Let's be "thirtysomething"

I am also Polly Draper's vagina voice.

I still want to see Gary nude.

I'm the post-coital cigarette in the contraversial gay sex scene. I'm now more contraversial than seeing two men in bed together. Who would have thought?

I'm the not-to-subtle irony of Gary getting killed in a freak traffic accident the day that Nancy finds out she's cancer-free.

I'm Miles, Dominant.

I'm the cancer.

I am the original Brittany ... sorry it was a cute name at the time.

I'm the original Ethan - sorry, it was NEVER a cute name.

I'm Sophia Petrillo watching and trying to figure out why this show is so popular.

The "original" Ethan?

I'm anyone but that miserable cunt Susannah, who snottily refused to play Jewish Geography with Michael when she met the Stedmans.

I'm cancellation, always hovering, ready to strike.

I never saw the episode at r3. I remember it aired once in then never again. Did they air it when the show was in syndication on Lifetime?

i'm gary's cock, which was never shown

I am the Alice in Wonderland book that was given to Nancy after she found out Gary died.

I am also Nancy reading that passage that would make a grown man cry it was so poignant.....

just sayin'

I'm Patty Heaton, who played Nancy's really cool cancer doctor. Before I had a chance to become hated for my politics.

mmmmmm keeeen

[quote]I never saw the episode at [R3]. I remember it aired once in then never again. Did they air it when the show was in syndication on Lifetime?

God knows.

I'm the somewhat shocked face of DLers realizing that the entire cast of 30something is now 60something. And that Janie and the other kids are all around 35 and probably have kids of their own.

I'm my own memories of how the show seemed so breakthrough at the time with such adult storylines, but by today's standards it's nothing but a yuppie soap opera, nowhere near the level of any of the "Peak TV" shows.

I'm the cuter guy Nancy dated before the redhead wooed her back.

I'm advertising

I was once the job that all the cool creative cats on TV had.

Now they all work at internet startups

I'm Melanie Mayron's Peak 1980s Professional Dyke Cut.

I'm a Hope & Michael focused episode.

I'm Melissa's black and white "numbers" jacket that made her look kooky and hip.

I'm Ellyn - strangely, as the series went on, my episodes were some of the best.

I'm Debra Messing, Melissa's aging doppelgänger.

I am whining.

I'm Lee.

How come you queens haven't mentioned me yet?

This show was on when I was a teenager in the UK. They made a right fuss in the press about that gay episode. I watched it and all it was, was these two men shirtless in bed talking about Bernadette Peters!!

And this was Channel 4!! Channel 4 in the 1980s was brilliant as you'd get the Thursday Night bare bum film!! These would be edgy Channel 4 made films where the lead actor was required to do at least 1 nude scene!! So after watching stuff like Maurice this 30 something episode was hardly exciting!

[quote]They made a right fuss in the press about that gay episode

They made a fuss in America, not England (or the UK as you call it).

I'm Ken Olin's devastating weight gain.

I'm Ken Olin's Wikipedia photo, which is oddly enough from 1989

I'm the stardom none of them seemed to go on to.

I'm Richard Gilliland, doing double-duty as Ellyn's married lover and Annie Potts' ex-husband on Designing Women (I'm married to Jean Smart in real life).

I can’t believe how well Melanie Mayron cleaned up. She was hideous looking on Rhoda.

[quote]I'm Richard Gilliland, doing double-duty as Ellyn's married lover and Annie Potts' ex-husband on Designing Women (I'm married to Jean Smart in real life).

I'm his smart-ass daughter who Ellyn tried so hard to get along with....and failed, dismally.

[quote]I can’t believe how well Melanie Mayron cleaned up. She was hideous looking on Rhoda.

She was SO good in this.

I'm the radon gas Hope didn't find in the basement. Fun, eh?

I'm the forgotten art house movie ~Girlfriends ~ on which Melanie's character was based on.

I'm the planned series finale where Ethan acquired an AK-47.

I'm the superior writing, directing, cinematography and acting that still holds up today...save for some of the fashion.

I'm Esther Shapiro, cursing this show for making my show seem like a bloated cartoon.

R6, you did? I don't remember that!

No, we didn't R28. I'm Lee's youthful libido.

[quote]I'm Patty Heaton, who played Nancy's really cool cancer doctor. Before I had a chance to become hated for my politics.

I'm Nancy's cancer friend who took her to scream near the airport runway.

I was a creepy, strange, New Age type.

I'm Elliott. I was kinda creepy and off-putting then, and I am now!

I'm Hope, still judgmental ice princess Shiksa goddess. Critics couldn't get enough of me at the time, and my somewhat haughty "patrician beauty."

Guess what? I've been divorced 5 times, and my career post-30something hasn't amounted to shit! I mean, really.

But still, I remain better than you.

I'm the advertisers who pulled out after the gay episode and have never been made to pay, or even issue an apology.

I'm Patricia Kalember and I went on to SISTERS, a longer-running and more successful series.

But none of you fickle gay bitches give a shit, do you?

Susannah, we hated you. HATED YOU.

I’m everything that’s wrong with the 1980s

Hope did form a friendship with Susannah.

I’m Ken once hot hunk now fatty producer.

I'm Ethan's secret stash of Playboys.

I'm Leo's secret stash of Playgirls.

I'm Patricia Kalember, still wondering why Kay O'Brien didn't become a hit and was forced to become a glorified extra on thirtysomething.

I'm the, "...and dance by the light of moon" at the end of the credits.

We are ABC's customer service department having to field angry calls from the Bible Belt stations over a scene with two gay men in bed. Well, that's what you get for boycotting [italic]Soap[/italic].

I'm Mary Beth Hurt, playing Emily Dickinson in a fantasy sequence. Several years later, I will play Jean Seberg, who was once my babysitter.

I'm glass bricks

I'm Stanley Tucci as Karl Draconis, the DAA creative director whose job Michael eventually stole.

I'm also the bungled takeover attempt of DAA by Minnesota Brands, secretly abetted by Michael and Elliot, whom Miles inexplicably did not fire.

I'm Edith Miller of the Edith Miller Gallery in New York. You never see me but I probably look like THIS >>

I'm the show's pre-production working title, "Pretentious."

I'm Matthew Weiner, creator of MAD MEN, back ca. 1987, watching THIRTYSOMETHING as a teen, reading R61, and furiously scribbling notes for 20 years into the future.

"What if Michael Stedman was a sexier and less Jewey Don Draper in NYC during the Kennedy administration? Drama!"

I thought 'Once and Again' was the follow-on to thirtysomething.

i am Elliott's lapse of judgement for marrying that little house on the prairie bitch

I'm Patty Wettig as "Holly" on the Sally Field Programme. And man, did I ride that pony til it died of exhaustion! I even got my hubby a lotta work on that show!

Thanks, Sally. Toast to 50-something, y'all!

I"m Melanie Mayron, and despite what appears to be some strenuous hair-straightening, I've aged pretty much exactly the way you'd expect Melissa to have aged over 3 decades.

R64 Yes!

Mayron was probably the best actor on the show and brought a lot of soul AND wit to her part. I'm surprised it didn't lead to anything.

I'm Talia Balsam who appeared in 2 episodes as Paige and mysteriously disappeared once she became Michael's secretary.

[quote]"What if Michael Stedman was a sexier and less Jewey Don Draper

One "oh, dear." One "oy, gevalt."

I'm the Minnesota Brands Account.

[quote]I'm the post-coital cigarette in the contraversial gay sex scene. I'm now more contraversial than seeing two men in bed together. Who would have thought?

Actually the gay scene was handled extremely well. The actors were good and their characters were very real. Non-stereotype.

I'm my mouth on Peter Frechette's cock.

I'm Lois Smith who was inexplicably brought in to replace Betsy Blair as Ellyn's mother for one episode.

I'm the $5 residual check each of the cast members gets annually, resulting from death in syndication.

I'm me - amazed this hasn't had a longer life. It seemed such a big deal - high profile show at the time.

seems there was a 30th anniversary book that came out last year >>

[quote] I'm Talia Balsam who appeared in 2 episodes as Paige and mysteriously disappeared once she became Michael's secretary.

That's how long she lasted on my show, too. Just like her marriage to George Clooney.

I'm-a Giancarlo Paretti. I'm-a gonna usa da money from-a dis-a show to help-a bring-a back-a MGM to the glory days of [italic]Gone with the Wind[/italic] and-a [italic]The Wizard of Oz[/italic]. Mamma mia! We gone-a broke! Guess-a we gonna cancel it. Arrivederci!

This was a show that really improved at time went on.

The first series is unwatchable - but as it moved on and focused less on the dreary Michael And Hope it really got better.

It definitely got better, but it was never more than a low to middle rated niche show that would've been canceled sooner had it not been for nabbing the target demo. It never really had any mass appeal, so it's hardly surprising that it didn't become a post-network hit. Very few continuing dramas from the '80s, even the really successful ones, found sustained life in syndication.

this is a WHOLE lotta fun - about the theme >

I am Hope's baby who grew up to be eaten out from behind by Adam Driver on that icon of female empowerment, "Girls". Not too humiliating.

I am Ellyn with a Y, a favorite character of many at the time. All one has to do to get over the fascination is meet Polly Draper who portrays me. You'll move your loyalty over fast to the far nicer Mel Harris.

I am the downright kind warning ABC gives you by having the hideously humorless Patricia Kalembar's credit only on shows where she appears -- so if you see it, you know it's a Gary and Susannah episode and you can go do laundry instead. It's a school night and life is too short anyway.

[quote]the hideously humorless Patricia Kalembar

R86 = Hope.

Keep Olin was beautiful, but his character's whiny sanctimonious rants gave me shrinkage.

I'm Patricia Wettig relieved I still have a job now that [italic]St. Elsewhere[/italic] is off the air.

I’m Tupelo Honey.

We're the kids of the 1980s who had to go to bed before 10 PM and so had to wait for the reruns and DVDs to actually see it.

Don't worry about Melanie...she's a very busy TV director these days. Jane the Virgin. SEAL Team Six, Famous in Love, Reverie (NBC pilot).

Mel showed up on a couple of episodes of SVU a few seasons ago in the thankless role of Cragan's gf.

I'm one of those VERY boring and annoying fantasy sequences.

At least we got them done on time and on budget which is more than we can say for the show that came before us, [italic]Moonlighting[/italic].

What was this show about? Would it be an amusing watch years later like Melrose Place?

It's a bit more highbrow than that, R96.

It was very much like Melrose Place, r96, except, as the name suggests, it was about 30-somethings. There's an iconic scene of Patty Wettig's Nancy ripping off her cancer wig to reveal a secret scar. I watched that scene at a weekly "thirtysomething" viewing party, and we all gasped.

I'm the episode when Melanie Mayron goes to have dinner with Miles Drentell. I didn't make sense. I don't know quite what the fuck happened.

He goes for a kiss but he's too awkward to know when it's too much and Melanie thwarts what could have been a rape. It was actually a well done moment, especially at the time when Date Rape was still a new concept.

Ken Olin was so hot he made pleated pants look sexy.

I really like the film GIRLFRIENDS. That's Christopher Guest with her. It had that 70s NYC look to it, along with lots of nudity, both male and female.

Didn't the little boy, Ethan, in the pic above grow up to be a punk rocker? And kind of surprised that Ethan's dad on the show has escaped the accusations thus far since he was one of the first I heard gossip about (as a director now). Timothy Busfield liked the young YOUNG ladies by all accounts but so far he is being left alone.

I'm the biggest bitch in Hollywood, Faith Ford, in an early role as an inept secretary in Season One. I left when I got "Murphy Brown". I was in the Fucking Lucky Club as Joan Rivers always put it.

I'm JD Souther, inexplicably cast as Hope's fellow activist/crush.

I'm Timothy Busfield, fresh off Trapper John, MD, where I failed generate any heat as Gregory Harrison's replacement.

I was only slightly older than the Ethan character was when this originally ran, but I watched it then as a young gayling and knew at the time that it was a special show even if some of the themes went over my head. Now, as a (late) thirty-something, I've been watching the entire series on DVD with fresh eyes and it's really phenomenal. I don't think there's been a TV show that has made me run the gamut of emotions quite like this one. It's not surprising that it was the same creative team behind 'My-So Called Life' (or 'thirtysomething' for teens), which was another brilliant gem that I love(d).

I'm Carly Simon, making a non-singing cameo appearance as the subject of a photo shoot of that female character whose name I STILL can't recall.

[quote]I'm the biggest bitch in Hollywood, Faith Ford, in an early role as an inept secretary in Season One.

If she was the person I'm thinking of - the secretary when they moved to Miles Drentel? NO. I'm thinking of a co-worker, who was great. She was a neurotic. I remember a line of hers (this other gurl) . Elliot asks if he can get her anything when she's in a state and she says "Just some Darvon and some chocolate cake". LOL.

I'm the Darvon.

I'm the kooky, but lovable psychic caterer that Hope hired to cater her Michael's surprise birthday party where the roof caved in because of "water!".

I'm the renovation of Michael and Hope's Victorian house, still unfinished.

I'm Michael's vintage Volvo.

I'm Stan from Golden Girls - playing Melissa's kindly Jewish father.

R101 see OP.

[quote]I really like the film GIRLFRIENDS. That's Christopher Guest with her. It had that 70s NYC look to it, along with lots of nudity, both male and female.

Yes, I do too. It was an "Art House" hit and she was charming in it. DLers are sort of mean about Melanie. Probably because she's an out gay.

I'm Michael Steadman thick, hairy cut cock. I make Patricia Wettig an extremely happy woman.

No, R109, Faith was the dumb secretary Michael tried to fire but couldn't when he and Elliot had their own company. Before it went out of business. She was only in Season One, I think. Miles came later when the show had really found its feet (Seasons Three and Four are both amazing).

I'm Michael Steadmen 30 years later in life. And I look obese and homeless.

Another....

Last one.

I'm Nancy's implausibly survivable ovarian cancer.

Ken Olin could play Mandy Patinkin's brother in Homeland.

Speaking of which, I'm Danton Stone. I played Ken's hapless black sheep of a brother.

I'm my mother's disappointment when she discovers that Ken Olin is married to Patricia Wettig in real life, which is immediately followed by an eye roll and scoff when Olin states that he thinks Wettig is 'the most beautiful woman in the world'.

[quote]Olin states that he thinks Wettig is 'the most beautiful woman in the world'.

His shiksa goddess.

The “30 something” characters in this series seem so “old” and “adult” by today’s standards🤔 They seem more like “50 somethings”.

They even look older (than “Hollywood 30s” do now).

Many 30-somethings I know are just *now* getting married and having their first child or just at the point in their careers where they are ready to think about family life...

I was mentioned earlier, but I'm the kooky, new-agey woman who becomes Nancy's cancer friend. At first I'm cool, fun, and fresh, and I seem like I'm helping Nancy deal with her disease. I seem to have good insight about life and how to persist and live fully after being diagnosed with a serious illness - cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. But, actually, I'm bitter, angry and a bit unhinged. Eventually, Nancy realizes that she has real responsibility to her husband and children and can't be continually off hanging out with me and engaging in our "we're not going to let cancer bet us" adventures (like the aforementioned lying on top of a car and screaming at planes taking off overhead). At that point, I call Nancy out and show her the miserable, non-hopeful, lonely, scared person I really am.

That role was played by Katherine Cortez.

[quote]I died 2 months later

I don't remember that.

Sorry. You were very brave.

There were many excellent storylines and great actors and great acting. This show should not be dismissed as shallow and dated.

I'm Charles Cioffi who played Ellyn's father. You knew I was going to be no good since I was the killer in Klute.

They really developed the characters of Ellyn and Melissa - in the end, theirs were the best episodes.

[quote]DLers are sort of mean about Melanie. Probably because she's an out gay.

R115, really? Other than thirtysomething threads, the only thing I remember being discussed that involved Melanie -- and that was indirectly-- was back when it was revealed she had two kids with some woman Jodie Foster was having an affair with. Otherwise, DLers seem fond of her small, but notable acting roles.

She's not attrative, so why are we discussing her? I can tolerate fish-talk, but they must be pretty to look at.

I'm Melanie Mayron's fist.

She'd shake me in the air several times a day when reporters called or appeared.

And she'd always say the same thing: "No, I am NOT Annie fucking Potts!"

R126 Yup. My parents had four kids and a house payment by 35.

Some of the current generation of early thirtysomethings cannot write a check, load a dishwasher or washing machine, or pay their taxes on their own. They've been infantilized to an insane degree.

We're Frank Capra's family not getting a dime from the producers using an [italic]It's a Wonderful Life[/italic] reference as their vanity closing logo.

"I died 2 months later"

"I don't remember that."

I made that up. They ever explained what became of the cancer friend.

Those pictures of Ken Olin today are depressing. He was so handsome when he was on this show, probably the best looking of the entire cast (men and women).

Mel Harris still looks pretty good (obviously with some procedural help).

"Beautiful" types rarely age well, as evidenced by Ken Olin. There are exceptions, but it's a good general rule. More ruggedly handsome types usually age much better.

Nobody uses cheques anymore so it's kind of a useless skill.

It's on youtube I'm gong to watch it later

[quote]I'm JD Souther, inexplicably cast as Hope's fellow activist/crush.

I'm reading the 30th anniversary book mentioned upthread - J.D. Souther was trying to get an acting career going at the time (he also appeared in My Girl 2 and a few other things, I believe) and he knew Peter Horton in some capacity. That's how he got cast. I thought he was actually pretty hot in the role.

Another piece of useless trivia (not from the book, just from me): the guy who played the art student Nancy crushed on as she was having cancer treatment-related libido issues was Eric Rosse, whose name should be familiar to Tori Amos fans - he was the producer of her first two brilliant albums and her boyfriend for a number of years.

[quote]They really developed the characters of Ellyn and Melissa - in the end, theirs were the best episodes.

Ellyn always annoyed the fuck out of me, but her affair with the married man storyline was incredibly well done. I've never forgotten that scene where she gets dumped by him over the phone as she's just gotten out of the shower, with her back to the camera, as vulnerable as she could be. Polly Draper was a great actress.

[quote]It's on youtube I'm gong to watch it later

I watched the "gays in bed" episode last night.

It was so gentle and handled SO WELL. I'm ENRAGED that they made such a big deal out of it. ENRAGED.

They barely touch each other and don't even kiss.

& bravo to the people who made it so sensitively, with such wit.

Much about this show was top notch.

[quote]Ellyn always annoyed the fuck out of me, but her affair with the married man storyline was incredibly well done.

& her whole hooking up with the guy who she eventually married, was also excellent.

Fun fact: the guy she married later played Felicity's father - who was so good in this and awful in that. Felicity with her parents scenes did not work at all well.

Here's the gays in bed episode.

As it goes along, the audio and visual go out of sync. You have been warned.

& Russell, one of the two gays, Melissa's friend, was not only very good but cute (not DL 2017 gym and shiny cute - but real-world cute).

so was the guy who played his date, Peter Montefiore. Perfect casting.

[quote]& her whole hooking up with the guy who she eventually married, was also excellent.

Yes - I love the way her eventual husband was positioned as someone she'd dismissed early on and then returned to with new eyes, after having gone through the tortured roller coaster of her relationship with the married guy. The way those two storylines flowed from one to the other was perfect. Capped with another memorable scene, of Ellyn closing her eyes and laying her head on her husband's shoulder as they danced at their wedding - the palpable relief, that after all her shitty relationships and choices, she'd arrived at the right place.

It could be irritating yuppie twaddle at times, but most of the time, the writing was through the roof.

[quote]Capped with another memorable scene, of Ellyn closing her eyes and laying her head on her husband's shoulder as they danced at their wedding - the palpable relief, that after all her shitty relationships and choices, she'd arrived at the right place

You remember all this from 30 years ago?

Or you've re-watched it since?

I discovered the show via the Lifetime re-runs years after it had been canceled, and I have the dvds now, though it's been a long time since I've watched them. But some of the scenes have stuck with me ever since my first viewings of the episodes - that was one of them.

I'm Melissa and amazing that I could go from playing the cashier in Carwash looking like this ....

To this....

David Marshall Grant

Peter Frechette

I think Melanie Mayron was always very cute. Not beautiful, but cute. Long hair, glasses, extra 10 pounds, and all.

Peter Montefiore also had a memorable scene where he has a breakdown after getting the news he is HIV positive -- which amounted to "You've got AIDS" at the time.

I also loved when the fortune teller (played by Renee Taylor) at Michael's disastrous surprise party told Ellyn she saw marriage in her future and Ellyn's reaction after just being dumped by the married man. It was a variation of "Oh, come on... now this is just being cruel." She wasn't even close and then... return to the blind date from way back when.

The best episode, though, the one I always showed people to get them hooked, was the Video Dating episode with Ellyn and Melissa featured heavily. It was a pretty perfect hour.

Sure Ken Olin has aged and put on some weight, but I don't think he looks so bad. He still has a full head of hair, is still handsome - he looks like someone who has a stable marriage and is not afraid to enjoy the kind of a life that a successful career must have offered him.

Amazed he is still standing after going through that heroin addiction of their daughter.

I agree, R156.

Zach Qunto will look just like current Ken Olin when he reaches that age.

Ellyn was my favourite character. I think according to the anniversary book the writers were considering marrying her to Steve Woodman in the earlier seasons but Polly Draper thought that was a bad idea. She liked how Ellyn could screw up a relationship.

gee, I'm glad that didn't happen.

I'm Kelly Wolf who played the young Ellyn in the episode "The Burning Bush". My voice was dubbed by Polly Draper, a humiliation that only Andie MacDowall could appreciate.

ha, young Hope was dubbed by Mel too so more of an artistic touch than an insult. That young Ellyn matched up well physically too. That was a good episode about Hope and Ellyn drifting apart.

I love the shot of Polly/Ellyn in the opening credits of Season 4 where she is wet and pulling her hair off her forehead (while trying to end it early with her married boyfriend). I used to watch that shot over and over, for some reason. Maybe because I identified with her and her perverse choices more than any other character (and I'm a guy).

R158 probably has sane opinions about lots of things.

I'm Carly Simon.

from the Carly Simon episode.

>>>

boy, that Carly Simon clip is embarrassing, isn't it?

I'm Mel Harris' hugely pregnant body that was seen in Season 3. Was a pregnant actress shown on television like this before? Since Mel wanted to keep working the writers had to make Hope pregnant but also cleverly had her consider an affair with John Dunaway, spinning the idea that a pregnant woman could still be considered desirable.

why is this grayed out?

No clue. The writing got better as it went on. I wish they would do a reunion.

Gurl @ R171.

Leave well alone.