How Did ‘Family Ties’ End? And Who Cried During the Show’s Final Curtain Call?

NBC’s Family Ties, a show about an ex-hippie couple raising some very ’80s kids, was one of the biggest sitcoms of that decade; it ran from 1982 to 1989 and launched the career of Michael J. Fox, who played the family’s Nixon-loving son, Alex. But while you may remember the show’s big moments (like when Alex gave up his dreams of Princeton, or Mallory tried to elope), you might not recall exactly how the series ended when it aired its final episode 36 years ago today, on May 14, 1989.