Alex (Micheal J. Fox) gets the whole Scrooge treatment in A Keaton Christmas Carol. Written by Rich Reinhart from a story by Robert Caplain, it first aired on 14 Decemeber, 1983.

Alex is less than thrilled with the arrival of the holiday season while the rest of the Keaton family engages in festive traditions. He doesn’t want to exchange presents, he yells at carollers, and forgets to get cough syrup for Jennifer (Tina Yothers).

On Christmas Eve, Alex heads to bed, but is woken up pretty quickly by the arrival of two ghosts, the Past portrayed by Jennifer, and the Future conjured to existence as Mallory (Justine Bateman). The past conjures up a lot of joy and memories for Alex, and the glimpse of the future is troubling as the family, except for Alex, has fallen on severely hard times taken to an extreme, and Jennifer’s throat is still sore.

And Alex may be very well off, but he’s gotten fat and bald, and it seems like a bit of a precursor to his portrayal in Back to the Future Part II.

It ends up being goofy and silly, and Alex leans into the Christmas Spirit, has a great holiday, and reminds us all that it’s all a state of mind, and joy can be shared. Especially for Christmas. It’s not going to win any Emmys but it is a fun slice of holiday storytelling that lets Fox have a really good time, and everyone gets to add some fun bits, I love future Elyse (Meredith Baxter) clotheslining herself over and over.

Cute and fun.

To Snatch a Keith was written by Alan Unger, and had an original airdate of 21 December, 1983. Steven (Micheal Gross) and Elyse are having a bit of trouble with arguments and need to be reminded to keep their marriage vibrant and fresh.

Richard (James Sutorius) is going through a rough divorce and custody battle over Keith (David Faustino). And now, Keith’s mother is taking him across the country to live in California, Richard is a little upset over the whole thing.

Steven and Elyse try to figure out how to keep their relationship happy and keep the lines of communication open. Juxtaposed with the broken relationship between Richard and Cynthia (Donna McKechnie).

Things escalate when Richard grabs Keith and makes a run for it.

With Richard’s actions both Steven and Elyse realize how fortunate they are. Steven talks with Richard and tries to point out that what he’s doing isn’t what’s right for Keith, but is just making him a casualty in their relationship war Richard and Cynthia are in.

Keith comes back, and Steven and Elyse are able to smooth over their arguments and everything ends for the better. Except maybe for Richard, but divorce can be ugly, and it definitely is in this one.

It’s an interesting story, could have been scripted a little better in that it seemed to want both stories to be the main thread, and consequently, neither of them really plays out as well as it could, but it’s still solid entertainment.

Birthday Boy was written by Micheal J. Weithorn and was first broadcast on 5 January, 1984.

It’s Alex’s 18th birthday, Steven is away in Washington, so Elyse throws an early surprise party, freeing Alex up for his actual birthday, or at least that’s what he thought. Elyse actually had plans for Alex and the girls for dinner. Alex is determined to do his own thing, so he and a couple of pals (including Crispin Glover), decide to head across the state line to West Virginia and the infamous Camelot Inn where they can legally drink.

Elyse forbids it, but Alex does it anyway.

While Alex and his pals attempt to impress some girls by pretending to be air force pilots and are getting ready to attack Canada, Elyse shows up at the bar to bring him home. This causes a huge blowup between the pair and also involves some discussion on responsibility, honesty, communication, understanding and respect.

This ends up being a really fun episode, and watching Fox and Baxter go head to head plays out nicely, both of them are incredibly likable in their roles, and allows the audience to see both sides of the argument, and hopefully generate some healthy conversations.

I love rewatching this series!