tv flashback: thirtysomething's coming

"I mean, Michael's cute and all, but how much fun can it be sitting at home watching him sulk night after night?" - Ellyn Warren

I was so thrilled to learn late last night that one of my favorite shows, thirtysomething, is finally coming to DVD. Shout! Factory is releasing the first season on August 25, and it plans to release the remaining three seasons in six-month intervals. According to the announcement article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, they won't be cutting any original music from the show--and high-definition master copies of the episodes have been created, which is great news. Plus there will be episode commentaries and new interviews with the cast and creators. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Every Tuesday night from 1987 to 1991, I tuned in to ABC to watch thirtysomething, a drama about married couples and single folks a decade older than I was. It will now be interesting to revisit the show being a decade older than the characters. Although I couldn't really relate to most of the problems that Michael and Hope Steadman and their friends, Elliot and Nancy Weston, faced, I still enjoyed spending time with these people due to the show's excellent writing and marvelous performances. I loved all of the actors, but my favorites were Ken Olin (Michael), who was so sexy and cute back then, and his real-life wife, Patricia Wettig (Nancy), who deservedly won three Emmys for her amazing work, as well as Melanie Mayron as Michael's cousin, Melissa, who always made me laugh, and Polly Draper as Hope's neurotic best friend, Ellyn, whose messy love life made her one of the most fascinating characters to watch.

I was an instant fan of thirtysomething, which reminded me a lot of the terrific 1983 film, The Big Chill--a bunch of friends hanging out together and realizing that although their youthful dreams have been replaced with the difficult responsibilities of adulthood, they still have each other to lean on for love and support. The strong bonds of friendship between the characters is what I loved most about the show--and why it's remained such a fond memory. And to answer Ellyn's question, it was a lot of fun to sit at home watching Michael--and the rest of the gang--sulk week after week, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again to relive all their past heartaches and triumphs.

Here are 10 of my favorite thirtysomething episodes (out of the 85 filmed):

"Pilot" (Season One/September 29, 1987): We're introduced to new parents Michael and Hope, and Elliot admits he had an affair (Timothy Busfield was nominated four years in a row for an Emmy as Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and I'm glad he finally won in 1991 for playing such a beloved bastard).

"I'm in Love, I'm in Love, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Gynecologist" (Season One/February 2, 1988): Ellyn and Melissa's newfound friendship is threatened when they both fall for a handsome doctor (any episode that features my two favorite ladies ranks high on my list).

"The Mike Van Dyke Show" (Season Two/December 20, 1988): It's Christmas and Hanukkah in the Steadman home, and when Michael questions his faith in Judaism, he longs for the simple world of a 1960s sitcom like The Dick Van Dyke Show (which the series spoofs in a black-and-white dream sequence).

"Mr. Right" (Season Three/October 10, 1989): Another great Melissa/Ellyn episode as the two ladies search for their Prince Charming through video dating. Melissa meets a much younger man, 23-year-old Lee (Corey Parker), who ranks as one of TV's dreamiest house painters.

"Strangers" (Season Three/November 7, 1989): This was the most controversial episode of the series as it depicted Melissa's gay friend Russell (David Marshall Grant, who is now a producer/writer of Brothers & Sisters) in bed "the morning after" with another man, Peter (Peter Frechette, who received an Emmy nomination for his performance). People were up in arms over this one scene, which was quite daring for 1989. Unfortunately, it also resulted in a loss of more than $1 million in advertising dollars for ABC, which chose not to repeat the episode during summer reruns. I thought Grant and Frechette made a very attractive couple, and I was disappointed that they weren't featured more often.

"Post-Op" (Season Three/January 23, 1990): Everyone reacts differently to the news of Nancy's ovarian cancer in this brilliant episode. This was such a great storyline for Wettig, and I consider the show's third season its best one.

"Towers of Zenith, Part 2: Samurai Adman" (Season Three/May 22, 1990): Michael and Elliot try to stage a coup in order to take over the ad agency, but their boss, the nasty Miles Drentell, foils their plan. Actor David Clennon gave a fascinating performance as the cold and cunning Miles.

"Second Look" (Season Four/February 12, 1991): This is the most shocking and emotionally powerful episode of the series as Nancy receives good news about her biopsy results--her cancer is in remission--but Gary (Michael's best friend and Melissa's ex-boyfriend) dies in a car accident. Actor Peter Horton wanted to move on, so he wasn't upset about the decision to kill off his character. And the creators of the show, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, felt it was important for Nancy to survive. I agree. It would have been too devastating for her to die.

"Our Wedding" (Season Four/April 9, 1991): Ellyn finally settles down and marries a good guy, Billy, in this episode, which, unfortunately, is the last one to feature Corey Parker as Lee (I was sad when he and Melissa broke up).

"Closing the Circle" (Season Four/April 16, 1991): I loved Patricia Kalember as Gary's girlfriend and later wife, Susannah, whom none of the other characters liked. She was a chilly person--and very different from Kalember's warm Georgie on TV's Sisters. This episode features her final appearance as Susannah, who moves away with her and Gary's daughter, Emma.

Finally, here's a link to an interesting 1998 interview with Joseph Dougherty, who was the writer and/or director of many thirtysomething episodes. He offers his personal vision of what happened to all the characters after the last episode.