“The things that held us together were more important than what drove us apart”

For 7 seasons in the 1980s Michael Gross played patriarch Steven Keaton on US sitcom Family Ties, a hit series that would deliver him global fame and lifelong friendships.

On the day that we speak to discuss his upcoming Lifetime movie Becoming Santa -in which he reunites with former co-star Meredith Baxter-Birney- the US Presidential election had just been held and an outcome was not clear.

While Family Ties famously contrasted liberalism of the ’60s with the conservatism of the greedy ’80s, in 2020 Gross was still holding fast to ideals of a better world.

“I hope that we have somebody who is more of a peacemaker as opposed to a rabble rouser,” he told TV Tonight.

“We’re looking for someone to not fan the flames but to douse them and I think Joseph Biden might do that.

“What I’ve learned these past four years is how politicians can be very dangerous at fanning the flames and we’ve seen this in the past in other countries. I think of Bosnia and Serbia 20 years ago. People generally want to live together in peace and politicians can be god awful people sometimes in their need to stay on top.”

Family Ties made a superstar of its charming teen Michael J. Fox who was the antithesis of his ageing flower-power parents. Yet through the great divide, Gross believes the show’s heart underpinned its success.

“We had, in some ways, a very divisive family because we had the very liberal parents and children of the 60s, anti-Vietnam war children, Peace Corps volunteers who had served in other countries. I had high ideals about saving the world, saving the planet and all that sort of thing.

“The things that held us together were far more important than the things that drove us apart”

“And yet here we’ve spawned this young man who wants to conquer Wall Street and be the richest man in the world. He’s an arch-conservative. So there were great differences but always handled with care and love -and unlike today’s modern political climate we can have these vast differences. The things that held us together were far more important than the things that drove us apart.

“The wonderful thing about the character of Alex being played so wonderfully by Michael J. Fox was the fact that time and again, he would struggle with his heart, and his mind -and his heart would usually win. He’d have the most ambitious ideas to make money and they’d always be set aside at the end of the episode because he found them incompatible with his heart.

“It was about reconciliation, about finding common ground. That was at the heart of the wonderful writing, and the well-rounded cast that it was.”

Family Ties ran for 7 seasons, with guest stars including River Phoenix, Tom Hanks, Geena Davis -and very nearly President Ronald Reagan.

“Reagan was elected in 1980 and we came along in 1982. Funnily this was one of his favourite television shows and we came very close to having him do a guest appearance on the show, which of course, would have been amazing,” he continued.

“It just seemed so outrageous that the President of the United States would actually be in our house”

“Our producer told us this long after it happened, it came close, but it did not happen. Frankly, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it personally, because we played an average American family in the state of Ohio, and it just seemed so outrageous that the President of the United States would actually be in our house.

“Whenever a show brings in a huge guest star, it means the show is in trouble.”

The show ended in 1989 after writers decided they had exhausted storylines.

“They said, ‘Here we have this young man Alex, who wants to conquer the world… we took him through high school, university, graduate school and there’s no good reason he’s still living with mommy and daddy.”

But for Gross, his friendship with on-screen wife Meredith Baxter-Birney endured. Their 2015 film Becoming Santa reunites them as Nick & Jessica Claus, North Pole parents to Holly (Laura Bell Bundy) who brings boyfriend Connor (Jesse Hutch) home for the holidays.

“When somebody asked me to play Santa, I thought ‘This has got to be a mistake!'” he laughed.

“I’m Santa’s tallest, rangiest elf. I’m six foot three and hardly plump and not what you think of as typically jolly. But once I got the padding on and the suit and this gorgeous, expensive, wig, beard and moustache made out of beautiful snow white yak hair, I looked in the mirror and I said, ‘I’m going to have a good time.'”

Both Gross and Baxter-Birney share the same birthday and still perform together on screen and on stage. Becoming Santa is the second time they have played the Kringles -although the film is unrelated to 2012’s Naughty or Nice.

“Yes we’ve appeared in these two Christmas films together -as man and wife- I wonder how they thought of that!

“I adore Meredith. We have such a good time together”

“But I’m glad they chose us because of course, I adore Meredith. We have such a good time together whenever we work together.

“She’s such a dear we just have so much in common. It’s like two old vaudevillians getting together. We know each other’s lines and know each other’s comic timing and, and feel so comfortable together.

“It was probably my most favourite Christmas film I’ve ever done.”

Becoming Santa airs Tuesday December 15 at 8.30pm on Lifetime Movie Networks on Foxtel.