Mallory accidentally crashes her parents' car into a telephone pole and the kids need to raise money for auto repairs. A lot of people are in town for the Leland homecoming game, so Alex decides to take advantage of the situation and rent out rooms but suddenly he's swamped with renters and the house looks like a three-ring circus.

#6 - Birth of a Keaton (2)

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 18

Still trapped at the television station, Elyse realizes she cannot make it thru the snowstorm to the hospital and prepares to gibe birth in Steven's office. Meanwhile, stuck at home by the same storm, Steven enlists the help of Bud the plumber and his truck, and heads for the hospital, thinking Elyse will be there. Elyse makes a plea on camera to Steven, wherever he is, to come to the station, so Steven, the doctor, the plumber and Skippy all frantically head for WKS, hoping they arrive in time for the birth.

#7 - Best Man

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 9

When his best friend, Doug, meets and falls in love with Eleanor, and decides to marry her, Alex resents the fact that someone has come between their friendship and refuses to be in the wedding. Alex cannot accept the fact that he and everyone around him are growing up, and desperately clings to his old ways.

#8 - A Tale of Two Cities (1)

Family Ties - Season 5 - Episode 17

The Keaton's are a house divided over a "major" domestic issue whether to redecorate their old-fashioned, but cozy kitchen. Elyse, Mallory and Jennifer think the time has come to leave the familiar behind and opt for a new, more modern look. Steven loves the kitchen's history, and doesn't want to change a tile. Alex only half-heartedly joins the fray. His thoughts are elsewhere, in Chicago to be exact. His employer, Leland Trust, is sending two representatives to the 15th Annual Midwest Banking and Financial Planning Seminar, and Alex is already packing his bags. But he's in for a rude awakening when his boss, Rebecca Ryan, chooses the shy and retiring Matthews over Alex to accompany her to the conference. When Matthews becomes ill, however, Alex is pressed into action. This could turn out to be the professional highlight of his young career. It could also turn out to be the end of his brief career, as he is obliged to "room" with his boss for the duration of the conference.

#9 - Starting Over

Family Ties - Season 5 - Episode 2

Distraught that his girlfriend Ellen has gone to Paris on a dance scholarship, Alex desperately tries to find someone to take her place, but finally realizes that falling in love again will take time. Alex mopes around the Keaton house pining for Ellen until Sharon, a pretty waitress, attracts his attention. Once on a date with her however, Alex tries to transform her into another Ellen, with disastrous results.

#10 - A Tale of Two Cities (2)

Family Ties - Season 5 - Episode 18

While Steven tackles the job of re-wallpapering the Keaton kitchen singlehandedly, Alex is in Chicago with his boss, Rebecca Ryan, attending an important banking conference. Forced to share a tiny room due to a shortage of hotel space, the two spend an awkward and uncomfortable nite together, with Alex relegated to sleeping in the closet. Getting ready for the conference, Rebecca becomes more and more nervous as she prepares to meet the Federated Bank President Charles Okun, Jr. to try and facilitate a merger between his bank and Leland Trust. Unfortunately, the champagne flows at the banquet and Rebecca proceeds to get thoroughly drunk. To Alex's surprise, she ends up insulting Okun and his young wife, totally blowing any prospects of a merger. Most embarrassing of all, Rebecca ends up making a pass at Alex.

#11 - The Gambler

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 1

Elyse is stricken with gambling fever on a business trip to Atlantic City, and while on a roll with Alex's "foolproof" blackjack system, she's oblivious to her family and job. Excited at the prospect of having his system put to the test, Alex urges his folks to "go for the gold", but Elyse insists her trip is strictly business. Finally, she's persuaded to try her hand at blackjack. Swept away on a seemingly endless winning streak, Elyse doesn't show up at the architects' convention, ignores her family's needs and casts all financial caution to the wind.

#12 - Ladies' Man

Family Ties - Season 2 - Episode 15

Alex pretends to support the Equal Rights Amendment to impress a pretty feminist and winds up behind bars after championing the cause at a debate that turns into a riot. To get a date with Deena Marx, the conservative Alex starts spouting feminist rhetoric. While it's all a sham, he gets in over his head when he accompanies Deena to a debate, stands up for a feminist being heckled and is carted off to jail following a near riot. He's a hero to the women in his cell, but when he's asked to be the keynote speaker at an ERA rally, he realizes the charade has gone too far.

#13 - Here We Go Again

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 2

The news that their mother is pregnant sends the three Keaton kids into an angry outburst resulting in a family battle. The children react with panic and outrage at the though of having a baby around, and the Keaton household is in turmoil while Elyse tries to make them see the brighter side of the situation.

#14 - Lady Sings the Blues

Family Ties - Season 2 - Episode 18

Excited at the prospect of reviving her folk-singing career at a local niteclub, Elyse faces the skepticism of Alex and Mallory and an audience unattuned to the songs of the sixties. Though Elyse hasn't performed on stage since college days, friend's of the Keaton's are impressed when she pulls out the old guitar and sings such folk classics as "Turn, Turn, Turn", "The Times They Are A'changin'" and "If I Had a Hammer". They encourage her to audition at a small neighborhood club, and Elyse joins the Top Spot's slate of performers to eye opening results.

#15 - Baby Boy Doe

Family Ties - Season 2 - Episode 19

When Alex's pal Skippy discovers he's adopted, Alex helps him cope with the shocking news and accompanies the nervous teenager on a memorable meeting with his real mother.

#16 - Oh Donna

Family Ties - Season 3 - Episode 14

Alex becomes involved with Donna, a young, unwed expectant mother from Elyse's natural-childbirth class but his interest in her becomes an obsession when he starts planning for her child's future and acting as if they were a real family. Donna is flattered by Alex's concern for her and her unborn baby, but soon begins to realize that he is becoming a little bit too helpful.