Season 3

ep 056. “Help wanted” - December 6, 1984
Written by Michael Weithorn & Ruth Bennett
Directed by Will McKenzie
Guest stars: Geena Davis (Karen Nicholson), Anne Ramsey, Robert Costanzo

Because of Elyse’s pregnancy, the family decides to get a housekeeper, so Alex hires the lovely Karen Nicholson, a totally incompetent young lady whom the family immediately adores but Steven insists she must be fired. Despite the fact that Karen has no domestic skills and is rapidly destroying every appliance in the house, the kids love her and Steven has a difficult time trying to fire her.

ep 058. “Karen II - Alex 0″ - December 13, 1984
Written by Michael Weithorn & Lloyd Garver
Directed by Lee Shallat
Guest stars: Marc Price, Geena Davis (Karen Nicholson), Robert Pine, Rick Gibbs, Christopher Rydell, Barry Sobel

Alex’s chances of acceptance into a smug college fraternity are dependent upon his having a knockout date for the pledge dance and when the girl cancels he pleads with Karen, the housekeeper, to accompany him but his problems are far from resolved when they arrive at the dance. Karen reluctantly agrees to be Alex’s date, but does not tell him why she is so hesitant to go.

The series centered around the Keaton family: Steven and his wife Elyse, both flower children of the 1960’s, and their four children, Alex, Mallory, Jennifer and Andrew. What was unique about Family Ties was that it blended family comedy with politics. The 1960’s flower children, Steven and Elyse clashed with the 1980’s conservative, Alex. The show, in a way, showed the changing values during the Reagan era. Besides political views, Family Ties covered a number of controversial topics ranging from suicide to racism to drug dependency.

Courtesy of tv.com, still photo from the TV-set from The Michael J. Fox database