Getting To The Bottom Of The Bottle: 25 Best Bottle Episodes

Photo: NBC

Family Ties – “A, My Name Is Alex”

By far the weirdest ep in the list, “A, My Name Is Alex” is the ultimate in “very special episodes.” When it aired, it got a lot of critical acclaim for Michael J. Fox’s performance and its treatment of grief and loss. In the 30-ish years since it’s aired, it’s since become a bit of a joke, mostly because of it’s silliness and pretension.

“A, My Name Is Alex” is the story of the aftermath of the death of Alex’s “best friend.” I use the quotes because we’ve never seen or heard of this best friend before this episode, and then we were supposed to believe that Alex slid into a grief spiral and existential crisis represented by monologue after monologue delivered on a bare stage to other characters who don’t seem to notice him.

Family Ties doesn’t hold up all that well after some time and distance. By today’s standards, it seems bland, because it is a family drama that is pleasant and shallow, with loveable characters that don’t have punch or bite. But this episode showed a little chutzpah, and you can’t knock it for that. It’s a respectable effort for a show that coasted on the affability of its characters.