Season 4 (1985/86)
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 1 | "The Real Thing, Part 1" | Will Mackenzie | Michael J. Weithorn | September 26, 1985 (1985-09-26) | 074 |
| Alex becomes attracted to Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan), a college freshman, while trying to pursue another girl. It turns out the attraction is mutual, but their relationship is complicated by Ellen's engagement to another student. | ||||||
| 69 | 2 | "The Real Thing, Part 2" | Will Mackenzie | Michael J. Weithorn | October 3, 1985 (1985-10-03) | 075 |
| As Ellen prepares to leave town to marry her fiance, Dennis, both she and Alex must decide whether or not they really care about each other. | ||||||
| 70 | 3 | "Mr. Wrong" | Will Mackenzie | Alan Uger | October 17, 1985 (1985-10-17) | 073 |
| Mallory brings home her new boyfriend, Nick Moore (Scott Valentine), who looks to be exactly the type of guy Steven and Elyse hoped their daughter wouldn't get involved with. | ||||||
| 71 | 4 | "Designated Hitter" | John Pasquin | Stephen J. Curwick | October 24, 1985 (1985-10-24) | 070 |
| Jennifer defends her boyfriend from the attacks of a bully, with complications. Alex is devastated when Mallory scores higher than him on an IQ test. | ||||||
| 72 | 5 | "Don't Go Changin'" | Asaad Kelada | Marc Lawrence | October 31, 1985 (1985-10-31) | 079 |
| Alex changes his personality to impress Ellen's artsy friends. As a subplot, Steven balks at having to go to Elyse's book club meetings during football games. | ||||||
| 73 | 6 | "The Old College Try" | Barbara Schultz | Ruth Bennett | November 7, 1985 (1985-11-07) | 076 |
| Mallory upsets Elyse when Mallory announces she is not going to college. | ||||||
| 74 | 7 | "My Tutor" | Sam Weisman | Jace Richdale | November 14, 1985 (1985-11-14) | 080 |
| To help him with math, Alex hires a tutor who he later learns is a fourteen-year old named Eugene (River Phoenix). Eugene then falls for the younger Jennifer. However, he soon realizes it's a mistake when Jennifer acts her age and embarrasses him at a party. In a subplot, Steven tirelessly works on the family budget. | ||||||
| 75 | 8 | "Mr. Right" | Sam Weisman | Alan Uger | November 21, 1985 (1985-11-21) | 081 |
| Nick decides that he wants to impress Steven and Elyse and enlists the help of Alex, who turns Nick into a clone of himself. | ||||||
| 76 | 9 | "Just One Look" | Andrew McCullough | Story: Gary David Goldberg & Michael J. Weithorn Teleplay: Paul Wolff |
December 5, 1985 (1985-12-05) | 082 |
| Steven's old college buddy Richard Schofield (Robert Desiderio) comes to town. Steven then learns that Elyse and Richard were previously in a relationship, which sends him into a jealous rage. | ||||||
| 77 | 10 | "How Do You Sleep?" | John Pasquin | Marc Lawrence | December 12, 1985 (1985-12-12) | 083 |
| Alex has trouble sleeping, and his problems affect the whole family, much to their displeasure. | ||||||
| 78 | 11 | "You've Got a Friend" | John Pasquin | Ruth Bennett | December 19, 1985 (1985-12-19) | 085 |
| Alex and Mallory catch a young girl, Jessie (Martha Plimpton), stealing from the store where Mallory works, but instead of turning her in, Mallory decides to help the girl and befriend her. However, Jessie may not be ready to accept Mallory's offer. | ||||||
| 79 | 12 | "Nothing But a Man" | Will Mackenzie | Teleplay: Jean Kraynak Brinck Story: Jurgen M. Wolf |
January 2, 1986 (1986-01-02) | 086 |
| Steven gets a long awaited promotion at the TV station, but his long work hours cause him to miss dinners (and just about everything else) with the family, even private time with Elyse. Meanwhile, Alex is dismayed when the only toy Andy will play with is a doll Ellen gave him. | ||||||
| 80 | 13 | "The Disciple" | Will Mackenzie | Rich Reinhart | January 9, 1986 (1986-01-09) | 089 |
| Alex helps Jennifer with her speech project, but Alex's intellect takes over the whole assignment, so that Jennifer's school is very impressed with the finished project but Jennifer does not understand a word of it herself. | ||||||
| 81 | 14 | "Where's Poppa" | Will Mackenzie | Susan Borowitz & Marc Lawrence | January 16, 1986 (1986-01-16) | 090 |
| Alex sets up a reunion with Ellen and her father, Franklin (Ronny Cox), who was absent for most of Ellen's childhood. | ||||||
| 82 | 15 | "Fool for Love" | Lee Shallat-Chemel | Marc Lawrence | January 23, 1986 (1986-01-23) | 091 |
| Skippy refuses to let go of feelings for Mallory, despite her dating Nick. | ||||||
| 83 | 16 | "Checkmate" | Sam Weisman | Michael J. Weithorn | January 30, 1986 (1986-01-30) | 092 |
| Alex is competing in the chess match finals against a top Chess playing Russian, but things start to go awry when Alex works out that the chess player is attempting to throw the match. | ||||||
| 84 | 17 | "Engine Trouble" | John Pasquin | Ruth Bennett | February 6, 1986 (1986-02-06) | 093 |
| When Alex and Elyse have to walk home after the car breaks down, they decide they should take a class in mechanics, but Alex soon turns it into a battle of the sexes. Meanwhile, Steven continuously denies that he is ill, although it clearly shows. | ||||||
| 85 | 18 | "A Word to the Wise (1 Hour)" | Will Mackenzie | Susan Borowitz & Marc Lawrence | February 13, 1986 (1986-02-13) | 087/088 |
| The Keatons reminisce in flashbacks to Ellen about Alex's previous shenanigans and faux-pas, although Alex becomes concerned Ellen won't want to see him anymore. | ||||||
| 86 | 19 | "Art Lover" | Andrew McCullough | Bruce Helford | February 20, 1986 (1986-02-20) | 094 |
| Mallory becomes suspicious when a wealthy and beautiful older woman takes a special interest in Nick's artistic creations. | ||||||
| 87 | 20 | "Teacher's Pet" | John Pasquin | Marc Lawrence | March 2, 1986 (1986-03-02) | 095 |
| Alex gets a position as an assistant professor at the college and convinces Ellen to enroll in the class that he is teaching. | ||||||
| 88 | 21 | "My Buddy" | Sam Weisman | Alan Uger | March 6, 1986 (1986-03-06) | 096 |
| Steven has to learn to accept that Jennifer is growing up. The only way he can get any time with her is to take her to her Sunflower Girls meeting, where he sticks out like a sore thumb. Meanwhile, Alex goes out early on a Saturday to fight a traffic ticket he feels he didn't deserve. | ||||||
| 89 | 22 | "Once in Love with Elyse" | Sam Weisman | Michael J. Weithorn | May 1, 1986 (1986-05-01) | 097 |
| Elyse must deal with Paul (Peter Scolari), a young architect associate who has fallen in love with her. | ||||||
| 90 | 23 | "Paper Chase" | Sam Weisman | Susan Borowitz | May 8, 1986 (1986-05-08) | 098 |
|
Mallory faces the possibility of not graduating high school unless she passes a tough final exam. Note: This was the last episode featuring Tracy Pollan as Ellen Reed, although she will appear in the Season 5 2-part episode "It's My Party", which was originally produced for Season 4. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Family Ties Episodes
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