I have always been of the school that they were twins. I thought that ever since I first saw Back to the Future Part II. My theory was backed up in BTTF Part II's first draft and the Paradox script, both of which saying they're twins. When I first read BTTF fanfics, I was actually quite surprised that some of the writers made Marlene older than Marty Jr. Some had it be one year. One actually had it be three years. Neither of them looked older than the other.

Actually, we're really not supposed to discuss fanfic in this forum, anymore. I really do like the concept of twins - but it's identical twins that I like. The concept of fraternal twins doesn't quite fascinate me as much. I don't think anybody ever made Marlene younger than Marty Jr. I guess she just strikes me as being more mature. Not that it necessarily means anything, but still...

This topic isn't necessarily fanfic. Aren't girls generally more mature than boys?

Did you know that the Olsen twins are actually fraternal twins? It's odd, because they looked exactly alike as kids.

Yeah, I was surprised when I found that out myself - because they both used to play Michelle Tanner on Full House. I guess, for some reason, I just prefer the idea of Marlene and Marty Jr being different ages. If Marty Jr was to have a twin, I'd want it to be an identical twin.

What if Alex P. Keaton had a twin? Then Mallory would go insane and Jennifer would have two ticklish brothers to torture. I wonder if the twin would be a Republican like Alex.

Mary-Kate's left-handed and Ashley's right-handed, which is why Michelle Tanner was ambidextrous on the show.

I have two cousins who are twins. They're both boys, but they're fraternal. I'm glad I don't have a twin. It would suck to have people not be able to tell you apart. I kind of like not having any siblings my age.

Well, it's be kind of hard to say. Actually, it'd be interesting if Alex's twin was a Democrat - and they disagreed on almost everything. Yet, the two of them remained being best friends. I wonder what his name would be. Maybe his name would be Andrew. On the other hand, if they both were Republican - then they'd really drive Mallory and their parents crazy. I suppose it could go either way, really.

Mallory doesn't really care about politics, though, does she?

I don't think she really does. I guess she'd be bored with talk of politics in general.

It's Alex's sexism that drives her crazy, isn't it?

I do get bothered by some of Alex's attitudes towards women. I guess I don't like the idea of someone who looks like Michael J Fox ever being mean. Do you think being anti-ERA necessarily means being anti-women, oir not necessarily? Like, for instance, I can understand about him being concerned about the idea of allowing women in the military - when, I think, is one of the tenets of the ERA - and maybe believes that supporting the ERA could actually be harmful to women. I'm sure he doesn't support the idea of women-beating, though.

I know this maybe seems like I'm making excuses for Alex P Keaton, simply because he's played by Michael J Fox - and I have to admit I may not be as forgiving of some of his attitudes, had he been played by someone else. The bottom line is, though, there are a lot of times when Alex has shown his tenderness - so he's not a complete jerk. Of course, there's also his friendship with Skippy.

I think Alex P. Keaton's liberal twin would even drive their parents crazy, because he would actually be even more liberal than them.

That could be possible, but is Alex actually more conservative than his parents are liberal?

By the way, what do you think are some of Alex's most tender/compassionate/generous moments? Any that are because of (not in spite of) Alex's conservative idealogy?

I personally think that Marty Jr. and Marlene are twins since they seem to be the same age (as they are played by the same person!) and because of the scripts that needles1987 mentioned.