I agree, that the family on Family Ties is not an accurate portrayal of the american family as we think. An american family can be blood related, extended, or just friends. So when I see the family on Family Ties, is seems to be fiction to me. The house was entirely to clean to have working parents and a small child. If everyone in the family helped out, that house still wouldn't be that clean. The family gets along too well. Even the arguments that they do have, do not seem realistic.