DVD News
TV yesteryear gem 'thirtysomething' 2nd season released Jan. 19
By April MacIntyre Jan 5, 2010, 1:22 GMT
The latter part of the eighties saw one of the better ensemble casts and realistic slices of American life thanks to showrunners Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who penned the baby boomer yarn "thirtysomething."
The latter part of the eighties saw one of the better ensemble casts and realistic slices of American life thanks to showrunners Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who penned the baby boomer yarn "thirtysomething."
The series aired from 1987 to 1991 on ABC, and starred Timothy Busfield, Polly Draper, Mel Harris, Peter Horton, Melanie Mayron, Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig.
Michael (Ken Olin) is Jewish and Hope Steadman (Mel Harris) is Christian, and together the two are the hub of many of the storylines, as their friends, coworkers and relatives weave in and out of their lives.
For the first time, Shout factory has released the second season of "thirtysomething", a 5-dvd collectible box set packed with all 17 episodes, a deluxe booklet and all-new special bonus features set to hit the shelves January 19.
These seven lives all connected in Philadelphia — Michael and Hope Steadman, Elliot and Nancy Weston, Gary Shepherd, Melissa Steadman and Ellyn Warren — unfolded on weekly television during the late ’80s.
Great casting, solid story lines and tapping into the baby boomer pathos combined to make the series a huge hit for ABC; this acclaimed TV show attracted a large following for its identifiable characters and groundbreaking episodes that explored such sensitive subject matter as accidental pregnancy, miscarriage, fighting cancer, as well as the shake-up of the idea of a traditional nuclear family.
Winner of 13 Prime-time Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and a Peabody Award, thirtysomething held up a mirror to a generation of young adults struggling to find a larger meaning to their existence in an era marked by rampant consumerism.
from Shout! Synopsis of season two:
Hope (Mel Harris) and Michael (Ken Olin) begin trying for a second child; Elliot (Tim Busfield) moves to lure Nancy (Patricia Wettig) back; after trying to rekindle things with Melissa (Melanie Mayron), Gary (Peter Horton) gets serious with Susannah (Patricia Kalember); Melissa continues to find herself while reexamining her string of failed relationships; and Ellyn (Poly Draper) gets an ulcer and alienates those close to her.
Then comes a new agitator for Michael and Elliot: David Clennon joins the cast as the diabolical, smug, manipulative and very successful advertising mogul Miles Drentell, whose arrival is ill-timed for the duo, but rife with dramatic prospects. Will Miles be the savior for their ailing careers, or is he a shark circling the waters?
Throughout the season, these characters struggle with the idealism of the past versus the tough reality of their futures. They continue to cope with making difficult adult decisions and questioning their own choices.
In becoming a commercial force that connected with millions of viewers every week, the series continued to push the limits of what a great television show was capable of while consistently maintaining its artistic and creative edge.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
* Mad Ad Man: Miles Drentell
* Inside The Outsider: Susannah Hart
* W.G. Snuffy Walden On The Music Of thirtysomething
* Episode Commentaries by Creators, Cast and Crew
