Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Shows by Decade»1980s Television
    1980s Television Drama Shows T 3 Mins Read

    Thirtysomething

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 8 7 – 1 9 9 1 (USA)
    85 x 60 minute episodes

    Thirtysomething was a comedy/drama series that kept returning, months after it had supposedly telecast its last show, due to audience appeal.

    The series centred on seven thirty-something yuppies who were long-time friends. Four of the seven were married couples when the series began and three were single.

    Michael Steadman (Ken Olin), an advertising copywriter struggling with his liberal Jewish background, and his wife Hope (Mel Harris), a part-time social worker and full-time mother are the “settled” couple.

    The Steadmans were offset against Elliot (Timothy Busfield, pictured at left), a not-really-grown-up graphic artist who was Michael’s best friend at Penn, and his long-suffering wife Nancy (Patricia Wettig), an illustrator who separated from him and developed breast cancer in subsequent seasons.

    Three unmarried friends also date back to college days: Ellyn (Polly Draper, pictured below right) is a career executive in city government; Gary (Peter Horton) teaches English at a liberal arts college; and Melissa Steadman (Melanie Mayron), a freelance photographer, is Michael’s cousin.

    While the two couples wrestle with their marriages and raising their children, the three others have a series of love affairs with outsiders to the circle.

    For Gary (after a quasi-incestuous relation with Melissa) fate holds a child out of wedlock with temperamental feminist Susanna, the college’s denial of tenure, his life as a house-husband, and finally – in one of the most publicised episodes – sudden death in a cycling accident.

    “Real life is an acquired taste” was the network promo for the series, as its makers explored the boundaries between melodrama and realism.

    Thirtysomething spearheaded ABC’s drive to reach a demographically younger and culturally more capital-rich audience. Cover stories in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly explored the parallels between the actors’ and characters’ lives, as well as the rapport generated with the audience.

    The show was in the vanguard for centring on post-feminist “sensitive new-age” men and dealing with touchy issues within sexual relationships. It was also the first series to show a homosexual couple in bed together.

    Well-reviewed by TV critics, Thirtysomething won a Peabody Award in 1988 and an Emmy for best dramatic series in the same year. But in spite of this, the series failed to attract a large enough audience for ABC to keep it on the air.

    When the series was eventually cancelled due to poor ratings, a Newsweek article reflected the baby boomers’ sense of loss: “the value of the Tuesday night meetings was that art, even on the small screen, reflected our lives back at us to be considered as new.” Hostile critics, on the other hand, were relieved that the self-indulgent whines of yuppiedom had finally been banished from the schedules.

    The series was created by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, who were baby boomers themselves and had previously written the successful series, Family.

    Hope Murdock
    Mel Harris
    Michael Steadman 

    Ken Olin
    Elliot Weston 

    Timothy Busfield
    Nancy Weston 

    Patricia Wettig
    Ellyn Warren

    Polly Draper
    Melissa Steadman 

    Melanie Mayron
    Gary Shepherd 

    Peter Horton

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Murder Most Horrid
      Murder Most Horrid
      1 9 9 1 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes 1 9 9 4 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes…
    • My So-Called Life
      My So-Called Life
      1 9 9 4 - 1 9 9 5 (USA) 19 x 60 minute episodes This bittersweet ABC drama series looked…
    • Telephone Time
      Telephone Time
      1 9 5 6 - 1 9 5 8 (USA) 81 x 30 minute episodes The plays presented in this anthology…
    • Those Two
      Those Two
      1 9 5 1 - 1 9 5 3 (USA) 19 x 15 minute episodes This loosely structured 15-minute musical situation-comedy…
    • Moment of Truth
      Moment of Truth
      1 9 6 4 - 1 9 6 5 (Canada/USA) 30 minute episodes This daytime drama series from the Canadian…
    • Web, The
      Web, The
      1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 4 (USA) 175 x 30 minute episodes 1 9 5 7 (USA) 14…
    • Duty Free
      Duty Free
      1 9 8 4 - 1 9 8 6 (UK) 21 x 30 minute episodes 1 x 60 minute Christmas special…
    • Bradys, The
      Bradys, The
      1 9 9 0 (USA) 5 x 60 minute episodes The further trials and tribulations of the extended Brady family, with…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleHigh Chaparral, The
    Next Article Room 222

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site

    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small. 

    Thank you so much.
    Enjoy your trip in the time machine!

    You may also like

    • Almost Grown
      Almost Grown
      1 9 8 8 - 1 9 8 9 (USA) A CBS drama series covering twenty-five years in the lifetime of…
    • My So-Called Life
      My So-Called Life
      1 9 9 4 - 1 9 9 5 (USA) 19 x 60 minute episodes This bittersweet ABC drama series looked…
    • Bradys, The
      Bradys, The
      1 9 9 0 (USA) 5 x 60 minute episodes The further trials and tribulations of the extended Brady family, with…
    • Growing Pains
      Growing Pains
      1 9 8 5 - 1 9 9 2 (USA) 166 x 30 minute episodes Dr Jason Seaver was a psychiatrist…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.