This Day in TV History: Family Ties premieres on NBC

40 years ago tonight, NBC premiered the new sitcom Family Ties. It seems odd now that it aired at 9:30 in between an extended Real People and a rerun of Quincy. For one thing, it's hard to think of it as other than an 8:00 or 8:30 program, and for another, we associate it more with the comeback years of NBC than this Real People period.

The show went on to be a big part of NBC's rise in the Eighties, though it can be argued it rode the coattails of a certain other family sitcom (O-be-kay-be!) that debuted a little later. Still, Ties lasted 7 seasons and over 175 episodes, launching Michael J. Fox into stardom and becoming an essential part of 1980s pop culture. 

We talked about Family Ties back in our first season!