Michael J. Fox Was Nearly Fired From ‘Family Ties’ and You’ll Never Believe Why!

Family Ties would have looked a lot different had Michael J. Fox not portrayed Alex P. Keaton. But as it turns out, he nearly lost his job on the popular sitcom.

The show marked Fox’s transition into becoming a household name in the 1980s. It also marked the height of his popularity, launching him into the stratosphere for the next decade. 

While starring as Keaton on NBC’s long-running sitcom, he was almost without a job. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Fox was almost let go from the comedy series when a high-ranking executive complained about his physical appearance.

“I wasn’t the featured character in the pilot, but my stuff all seemed to work,” Fox said of the show’s start. “But when we had a pickup order for the first season, [executive] Brandon Tartikoff wanted to fire me. He said, ‘I love the show, you’ve just got to get rid of the kid. I can’t see that face on a lunchbox.’”

Luckily, NBC chose to ignore Tartikoff’s criticisms, and Fox remained on the show. He later sent a humorous gift to Tartikoff as a nod to his criticism of the actor. 

“Years later, when Back to the Future hit and Family Ties was the number two show on TV, I made Brandon a lunchbox with my picture on it, and I wrote, ‘This is for you to put your crow in. Love, me,’” Fox remembered.

Michael Gross, who starred as the family patriarch on the show, has praised Fox’s performance on the show over the years. “To watch that transformation was incredible, not the least of which because Michael himself was not transformed. Michael knew he was important, he knew that he had struck gold, but nothing changed,” he told ET. “… We were all aware that this was a big deal, but Michael was the same humble, wonderful guy.”