i don't know how many of you will remember this show from the late eighties and early nineties---
it was an hour drama about thirty something year old yuppie people--
i had a love hate relationship with the show---i wouldn't miss it every week---but i wouldn't stop complaining as i watched it---about how weird they were and so unlike any thirty something people i knew---
the show centered around a man, wife and child--and their quirky photographer cousin to the lead male character michael-- his intellectual hippie good-looking best friend gary---the lead women, hope's best friend, ellen, who represented all of the career women that scared men off----then there was michael's business partner and his wife---
it was a very unique ensemble to say the least-----
i loved the way it was shot---the scenes were dark and shadowy --
watching it again after all these years has been a joy----it is even better than i recall---and the writing and direction was superb--although i do not think it would hold up to today's audiences---
it can be depressing and very introspective---but that is sometimes my kind of show---
i did notice as i have been re-watching these shows---that it is dark not only in the lighting but in the truthful way it lets you know these people---their struggles and regrets, insecurities and neuroses--
one thing i never liked about the show, was their theme music--i never thought it went with the story---but now as i sleep after viewing, i find the tune rolling around in my brain--
as i find the memories of what i was doing back in the days it was on and what i felt like during those thirty-something---early forty days-----it is a strange comfort and very bittersweet-
i hope i find other videos of this truly adult, provocative cozy heart show----i will scoop them up and drink in all of that painfully artistic magic-
I've only seen one episode, and I cried through the whole show....of course, I was 16 and sick with chicken pox, so I'm not sure if the show was sad or if I was just miserable!
ReplyDeleteoh it could be very sad at times!
DeleteI think I only watched a few episodes of that show because of working evenings and nights.
ReplyDeleteawww sorry ya missed it!
DeleteI loved this show, LOL, but then at the time I was thirtysomething and we had just adopted our first child and I had a close friend who was very similar to the Ellen character so I could relate to a lot of it. I was very sad when it went off the air. I'll have to look for it; I think I too would enjoy re-watching it.
ReplyDeletehave a great weekend!
betty
i too had and still have a friend like ellen---i hope ya find it!! you too--thanks betty:)
DeleteI never watched it, but I remember is was sort of cutting-edge back then, huh? I agree about the theme song.
ReplyDeleteit really was---:)
DeleteLovely post Lynn :) It's nice to watch something from years ago and feel all of that nostalgia. I've never seen this but it does sound interesting :)
ReplyDeleteit really has been so neat to find it again--let me know if you ever see any of them---thanks nikki :)
DeleteTen shows for a buck -- wow! I'm sure rediscovering a show you once appreciated and finding it's held up after all of these years is a real pleasure. And I love a show with tight writing, just like you. I hope you find another great deal!
ReplyDeleteover all the writing is the best--they even have scenes where there is no talking---like real life!
DeleteI remember that show! I don't that that I ever watched it regularly, but for a buck I would watch an entire season!
ReplyDeletehaha i know--what a deal huh!
DeleteI remember that show, but I didn't watch it often. My husband did, though, and he still talks about it.
ReplyDeletereally--that's so cool that he liked it--my husband did too--although i doubt he would have watched it had i not started first!
DeleteI never watched the show, but your comments made me curious. I've had plenty of shows that I've had a love-hate relationship with, though!
ReplyDeletei know--me too---i remember hating greys anatomy at first and dallas---haha!
DeleteI never saw the show, but I'm sure watching the reruns brought back a lot of memories for you!
ReplyDeleteit really has sherry:)
DeleteI never watched that show, but I love getting attached to shows. I have one I currently like, but it's off season now.
ReplyDeletehttp://joycelansky.blogspot.com
which one is it joyce?
DeleteI bought Tony a copy of Pretender (Michael T Weiss plays Jared, a pretender who breaks out of the Centre that captured him as a boy to find his parents and sister) season one for his birthday last year.... which turned into a marathon of all the seasons and both of the finale movies.
ReplyDeleteIt was awesome.
Something about old TV shows.... they are just not the same now.
OMG I remember this show. Wasn't pParker the name of the woman from the Center who was trying to find him?
Deletei know juli---there is something so comforting about watching old series we loved!
Deleteit's fun rediscovering shows. I recently watch all of Twin Peaks again and I remember Thirty Something though I never watched it.
ReplyDeletei think i watched that show some too!
DeleteIt's fun revisiting old favorites :)
ReplyDeletei know, sometimes it's just what i need!
DeleteI never watched that show. I didn't watch very much TV then, and not that much now either. I did recently discover Seinfeld and have been enjoying that classic.
ReplyDeleteLee
Wrote By Rote
i used to love seinfeld too--great show about "nothing" haha!
DeleteI've never heard of thirtysomething, but I can identify with you on rewatching a show from years and years ago and the feelings and nostalgia that goes along with it. Awhile ago, I pulled up episodes of Lamb Chop's Play Along with Shari Lewis. It was a show from my childhood but it seemed so much better than the stuff that is on the tube for kids nowadays. So much more original.
ReplyDeleteSarah @ The Writer's Experiment
i remember watching that show too---i loved lamb chop!! thanks sarah :)
DeleteI don't know this show, Lynn, but it is lovely to pick up something that resonated years ago and still does it for us. D.
ReplyDeletei really is!!
DeleteOh Lynn, I loved this show so much!! I couldn't relate to any of them, but I loved it none the less. I remember crying my eyes out when they killed off Gary (Peter Horton). That episode just destroyed me.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy seeing some of the cast come back in different episodes of Brothers and Sisters. Ken Olin (Michael from Thirtysomething was the executive producer of Brothers and Sisters) and he brought his real life wife to be a perminate character to the show as well, she is Patricia Wetting who played Nancy on Thirtysomething.
I miss both shows, and what a great deal you got!! You can't beat a buck!!
i know--i loved them on brothers and sister!!---you know the episode where gary died---i don't know if you remember, but he had either a letter or a bookmark left in a book and it was on page 200 something--but anyway--i was in the hospital with a blood clot- i was pretty sick---my room number was his page number--my husband was afraid that meant i was going to die!
DeleteLOL!! Okay so that's funnny. Glad your husbands feeling about the whole 200 thing was way off....just goes to show you doesn't it!
Deletehaha i know!!!
DeleteI'm with zebsmom. I LOVED that show! My youngest was the same age as Janie, Hope's baby, and I loved Michael. It felt like my life. I will never forget when they killed off Gary! I thought the writing was really good, and I had a real heart attachment to it. It had kind of a cult following. My son recently bought me the first season, and I'm enjoying it again. I loved the shows about Nancy's cancer too...they were so beautifully done. I miss that kind of angst-ridden show. Did you ever get into LOST? It had some of the same qualities.
ReplyDeletethanks for the memories!
no i never watched "lost"---i loved "brothers and sisters"--and years ago, i loved "st. elsewhere"---now i kinda like "grey's anatomy"----and i don't usually like cop shows--but i used to love "cagney and lacy"---i love tyne daily in almost anything! you're welcome mare :)
DeleteI loved the show...I grew up outside of Phila and was in my late 20's/early 30's when it aired. I had two babies then and it felt real...even though the characters were not like me I felt like they were real people. There was something about the show that made me hope their lives worked out.
ReplyDelete