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The abrupt and seemingly pointless death of Gary also outraged some fans {{fact}}; while such a plot development was rare at the time (''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' had killed off the character of [[Tasha Yar]] in a more fantastic but similarly arbitrary manner), the shocking death of a popular character has since become a regular part of such series as ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Lost]]''.
The abrupt and seemingly pointless death of Gary also outraged some fans {{fact}}; while such a plot development was rare at the time (''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' had killed off the character of [[Tasha Yar]] in a more fantastic but similarly arbitrary manner), the shocking death of a popular character has since become a regular part of such series as ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Lost]]''.


The show made headlines with a [[1989]] episode in which two men, Melissa's [[gay]] friend Russell ([[David Marshall Grant]]) and his partner Peter ([[Peter Frechette]]), were shown in bed together in a post-coital scene discusses their romantic pasts and their developing feelings about each other. Several major advertisers, fearing potential [[boycott]]s, pulled their commercials from the episode {{fact}}. The two characters starred in this episode and then more or less vanished from the series. The characters were somewhat controversial even within the gay community, as some viewers felt Russell and Peter were [[token]]s and others felt they were a bold step forward {{fact}}.
The show made headlines with a [[1989]] episode in which two men, Melissa's [[gay]] friend Russell ([[David Marshall Grant]]) and his partner Peter ([[Peter Frechette]]), were shown in bed together in a post-coital scene discussing their romantic pasts and their developing feelings about each other. Several major advertisers, fearing potential [[boycott]]s, pulled their commercials from the episode {{fact}}. The two characters starred in this episode and then more or less vanished from the series. The characters were somewhat controversial even within the gay community, as some viewers felt Russell and Peter were [[token]]s and others felt they were a bold step forward {{fact}}.


==Episodes==
==Episodes==

Revision as of 12:23, 11 August 2006


For the term describing a person between the ages of 30-39, see thirty something.
Warning: Display title "<i>Thirtysomething</i>" overrides earlier display title "thirtysomething" (help).
Thirtysomething
thirtysomething cast
Created byMarshall Herskovitz
Edward Zwick
StarringKen Olin
Mel Harris
Melanie Mayron
Timothy Busfield
Patricia Wettig
Peter Horton
Patricia Kalember
Polly Draper
David Clennon
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes85
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 29, 1987 –
May 28, 1991

thirtysomething (1987 – 1991) was a ground-breaking and award-winning American television drama created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for United Artists Television. It premiered on ABC on September 29, 1987 and lasted four seasons. The last of its 85 episodes aired on May 28, 1991.

thirtysomething became a cultural icon and set new standards for television drama, influencing many of the sit-coms and night time soap operas which came after it such as Beverly Hills 90210 (1990), Melrose Place (1992), and Gilmore Girls (2000) [citation needed]. The press dubbed it a dramedy, due to its mix of comedy and drama, and indeed the series often mixed very dark material with comic flights of fancy.

General plot

Template:Spoiler thirtysomething depicts the lives of a married couple, Michael (Ken Olin) and Hope Steadman (Mel Harris), and Michael's cousin, Melissa (Melanie Mayron). One of Michael's best friends is Elliot Weston (Timothy Busfield). Elliot's wife Nancy (Patricia Wettig) is close with Hope. Michael's other best friend is Gary Shepherd (Peter Horton) who eventually marries Susannah (Patricia Kalember). Hope's best friend is Ellyn Warren (Polly Draper). All are in their thirties (hence the title) and are living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Character descriptions

  • Michael Steadman and Hope Murdoch Steadman: Michael works in the advertising business with Elliot (initially in their own business, but later for DAA). Hope is a writer and stay-at-home mother who struggles with her desire to be at home with her daughter, Janey (and later son, Leo) and her need to work. Michael (who is Jewish) and Hope (who is Christian) are also an interfaith couple, a fact which was referenced throughout the series [1]. During the third season of the series, Hope is attracted to environmentalist John Dunaway (J.D. Souther) and contemplates having an affair with him but decides against it.
  • Melissa Steadman: Michael's cousin and Gary's former girlfriend. Melissa is a photographer whose career includes an album by Carly Simon and photos in the magazine Vanity Fair. Melissa becomes involved with a younger man, Lee Owens (Corey Parker), a house painter, but the relationship does not last.
  • Elliot Weston and Nancy Krieger Weston: Elliot works in the advertising business with Michael (initially in their own business, but later for DAA). Nancy is an artist and stay-at-home mother to Ethan and Brittany. In addition to coping with Elliot's infidelities, Nancy struggles with, and overcomes, cancer during the last two seasons.
  • Ellyn Warren: Hope's childhood friend. Ellyn works with City Hall. She is initially involved with Steve Woodman (Terry Kinney) who works at City Hall as well. Later, she has an affair with a married man Jeffrey Milgram (Richard Gilliland). During the final season, Ellyn becomes involved with and then marries Billy Sidel (Erich Anderson), a graphic designer.
  • Prof. Gary Shepherd and Susannah Hart Shepherd: Gary is Michael's college roommate and a free-spirited professor of English literature. When he is denied tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, he thinks about becoming a social worker. It is at this point that Gary meets Susannah who is a social worker. Despite the fact that no one else likes her, Gary marries Susannah when they have a baby, Emma. Gary dies during the last season in a traffic accident, just as Nancy recovers from cancer (Gary later visits Michael as a ghost, or at least Michael imagines that he does). After Gary's death, Susannah moves away with Emma.
  • Miles Drentell (David Clennon): Michael and Elliot's boss at DAA. Miles' lack of ethics propels Michael into periods of self-reflection and depression, particularly when he is forced to fire Elliot.

Influences and cultural impact

The television show, thirtysomething reflected the angst felt by baby boomers and yuppies during the 1980s [2], [3], such as the changing expectations related to masculinity and femininity introduced by second-wave feminism (as noted in R. Hanke's 1990, article "Hegemonic masculinity in thirtysomething" and Margaret Heide's 1995 book, Television Culture and Women's Lives: "Thirtysomething" and the Contradictions of Gender [4]).

thirtysomething was notably influenced by the introspective, comic drama The Big Chill. Additional films and television programs which reflected similar themes include Baby Boom, Fatal Attraction and Wall Street (all appearing in 1987); the 1986 television drama L.A. Law; and the 1988 film Working Girl. In addition, its mix of realistic scenes and surreal flights of comic fancy owed a debt to such Woody Allen films as Annie Hall.

thirtysomething, while never number one in the Nielsen Ratings, was nonetheless enormously influential in its day [citation needed] and won a number of Emmy Awards and nominations. Critics and audiences were sharply divided about the show's characters and dialogue; the show was widely praised for its sensitive characterizations, but also widely mocked for its generally affluent but depressed and neurotic characters [citation needed]. In one memorable episode, a focus group is shown a commercial based on the style of the series, with actors standing in for Michael and Elliot and speaking like them. The focus group's response is overwhelmingly negative, and they voice many of the criticisms of the series itself.

The series broke many taboos of the time including being the first TV series to include a post-coital scene between gay men. Its characters were also deeply flawed, defying the standard idea of a TV hero; Elliot, for instance, nearly rapes Nancy in one episode.

Oxford English Dictionary

Almost immediately after the introduction of the show, the term thirty something also became a catch phrase used to designate 'baby boomers' in their thirties. This cultural shift was reinforced by the Oxford English Dictionary which added thirtysomething in 1993 (under the word thirty) and defined the term as one which became:

popularized as a catch-phrase by the U.S. television programme thirtysomething, first broadcast in 1987 . . . applied to members of the ‘baby boom’ generation entering their thirties in the mid-1980s; also attrib. or as adj. phr. (hence, characteristic of the tastes and lifestyle of this group).

twentysomething

thirtysomething was also responsible for the coinage of the word "twenty something", to describe Generation X. This was reflected in Douglas Coupland's 1991 watershed novel Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Culture. This work was dedicated to "the generation born in the late 1950s and 1960s;" today this group is sometimes referred to as the "Baby Busters".

Today, "-something" is routinely added to various decades of life: one is "fortysomething," "fiftysomething," [citation needed].

Controversy

The show caused controversy on many occasions; the characters often discussed their sex lives in detail, and there were frequently complaints about the show's language and (suggested) nudity. Eliot was a particularly divisive character; in one episode he nearly raped Nancy, a development that brought the series a lot of press attention, not all of it positive [citation needed]. Nancy's cancer was also a controversial development with the show's viewers, with some critics charging that watching a character struggle with cancer for months on end was simply too grim to bear [citation needed]. (This plot was also one of the more celebrated elements of the show, and won much praise from some cancer surivivors.) [citation needed]

The abrupt and seemingly pointless death of Gary also outraged some fans [citation needed]; while such a plot development was rare at the time (Star Trek: The Next Generation had killed off the character of Tasha Yar in a more fantastic but similarly arbitrary manner), the shocking death of a popular character has since become a regular part of such series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lost.

The show made headlines with a 1989 episode in which two men, Melissa's gay friend Russell (David Marshall Grant) and his partner Peter (Peter Frechette), were shown in bed together in a post-coital scene discussing their romantic pasts and their developing feelings about each other. Several major advertisers, fearing potential boycotts, pulled their commercials from the episode [citation needed]. The two characters starred in this episode and then more or less vanished from the series. The characters were somewhat controversial even within the gay community, as some viewers felt Russell and Peter were tokens and others felt they were a bold step forward [citation needed].

Episodes

Emmy Awards

thirtysomething won numerous Emmy Awards and nominations for Outstanding:

1988 Winners:

  1. Drama Series
  2. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Patricia Wettig
  3. Writing in a Drama Series — Paul Haggis and Marshall Herskovitz (episode: "Business as Usual")
  4. Guest Performer in a Drama Series — Shirley Knight

It also received the following nominations in 1988:

  1. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Timothy Busfield
  2. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Polly Draper
  3. Editing for a Series — Single Camera Production
  4. Achievement in Main Title Theme Music
  5. Achievement in Costuming for a Series

1989 Winners:

  1. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Melanie Mayron
  2. Writing in a Drama Series — Joseph Dougherty (episode: "First Day/Last Day")
  3. Editing for a Series — Single Camera Production
  4. Achievement in Costuming for a Series

It also received the following nominations in 1989:

  1. Drama Series
  2. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Timothy Busfield
  3. Guest Actor in a Drama Series
  4. Directing in a Drama Series
  5. Writing in a Drama Series
  6. Art Direction for a Series
  7. Sound Mixing for a Drama Series
  8. Achievement in Special Visual Effects (episode: "Michael Writes a Story")
  9. Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series

1990 Winners:

  1. Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Patricia Wettig
  2. Directing in a Drama Series (tied with Equal Justice).

It also received the following nominations in 1990:

  1. Drama Series
  2. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Timothy Busfield
  3. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Melanie Mayron
  4. Guest Actor in a Drama Series
  5. Guest Actress in a Drama Series
  6. Writing in a Drama Series
  7. Art Direction for a Series
  8. Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series
  9. Achievement in Costuming for a Series

1991 Winners:

  1. Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Patricia Wettig
  2. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Timothy Busfield
  3. Achievement in Costuming for a Series

It also received the following nominations in 1991:

  1. Drama Series
  2. Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Melanie Mayron
  3. Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — David Clennon
  4. Writing in a Drama Series
  5. Guest Actress in a Drama Series

References

  1. ^ http://www.tvacres.com/ethnic_jewish_s_z.htm
  2. ^ http://home.kc.rr.com/bobfahey/lb-30s/articles/article06.htm
  3. ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1175/is_n10_v22/ai_6652864/print
  4. ^ http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/834.html

Further reading

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