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.Written by
Spiral Lobster <discordia@tanagra.demon.co.uk>
Thirtysomething placed the number 19 spot on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002. See more »
Quotes
Ellyn Warren:
I mean, Michael's cute and all, but how much fun can it be sitting at home watching him sulk night after night?
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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"). See more »
Finest ensemble drama series I have ever seen. It's 13 years since it finished yet it's still keenly missed by it's many devotees. Ths is made worse because it's not available on video or DVD, unlike other series' made by it's creators.
It suffered from the label of being 'yuppie' & 'whiney', probably because the first series took a little time to settle into a rhythm. Yet it was anything but, being both serious and funny about the issues which affect everyone. Yet it never descended into a soap opera and the acting, writing and staging was of a consistently high standard. It's a pity that it ended so suddenly, without a real resolution.
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Finest ensemble drama series I have ever seen. It's 13 years since it finished yet it's still keenly missed by it's many devotees. Ths is made worse because it's not available on video or DVD, unlike other series' made by it's creators.
It suffered from the label of being 'yuppie' & 'whiney', probably because the first series took a little time to settle into a rhythm. Yet it was anything but, being both serious and funny about the issues which affect everyone. Yet it never descended into a soap opera and the acting, writing and staging was of a consistently high standard. It's a pity that it ended so suddenly, without a real resolution.