Seven tricenarians living in Philadelphia struggle with everyday adult angst.Seven tricenarians living in Philadelphia struggle with everyday adult angst.Seven tricenarians living in Philadelphia struggle with everyday adult angst.
- Won 13 Primetime Emmys
- 28 wins & 63 nominations total
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WOW Ken Olin was so handsome back during 30 something- tonight in 2013 seeing him heavy with a gray beard in an Episode of Criminal Minds its so incredible to believe how much he has changed-Patty pretty much looks the same.
I was wondering what happened to the rest of the cast the person that played Melissa I never saw after the show, I saw Hope in one LMN movie years ago as well as Timothy but the rest where have they gone?
The TV shows were much better back during the 30 something days now its all about one reality show after another- whether its singing, dancing, eating bugs surviving or bachelors and bachelorettes or cooking - no more really good family shows, Brothers and Sisters, Once and Again , Knots Landing- now those were the days my friends!
I was wondering what happened to the rest of the cast the person that played Melissa I never saw after the show, I saw Hope in one LMN movie years ago as well as Timothy but the rest where have they gone?
The TV shows were much better back during the 30 something days now its all about one reality show after another- whether its singing, dancing, eating bugs surviving or bachelors and bachelorettes or cooking - no more really good family shows, Brothers and Sisters, Once and Again , Knots Landing- now those were the days my friends!
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 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!
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 just read a comment by a guy who said he couldn't feel sorry for characters who had great cars and houses etc as if these characters were rich. I'm not sure what show he watched but 30something was one of the few shows on television where its characters lived in homes that actually reflected their middle class incomes. Hope & Michael lived in an old (albeit big) fixer-upper and Nancy & Elliot's house was a typical suburban tract ranch house while the single characters, Melissa, Gary & Ellen all had apartments that reflected their varying income levels. Michael drove an old faded car that maybe 15 years earlier had been a higher priced foreign sports job. This same person's comments go on to say that no real guy ever watched the show except for one wimp that he knew. I think we can all read between the lines of what this reviewer is all about and we don't need my adding any personal reaction to those comments. On to more, grown-up, shall we say, observations about 30something.....
30something deserves its repuation as one of the best written dramatic shows that aired in the 80s. Storylines were original whether addressing traditional issues of career and homelife or veering off into sidelines as when the character Hope finds an old trunk in her attic and the show revolves around letters she finds in the attic. The show blended humor and drama and allowed it's characters flaws and strengths and showed relationships struggling, falling apart and enduring.
There were many favorite shows and storylines for me. The entire sequence of shows where Michael & Elliot plot to takeover their advertising firm from the evil boss, Miles. The aforementioned WWII memory show. Who could forget the couple of shows that dealt with Gary's unexpected death in a car crash? And what about the shows detailing Gary's finally finding a woman to marry, Susannah and how everyone disliked her! Seeing Melissa find happiness in the arms of a younger man, Lee. And one of my favorite episodes, the marriage show between forever neurotic Ellen and her cartoonist boyfriend Billy?
The show was great and my wife & I still talk about the characters. I always jokingly said that "Hope was perfect" because of all the characters she was probably the most disciplined and level headed of the group. Even the character of Nancy, who in less competenant actor's hands could have come off as whiny was brought to the screen as a woman who had her hands full with an emotionally immature husband but was just trying to improve her marriage and her lot.
Another thing that is important to note about this show is that the drama had lots of humor running through it. Not over the top, comedy show humor, but humor nonetheless. For me, it will always be the perfect hour long dramatic show, because it was a show where I REALLY felt I could know these people. It wasn't some turgid, life threatening hospital show or some backstabbing cold blooded lawyer show or some cops and robbers show that my life will never be about. It was about, people like me, who had some creative impulses and who were married with kids, or before they were married struggling to establish a real adult life and get over the fact that college was long gone, etc. Time to grow up and deal maturely with your own self and those around you. Time to do it with discipline and humor and caring for others.
This was a great show with perfect casting. Now when will some cable channel start broadcasting these shows again so I can watch em all over again?
30something deserves its repuation as one of the best written dramatic shows that aired in the 80s. Storylines were original whether addressing traditional issues of career and homelife or veering off into sidelines as when the character Hope finds an old trunk in her attic and the show revolves around letters she finds in the attic. The show blended humor and drama and allowed it's characters flaws and strengths and showed relationships struggling, falling apart and enduring.
There were many favorite shows and storylines for me. The entire sequence of shows where Michael & Elliot plot to takeover their advertising firm from the evil boss, Miles. The aforementioned WWII memory show. Who could forget the couple of shows that dealt with Gary's unexpected death in a car crash? And what about the shows detailing Gary's finally finding a woman to marry, Susannah and how everyone disliked her! Seeing Melissa find happiness in the arms of a younger man, Lee. And one of my favorite episodes, the marriage show between forever neurotic Ellen and her cartoonist boyfriend Billy?
The show was great and my wife & I still talk about the characters. I always jokingly said that "Hope was perfect" because of all the characters she was probably the most disciplined and level headed of the group. Even the character of Nancy, who in less competenant actor's hands could have come off as whiny was brought to the screen as a woman who had her hands full with an emotionally immature husband but was just trying to improve her marriage and her lot.
Another thing that is important to note about this show is that the drama had lots of humor running through it. Not over the top, comedy show humor, but humor nonetheless. For me, it will always be the perfect hour long dramatic show, because it was a show where I REALLY felt I could know these people. It wasn't some turgid, life threatening hospital show or some backstabbing cold blooded lawyer show or some cops and robbers show that my life will never be about. It was about, people like me, who had some creative impulses and who were married with kids, or before they were married struggling to establish a real adult life and get over the fact that college was long gone, etc. Time to grow up and deal maturely with your own self and those around you. Time to do it with discipline and humor and caring for others.
This was a great show with perfect casting. Now when will some cable channel start broadcasting these shows again so I can watch em all over again?
10kuanyin4
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThe word "thirtysomething" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as a direct result of its popular usage from this series.
- Quotes
Miles Drentell: Nobody wants to be unpopular. That's why we're here. That's the dance of advertising. We help people become popular. Through popularity comes acceptance. Acceptance leads to assimilation. Assimilation leads to bliss. We calm & reassure. We embrace people with the message that we are all in it together. That our leaders are infallible and there's nothing, absolutely nothing wrong. That's what we do. It's what we've always done... In return for our humanitarian service, we are made rich.
- Crazy creditsThroughout 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").
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 40th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1988)
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