Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton

'People who have money don't need people.'

Alex P. Keaton

Alex wasn't my favorite character on Family Ties, I actually preferred the stories with Mallory.  I liked Michael J. Fox, but always felt Alex was pushed front and center at the expense of the rest of the cast.  I did however, grow up on Michael J. Fox movies.  Since I was a little kid, Fox's movies were often ones my parents took as us to.  Although The Back to the Future franchise were Fox's biggest hits, I liked some of his smaller films like Teen Wolf and especially Doc Hollywood.

'During the casting process of Family Ties, Brandon Tartikoff was unexcited about Michael J. Fox for the role of Alex P. Keaton. However, the show's producer, Gary David Goldberg, insisted until Tartikoff relented saying, "Go ahead if you insist. But I'm telling you, this is not the kind of face you'll ever see on a lunch box." Some years later, after the movie Back to the Future cemented Fox's stardom, Fox goodnaturedly sent Tartikoff a lunch box with Fox's picture on it, with a handwritten note reading: "Brandon, They wanted me to put a crow in here, but... Love and Kisses, Michael J." Tartikoff kept the lunch box on display in his office.'

Wikipedia

The Secret Of My Success (1987)

Who else remembers being annoyed at this scene from 1987's The Secret of My Success?  The scene was so frustrating, not because Fox didn't actually get naked, but because the director teased a nude scene with Fox's character having his swim suit yanked off in the pool.  Then, we saw Fox wearing a flesh colored pair of briefs underneath which they didn't even bother to attempt to hide in any way.  Since Fox showed his butt a few years later, I always wondered if there was a choice not to show too much skin in movies while Fox was still playing Alex on Family Ties.

A peek of cheek in Back To The Future Part 111 (1990)

Greedy (1994)

There were no flesh colored undies worn in 1994's Greedy, the only undies were Fox's grey briefs in this scene.  When they came off, there was nothing underneath, and we got a good close-up of Fox's cute rump.  I initially thought it may have been a body double, given what happened earlier, but there are several shots of Fox's face so that we know what we're seeing is all him.