Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg dies

Gary David Goldberg, creator of classic TV series Family Ties, has died at the age of 68. The TV boss passed away at his home in California on Sunday (23Jun13) after a battle with brain cancer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He helped launch Michael J. Fox’s career in the 1980s with Family Ties, which won Goldberg an Emmy Award for outstanding writing in 1987.
The sitcom, which ran from 1982 to 1989, starred Fox as the young Republican son of two liberal ex-hippies, a concept Goldberg once admitted was inspired by his own relationship with his daughter Shana.
Goldberg went on to co-create Spin City, which also featured Fox, and he picked up a second Emmy in 1979 for his TV drama Lou Grant.
During his career, Goldberg wrote episodes of M*A*S*H and The Bob Newhart Show, and he stepped behind the camera to direct Jack Lemmon in 1989 comedy movie Dad as well as John Cusack in 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs.
He is survived by his daughter Shana Goldberg-Meehan, a TV writer who was an executive producer on hit sitcom Friends and its spinoff Joey.