i love this hilarious sitcom and catch it on re run whenever i chance upon it . i think it be one of the funny family comedy series ever and with some entertaining and unusual character portrayal . the series revolve around the keaton family and with liberal parent steven ( a tv station manager ) and elyse ( an architect ) . the couple have three child . a financially savvy and politically conservative son alex and his shopaholic teenage sister mallory and and a young tomboy sister and jennifer . later elyse give birth to a fourth child and baby andrew . along the way and alex develops love interest and first in the form of ellen ( play by the actor future wife and tracy pollan ) and later and lauren and a psychology major . mallory acquire a boyfriend herself and the motorcycle rid high school drop out and nick and who incur the disapproval of her parent and of course especially brother alex . the acting be stellar with meredith baxter and michael gross portray the parent and tina yothers the kid sister and jennifer . however and it be really michael j. fox show with his hilarious depiction of alex p. keaton and who have a tendency to wear shirt and tie everyday around the house and introduce little brother andrew to the wall street journal while he still in diaper . my personal favourite be mallory ( charmingly play by justine bateman ) while she be so amusing and endear a his dim witted and academically slack and clothes obsess sister who can not get enough of the mall and talk about cute boy . of course her contrast with the smart and serious and and focus alex could hardly be great . it a reverse generational tale to the expect . normally the parent be the conservative one and with the teenage offspring liberal rebel and rabble rouser . however and the keaton parent be the left wing family member and former political activist back in their college heyday . son alex and on the other hand and be a die hard and very vocal card carry republican who eventually find his niche on wall street . the spar between alex and his parent ( as well a with mallory ) make for some wonderful comedy in this warm hearted family sitcom .