Season Six gets underway with an hour-long opener that first aired on 13 September, 1987 and was written by Marc Lawrence. Everyone is headed to school, little Andy (Brian Bonsall) is off to kindergarten, Jennifer (Tina Yothers) continues her high school, and Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Alex (Micheal J. Fox) continue their college studies.

As the new school year begins Alex is asked to take part in a psychology study to develop a psychological profile on him as an overachiever. He meets a student he hasn’t encountered before, and one that is going to be Alex’s new romantic interest in the series. Say hello to Lauren played by Courtney Cox.

There’s a fun sequence involving a polygraph, and you can see that the two characters are starting to really click with one another. But when Alex initially asks her out, Lauren declines, despite some apparent desire to say yes.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t going to continue working together. In fact, Lauren wants to chat with the entire family and comes over to meet them all to talk about Alex.

When the episode is broken up into two parts, the break probably comes right around the point when Lauren asks about Ellen (Tracy Pollan) and their break-up. The pair continue their exchange of information, getting to know one another, and you can see something developing and the fact that the episode doesn’t rush it, that it takes its time, makes it really enjoyable, and lets the audience allow Lauren into their heart just as Alex does.

Lauren works to deny the attraction between the two of them after they share a pair of passionate kisses. She wants to complete the profile, but will both of them succumb to their feelings for one another?

They have a fun and interesting byplay, but you can see that they care for one another as they dance around the subject. The pair fight and clash, bicker and snipe, as they try to protect their feelings while trying to let the other know that they like one another.

It’s a really nice season opener, lets Fox shine, and introduces Lauren to the series.

Dear Mallory was written by Alan Uger and first aired on 20 September, 1987.

Mallory gets a job writing an advice column, but makes the mistake of putting her address and phone number. Consequently when the first issue comes out, she and the family receive a deluge of calls and visits from people looking for advice from ‘Dear Mallory.’

Mallory is confident and loving her work, but when people start to intrude on her family and her personal life, Dear Mallory may have problems of her own. She’s good at what she does, but it’s intruding too much on the family.

And what happens if the advice she gives someone backfires? What happens when someone holds her responsible for the advice she gives? Mallory realizes her heart is in the right place, she’s compassionate and warm, but has to realize she may not know everything, and she also has to insulate herself from the public. It’s cute and fun, and hey, there’s Nick (Scott Valentine!) and Skippy (Marc Price!).