The Art of Being Nick

Nick Moore (Scott Valentine) moves in with his sister Marlene (Kristine Sutherland) and her son in the East Village in NYC. She tries to get him a job at a local bookstore run by snooty Rachel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).

I don't remember seeing this back in 1987. This comes a year before the start of the last season of Family Ties. As a spinoff from that show, this really needs Mallory. It doesn't make sense to have Nick without Mallory. I do understand the fear of splitting up the family but the obvious move is for Mallory to go off to NYC to follow her fashion dreams. In many ways, it should be her show with him tagging along if it's made a year later. As it stands, this is an one-time pilot for a show that never had a chance. They did luck into a couple of great actresses. At the time, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was still a struggling actress 3 years away from Seinfeld. She's great as the sarcastic mean side character. This show has a few funny moments with her looking down at Nick and it has heart with Nick and his nephew. Nick is always great with kids.