Thirtysomething 

Hope and Michael are a married couple in their thirties, living in Philadelphia, and struggling with everyday adult angst. Michael runs an ad agency with his friend Elliot, whose marriage ... See full summary »

Creators:

Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick

Stars:

Timothy Busfield, Polly Draper, Mel Harris

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 26 wins & 63 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Timothy Busfield	...	Elliot Weston 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Polly Draper	...	Ellyn Warren 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Mel Harris	...	Hope Murdoch Steadman 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Peter Horton	...	Gary Shepherd 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Melanie Mayron	...	Melissa Steadman 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Ken Olin	...	Michael Steadman 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Patricia Wettig	...	Nancy Krieger Weston 85 episodes, 1987-1991
Brittany Craven	...	Janey 66 episodes, 1987-1991
Lacey Craven	...	Janey 66 episodes, 1987-1991
Luke Rossi	...	Ethan Weston / ... 41 episodes, 1987-1991

Storyline

Hope and Michael are a married couple in their thirties, living in Philadelphia, and struggling with everyday adult angst. Michael runs an ad agency with his friend Elliot, whose marriage to Nancy is beginning to show the cracks of age, as is the friendship between Hope and her best friend Ellyn. Michael's best friend, Gary, on the other hand, is trying to get on with his womanising life, and get over the mutually-destructive affair he had with Michael's cousin, Melissa. It all sounds like just another soap, but is given a unique atmosphere by the production team (the Bedford Falls company, also responsible for 'My So Called Life') whose intelligent scripts, believable characters and frequent dips into the slightly surreal world of the character's minds places the series as one of the highlights of the late 1980s.

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Plot Keywords:

cult favorite | arizona | best friend | marriage | friendship | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die besten Jahre

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bedford Falls Company, The, MGM Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (85 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Timothy Busfield was actually 29 when he was cast in the pilot. He grew a beard so that he would look old enough to play the part of the thirty-something Elliot.

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Quotes

[Miles shows up, with flowers etc., at Melissa's place, after the night he nearly raped her]
Melissa Steadman: I didn't know there was a Hallmark card for this kind of thing...

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Crazy Credits

Throughout season 1 and season 2 Elliot's and Ellyn's names are spelled incorrectly in the opening credits. Elliot's is spelled with two 't's ("Elliott"), and Ellyn's is spelled with a second 'e' instead of a 'y' ("Ellen"). "Ellyn" is not corrected until the first episode of season 3 (3.1 "Nancy's mom") and "Elliot", not until the fourth episode of season 3 (3.4 "new baby").

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Connections

Referenced in Take Off with T. Bag: Many Happy Returns (1992)

User Reviews

ThirtySomething was a great show

I miss watching this show. It was entertaining and thoughtful in some cases such as when Nancy had cancer. The cast handled divorce, the perils of daily life, issues with kids, love with each other, etc. I think the men seemed to be kind of immature compared to Hope and Nancy, but I loved all the characters regardless of how they acted. I looked forward to my weekly time with them. I was only in my early to late 20's when it was on, but I can say that some of the angst that they went through, I also went through, so in some of the episodes I could relate. I wish it were still on although at this point we would be calling it FiftySomething. LOL!!