Meredith Baxter, best known for her role as Elyse Keaton on 'Family Ties,' revealed yesterday on 'Today' that she's been living as a lesbian for the past seven years.

The 62-year-old, who has been married three times, confessed that she was a bit reluctant to reveal her new sexual identity. "I have to admit to a certain level of anxiety; I'm a very private person," she said. "I've always lived a very private life, and to come out and disclose stuff, it's really antithetical to who I am."

Watch the video after the jump.

Sitcom mother Meredith Baxter is enjoying the most attention she's had in two decades. After reports emerged that Alex P. Keaton's mom enjoys gay cruises, Baxter decided to pull a 'DeGeneres' this morning on 'Today.'

While some '80s TV fans were shocked, vigilant 80-philes already saw it coming. Just like there were hints towards Ellen's sexuality in her sitcom before she came out in 'The Puppy Episode,' there were plenty of signals in 'Family Ties' about Baxter through her character Elyse Keaton. We present five of them -- with tongues planted firmly in cheek, of course.

Meredith Baxter, '80's sitcom star and beloved matriarch of 'Family Ties,' has lived these past few years with a secret.

The National Enquirer and gossip blogger Perez Hilton had reported seeing Baxter on vacation with an alleged lesbian lover. Baxter sat down with Matt Lauer this morning on NBC's 'Today' to finally set the record straight, stating, "I am a lesbian, and it was a later-in-life recognition."

The interview had started off fine until Lauer seemed to almost essentially push her out of the closet. Lauer quipped, "Do you want me to say it? I don't know what the appropriate etiquette is here."

Watch the clip after the jump.

From The Today Show, for the first time in 18 years, the entire cast of Family Ties got together to reminisce and talk about the show. Actually they got together to help series creator Gary David Goldberg plug his new book Sit, Ubu, Sit, a memoir of his life and times. I grew up in the '80s and this show was a huge part of my growing up. My parents were liberal hippies, just like the Keaton parents. And while I had nothing in common with really any of the kids, I found myself drawn into their familial world anyway.

The entire group still looks great, and I wondered if it would be possible to do a Family Ties reunion. The most obvious hurdle would be Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease. Even in this interview, it was difficult to see him struggling with it, so I would imagine it would be nearly impossible for him to hide it.

Brian Bonsall, who played Andrew, the youngest Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties, was arrested in Boulder, Colorado for assaulting his girlfriend. She told police that he threw an alcoholic drink in her face while she was asleep, choked her, and threw her onto a bed. Bonsall says it was all in self-defense, because she cut him with a steak knife.

"Well it's like we've been together, for a million years..."

This isn't the first time Bonsall has been in trouble with the police. In 2001 he was convicted of drunk driving, and in 2004 he was arrested for the same offense.

If you didn't watch Family Ties, Bonsall played Worf's son on Star Trek: The Next Generation and starred in the movie Blank Check.

Can I tell you what kind of a 7 year-old I was? Besides watching cartoons and action shows and The Brady Bunch, in 1972 I also loved a little romantic comedy called Bridget Loves Bernie.

The short-lived Meredith Baxter and David Birney CBS show (yup, they later got married in real life and she became Baxter-Birney) is coming to DVD on September 5. It will be a three DVD set.

It was a rather daring comedy at the time because it was about a Jewish cab driver who falls in love with a Catholic schoolteacher. I don't know if I understood any of that in 1972, but I remember liking this show a lot for some reason, so I think I'm going to get the DVDs.