![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(September 2018) |
"A, My Name is Alex" | |
---|---|
Family Ties episodes | |
Episode nos. | Season 5 Episodes 23 & 24 |
Directed by | Will Mackenzie |
Written by | Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger |
Original air date | March 12, 1987 |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
"A, My Name Is Alex" is a two-part hour-long very special episode of the NBC television series Family Ties . The episodes aired on March 12, 1987, as an hour-long episode, with the second half-hour broadcast without commercials.
The episode won numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Humanitas Prize and a Writers Guild of America Award for writing as well as a DGA Award. In 1997, TV Guide named this episode on their list of 100 Greatest Episodes. [1]
While the rest of the Keaton family grieves over the sudden death of Alex's childhood friend Greg McCormick, Alex himself is acting strangely, gradually being overcome by a volatile mixture of emotions that he futilely tries to hide. We learn that Greg was killed in a car crash while running an errand that Alex had declined to help him with.
After Greg's funeral, Alex begins showing symptoms of survivor guilt, admitting to Mallory that, "My life was saved out of smallness, out of lack of generosity to a friend"; he then says that he should have been in the car with Greg, and then angrily asks himself, "Why am I alive??". Steven and Elyse attempt to comfort Alex, and help him deal with his emotion by getting him professional help.
Alex is talking with an unseen therapist, who helps him to confront the issues he must now deal with resulting from Greg's untimely death. Through play-acting, Alex revisits his grade school days and situations with his family and attempts to reassess his own life.
When the therapist asks if he believes in God, Alex's analytical side tells him no, but when he expounds on "miraculous things", "phenomena of nature", Alex tells the therapist that he does indeed believe in God, even though he doesn't understand His logic behind allowing Greg to die. Alex begins to accept Greg's death and realizes that he can keep Greg's memory alive by being more like him.
The staging of the entire second part is similar to the classic American play Our Town .
The episode "My Name Is Alex" originally aired on NBC as a special one part episode and was promoted heavily by the network as "Commercial-free".
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2018) |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2018) |
![]() | This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (September 2018) |
The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 39th Primetime Emmy Awards, a Humanitas Prize for 60 Minute Network or Syndicated Television at the 13th annual ceremony held in 1987 and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay - Episodic Comedy at the 40th annual Writers Guild of America Awards 1987 ceremony held in 1988 for writers Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger. [2] It also won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series at the 40th Directors Guild of America Awards for director Will Mackenzie. [3] It also earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series nomination for Will Mackenzie. In addition it won an Outstanding Technical Direction/Electronic Camerawork/Video Control for a Series Emmy for Parker Roe (technical director), Paul Basta (cameraperson), Tom Dasbach (cameraperson), Richard Price (cameraperson), John Repczynski (cameraperson), and Eric Clay (senior video control).
Family Ties is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. Because of this, Young Republican Alex P. Keaton develops generational strife with his ex-hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton.
Danny Strong is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doyle McMaster in Gilmore Girls and Danny Siegel in Mad Men. He also wrote the screenplays for Recount, the HBO adaptation Game Change, The Butler, and co-wrote the two-part finale of The Hunger Games film trilogy, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Mockingjay – Part 2. Strong also is a co-creator, executive producer, director, and writer for the Fox series Empire and created, wrote and directed the award-winning Hulu miniseries Dopesick.
James Edward Burrows, sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director. Burrows has received numerous accolades including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards. He was honored with the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and NBC special Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows in 2016.
Alexander P. Keaton is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. Family Ties reflected the move in the United States away from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between Young Republican Alex and his hippie parents, Steven and Elyse Keaton.
Matthew Hoffman Weiner is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Mad Men, and as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos.
Steven E. Levitan is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter. He has created many television series such as Just Shoot Me!, Stark Raving Mad, Stacked, Back to You, Modern Family, and Reboot.
Kenneth Levine is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and author. Levine has worked on a number of television series, including M*A*S*H, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker and Dharma and Greg. Along with his writing partner David Isaacs, he created the series Almost Perfect.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" is the tenth episode of Frasier's sixth season. It first aired on NBC in the United States on December 17, 1998. In the episode, Frasier, while shopping for Christmas gifts meets a stylish Jewish woman, Helen Moskowitz, who asks him to take her daughter Faye on a blind date. This leads to a deepening relationship between the two. Helen on Christmas Eve makes a stop by Frasier's apartment, unaware that he is not Jewish and so he and the family must pretend that they are to survive the visit.
Will Mackenzie is an American television director and actor.
"Good-bye" is the twentieth episode of the third season of The Wonder Years and the forty-third episode overall. "Good-bye" aired on April 24, 1990 on the ABC network. The episode revolves around the relationship between Kevin Arnold and his math teacher, Mr. Collins, who pushes him to succeed in math. Kevin becomes antagonistic towards Mr. Collins, only to become regretful when tragedy befalls the teacher.
This is a list of episodes for the fifth season of Everybody Loves Raymond. The season consisted of 25 episodes and aired on CBS from October 2, 2000 to May 21, 2001.
The first season of the American comedy-drama television series Girls premiered on HBO on April 15, 2012, and consisted on 10 episodes, concluding on June 17, 2012. The series was created by Lena Dunham, who portrays the lead character, who based the premise and central aspects of the show on her personal life. It was produced by Apatow Productions, I Am Jenni Konnor Productions and HBO productions.
"Election Night" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series Veep, and the 38th episode overall. "Election Night" aired on June 14, 2015, on HBO. It was written by Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche, and directed by Chris Addison. The episode follows the night of the U.S. Presidential Election, in which President Selina Meyer is running against Senator Bill O'Brien. "Election Night" largely takes place in a hotel suite where Selina and her staff are watching the election returns on cable news. At the end of the episode, Selina and O'Brien are tied for electoral votes.