Thirtysomething

I loved this show so much when it was on and never stopped. It may be my favorite TV show ever, definitely top 5. The negative reviews still get me irate, but it isn't for everyone, obviously. One irk was in the very first show, as everyone was telling Michael not to worry, Hope will lose the baby weight. Hope was as slim as anyone would ever want to be. So yeah, there were some contrived conversations for a brief bit, then they hit their stride and absolutely nailed it show after show.

I'm coming to the conclusion that a lot of people actively hate signs of intelligence. The characters weren't whiny, but they did discuss, a lot. If smart people having real conversations about life is boring or annoying, go watch Cagney and Lacey or Home Improvement. They weren't rich yuppies, the two main families were striving to have a nice home and work life, like most people were then, me included. The other characters chose more alternate lifestyles.

They were the first TV show to have two gay men in bed, even though they just talking. That really made upset people off and I always assumed that the negative reaction hastened the end of the show, Too bad, I would have happily followed the characters along much longer and I wish there had been follow ups later. Sadly, it was never meant to be.

Yeah, so they were yuppies, and yes they whined. so what. I loved this program when it first ran. And I watched every episode when it was shown this year on Bravo. Thank you, Bravo! I was disappointed to find out that it was the producers (Hershkovitz and his partner) who had pulled the plug on it back it 1991. They thought that 4 years was enough. It just dropped out of the Fall lineup, so there was never ever any closure to the plot line. Very Disappointing!

I look back with a degree of nostalgia to the 1980's when my own kids were born and the work/life balance was a constant juggling act. Yes it was a 'yuppie' show as some have said but it was true to life for many, hitting a nerve for those of us struggling with young children and a slightly off-beat boss.

The acting and script writing was first rate and each of the characters utterly believable. I guess an airing now many reveal a show that is a little dated but it was true to its era. For all of us who really were in their thirties when the show was on prime time TV, please will someone out there consider releasing it on DVD!

The much awarded television series was about Hope Murdoch Steadman played by Mel Harris (Something So Right) and her husband, Michael Steadman, played by Ken Olin (L.A. Doctors), and their relationships: as a couple, family, friends, at work, and at their place of worship. A series about the relationships of people in their home, school, and society as a whole. The best television series of my adulthood! Television can be a wonderful media if people with brains like this group can get hold of it and do great work.. My husband and I watched it, his boss and his wife watched. It was a great show even for book worms like us! We who were thirty something and could identify with the characters. The show had very good role models. If you take the time to read about it, you can see that they had directors such as Timothy Busfield, Mel Harris, Marshall Herskovitz, Peter Horton, Melanie Mayron, Ken Olin, and brilliant Oscar winner actor Gary Sinise (Forest Gump). What an ingenious group of people. Then the series was just taken off the air by someone obviously not brilliant, which made us all really mad!

There had not been a drama series so well written since then. Thanks to Paul Reiser (The Story of Us) and Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets) we had the privilege of watching some similar relationships on TV in their comedy Mad About You. Good series like those are hard to come by. I would love to tell more about the rest of the cast, but there are no time and space here. Perhaps one day it will run in syndication in reasonable hours and please do yourself a favor: Watch It! I would record the entire series and watch it over and over! Favorite Episodes: Thanksgiving Dinner; Melissa getting her work in a art show. Less liked episodes: Gary Shepherd played by Peter Horton, dying in a car accident. The series' most shocking scenes! I can still remember when Michael goes to the morgue to identify him. I remember it so vividly after all those years. Those last episodes of the show when Elliot Weston, Timothy Busfield (Quiz Show ) was finally beginning to be a responsible husband because his wife, Nancy Weston, Patricia Wettig (L.A. Doctor) had cancer. Favorite Scenes: Elliot and Michael playing basketball at their creative room in their advertising agency.

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.