Former “Family Ties” actor Scott Valentine expresses guilt over his role in the show

When it debuted in 1982, the tale of two radical parents who had to raise their four children in the Reagan era of America quickly rose to fame. Family Ties is still regarded as a great American television show today.

Steven and Elyse Keaton were hippies in their youth but now have children that are the complete opposite of what they were. Their daughter Mallory is obsessed with fashion, their oldest child Alex is into politics and a Reagan supporter, and Jennifer enjoys learning.

Among others, the show launched the careers of actresses Justine Bateman and Michael J. Fox, making them household names.

 

However, one of the actors admitted he didn’t particularly like the part he played in the show. With Family Ties, Scott Valentine had his breakthrough as Nick, Mallory’s lover, but he admittedly “felt horrible” about getting the part. Many people were interested in the series, but it turned out that Valentine himself wasn’t one of them.

The image of Nick was that of an eccentric young man with a big heart but not the smartest.

Nick was supposed to appear in just one episode, but the audience fell in love with him and he ended up appearing in 45 episodes as “the date that wouldn’t” go.

A spin-off series called The Art of Being Nick, which debuted on NBC as a special on Aug 27, 1987, was made possible by the actor’s popularity as Nick Moore. Sadly, the show never really got going.

Valentine acknowledged that he detested the way Nick was represented as stupid, despite the success he achieved with the program.

It was quite beneficial in terms of exposure. But it was highly damaging in that I made people believe I was the monosyllabic moron I depicted,” he told the Santa Maria Times in 1992.

It was a lot of fun, but he said, “There were occasions when I literally only needed to make two guttural noises in a presentation and they paid me a bundle for it. “I occasionally felt awful.”

Valentine now manages a hedge fund close to his hometown of Saratoga Springs instead of working as an actor. The actor doesn’t have as much affection for Nick as he does for the role he played, despite Nick being a fan favourite.

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Scott Valentine, former ‘Family Ties’ actor, expresses regret about his character in the series