Family Ties/Say Uncle

Say Uncle
Season 2, Episode 14
Airdate	January 26, 1984
Written by	Ruth Bennett
Directed by	Will Mackenzie
Stream
← 2x13 M Is for the Many Things	2x15 → Ladies' Man
Family Ties — Season Two

This article about an episode needs to be expanded with more information. Please help out by editing it.

Say Uncle is the fourteenth episode of the second season of Family Ties, and the thirty-sixth episode overall.

The episode marks the return of Elyse's brother, Ned Donnelly, who has been unable to find or maintain steady employment since being let go from Syntram Corporation (in the wake of a dispute over the legality of a planned merger with a larger company, which would have meant nearly 2,000 people losing their jobs). He comes to Columbus upon learning from Steven of a job offer at WKS-TV ... but there is one huge fly in the ointment: Ned has become an alcoholic and unable to control his consumption. How will his alcoholism affect his relationships with the family, and his future?

Starring: Meredith Baxter Birney (Elyse Keaton), Michael Gross (Steven Keaton), Michael J. Fox (Alex P. Keaton), Justine Bateman (Mallory Keaton), Tina Yothers (Jennifer Keaton)

Special Guest Star Appearance by: Tom Hanks (Ned Donnelly)

Guest Starring: Ben Piazza (Mr. Wertz)

Plot Overview

Uncle Ned arrives at the Keatons and is welcomed with open arms. As the the family and Ned catch up on old times, Steven reminds him that there's a very lucrative job opening at WKS: That of a financial analyst for one of the PBS affiliate's local newscasts, which is the top-ranked newscast in Columbus! Ned is very excited about the offer and wants to celebrate ... with beer.

His beer consumption on a family game night is very high and Ned gets drunk, but it's nothing Steven, Elyse and even Alex haven't seen before. They know he sometimes gets carried away, but no big deal, right?

If only they knew.

The night before the interview, Alex is up late studying for an important economics exam and goes to the kitchen to make himself a snack. Unknown to him, Ned has been sitting at the kitchen table most of the night, unable to sleep and drinking a bottle of pure vodka and appearing to wallow in his sorrows. After startling Alex, Ned offers to take him on a late-night beer run (all the stores are closed) before raiding the pantry in a desperate attempt to consume anything with alcohol ... only to find vanilla extract and maraschino cherries. When Alex (politely) declines Ned's offer to help on the economics exam, Ned grows hostile, going on a rant about he thinks Alex doesn't think he has it anymore and screams at him for all his failures.

The morning of the interview, Ned has sobered up to a point where Elyse doesn't notice anything amiss. After Ned leaves the room to get ready for the interview, Alex discloses to Elyse about what happened overnight and that he was concerned about Ned and that he might have a drinking problem. Elyse, however, brushes off the concern, and so does Steven, although Elyse's eyebrows are raised when she sees Ned pour some vodka in his orange juice at breakfast.

At the station, Ned arrives completely drunk, and makes a fool out of himself in the interview with Steven and Steven's boss, Mr. Wertz. Wertz has enough and terminates the interview, telling Ned to leave. After Ned tries to leave the interview and turn the ending into him acing the interview and he would "let him know" in a few days, he leaves the station, leaving an embarrassed Steven and angry Mr. Wertz behind.

At home, Ned acts as though nothing was wrong, before Steven comes home and tries to make his brother-in-law realize what he had done. Ned then lapses into a rant about how he never had a realistic chance at getting the job (which Steven said was not true; in fact, it is implied Ned was going to get the job ... until he blew it) and that he no longer matters and will never be able to be the man he once was. Steven then gives Ned the sober dose of reality: He is an alcoholic, he has an illness and it will kill him if he doesn't get help. Ned continues to ramble on about how he is a loser and a washed-up has-been, a speech which Steven calls pathetic and completely disagrees with. Elyse tries to convince Ned to call Alcoholics Anonymous to gt help, but Ned stubbornly believes he is the victim of everyone's high horse accomplishments. Alex then makes a last-ditch effort to reassure Ned that he can become an important name in the financial world, revealing that he has saved newspaper clippings of his past accomplishments and that he uses those for inspirations at his own low points. Ned grabs the clippings, thinking them to be nothing but self-serving rubbish, and throws them in the fireplace. Alex tries to stop him ...

... until Ned shouts at him to "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!" ... and as he's doing that, slaps him so hard Alex flies halfway across the room, nearly hitting his head on the arm of the sofa but landing safely (after bouncing off the sofa cushions).

Ned, surprisingly, is shocked at what he just did ... but Steven (not surprisingly) is about as angry as he's ever been, screaming at seemingly beyond the top of his lungs, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???!!!!!????" Ned breaks down in tears and tries to apologize, but Steven has reached the end of his patience, giving Ned two choices in steely measured words: "Either you get help right now, or you get the hell out of my house."

Ned chooses the former, and calls Alcoholics Anonymous.

Trivia

The Show

• This would be the last appearance of the character Ned Donnelly, leading to fan speculation as to his future and why Ned never returned for a future episode, or was even referred to again. (Part of the reason Ned never returned was that Tom Hanks' star power was beginning to rise exponentially and thus becoming less available, and the producers decided not to re-cast the role.) Some fans suggest that Ned got help, was able to quit drinking and became able to somewhat resume a normal life, getting a steady job and reconcile with his family. Others believe that Ned either relapsed or never followed through with getting help, burned all his bridges and died a homeless, unemployed drunk after hitting rock bottom and wallowing in his misery.