SHORT TAKES : Movie Turns Wimp into Survivor

Actor Michael Gross, best-known as the mild, sometimes wimpy TV dad on “Family Ties,” said his role as a survivalist in the new science fiction movie “Tremors” got him thinking.

Gross created an image as the mild, sometimes wimpy, perfect TV dad for seven years on “Family Ties.” Monsters and gun-toting survivalists seem incongruous with Gross’ Steven Keaton.

“I became a survivalist,” Gross said of playing Burt Gummer in the movie about a terrorizing monster living underground.

“I could take you on a tour, in this house, of my earthquake supplies, the two big fire extinguishers I have . . . and we were just out in the back yard, where I have my drinking water supplies, two big drums full of drinking water, in case there’s an earthquake and the water mains break.

“I did this since I played Burt. I went to a survivalist bookstore . . . and bought some bumper stickers that I thought would be perfect for Burt. You know, things like ‘Don’t Forget Our MIA’s’ and ‘America Is Worth Fighting For,’ things like that, which wound up in the movie on the bumper of my car.”

Playing Burt got Gross thinking, “My God, these people are right. If there is a catastrophe, why should I depend on my government services to take care of me?”