

Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for MGM/UA Television Group and The Bedford Falls Company, and aired on ABC. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. The title of the show was designed as thirtysomething by Kathie Broyles, who combined the words of the original title, Thirty Something. In 1997, "The Go Between" and "Samurai Ad Man" were ranked #22 on TV Guide′s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, Thirtysomething was ranked #19 on TV Guide′s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #10 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.

Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for MGM/UA Television Group and The Bedford Falls Company, and aired on ABC. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. The title of the show was designed as thirtysomething by Kathie Broyles, who combined the words of the original title, Thirty Something. In 1997, "The Go Between" and "Samurai Ad Man" were ranked #22 on TV Guide′s 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, Thirtysomething was ranked #19 on TV Guide′s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #10 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.
No reviews yet
Sign in to write the first review
E1 · Pilot
Hope and Michael Steadman are still adjusting to parenthood while struggling with money problems and best-friend crises.
E2 · The Parents Are Coming, the Parents Are Coming
Hope's anxiety over her parents' impending visit taxes everyone's patience.
E3 · Housewarming
Michael and Hope race to renovate their crumbling mansion for a huge housewarming party.
E4 · Couples
A night out with friends degenerates as Nancy and Elliot's marital woes become apparent.
E5 · But Not for Me
Gary and Melissa rekindle their affair; Michael and Hope's first date in months is a disaster.
E6 · We Gather Together
Hope and Michael plan a quiet Thanksgiving but learn friends are counting on being invited.
E7 · Nice Work If You Can Get It
Before a deadline, Michael and Elliot wrestle with a creativity block; Ellyn develops a crush on an associate.
E8 · Weaning
Sensing baby Janey's decreasing dependency on her, depressed Hope decides to go back to work.
E9 · I'll Be Home for Christmas
Michael and Hope argue about whether their infant's first holiday should be Christmas or Hanukkah. A famous photographer shows interest in Melissa's work.
E10 · South by Southeast
It's a Hitchcockian nightmare as Gary falls in love; as the romance progresses, he begins receiving a series of threats against his life.
E11 · Therapy
Elliot and Nancy seek professional help for their troubled marriage; Michael finds it hard to keep it a secret.
E12 · Competition
Michael's jealousy is aroused when an important client make it clear he prefers Elliot. Meanwhile, Hope and Nancy try to come to terms with computers.
E13 · Separation
Elliot temporarily moves in with Michael and Hope after separating from Nancy.
E14 · I'm in Love, I'm in Love, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Gynecologist
Competing for the attention of the same man jeopardizes the new found friendship between Ellyn and Melissa.
E15 · Business as Usual
Michael's hopes for a joyous reunion with his father are destroyed when he discovers the real reason for the visit.
E16 · Accounts Receivable
A rocky relationship between Michael and his brother Brad is further strained when Michael learns the family business is almost bankrupt.
E17 · Whose Forest Is This?
Nancy and Elliot's separation takes its toll on their son; Elliot prepares for a blind date with a chiropractor.
E18 · Nancy's First Date
Melissa's burgeoning romance slows when she learns he doesn't want any more kids. Nancy has her first date since the separation.
E19 · Undone
Michael's old girlfriend from college pays a visit.
E20 · Tenure
Gary evaluates the fate of his academic career as he undergoes tenure review at the college. Ellyn learns her building is going co-op, leaving her to decide whether to buy her apartment.
E21 · Born to Be Mild
Ellyn and Woodman's weekend is ruined when they are forced to babysit Janey.
E1 · We'll Meet Again
As she and Michael argue about her working and having another child, Hope learns about some previous tenants of their house. Hope is making tentative moves toward returning to work full-time. Michael…
E2 · In Re: the Marriage of Weston
Things get complicated between Elliot and Nancy as they moved toward finalizing their divorce. They both try to establish new relationships. Scenes of Elliot and Nancy's courtship are intercut with t…
As Christmas and Hanukkah near, Hope suffers a minor injury and an unknown illness. Michael has a crisis of faith and imagines his life as a 1960's TV sitcom. Michael and Hope are negotiating over Ch…
E4 · Trust Me
Melissa and Gary consider having a child together. Gary volunteers his time at a social services center, where he is irritated by and attracted to a brusque administrator. Gary and Melissa's relation…
E5 · No Promises
Ellyn tries to deal with the shock of her parents' divorce and her growing estrangement from Woodman. Ellyn is shocked to receive a call from her father asking her to lunch. With Hope and Nancy, she …
E6 · Politics
CAPSULE: Michael takes on a client that he, his wife and his friends find repugnant. Gary and Susannah's odd relationship continues to grow. At a diner with Hope, Gary, Elliot and Melissa, Michael re…
E7 · Success
Melissa gets a job working with Carly Simon. Michael and Elliot face losing their business. Melissa is excited--Russell has shown some of her work around and he might be able to get her the job of sh…
E8 · First Day / Last Day
Flashback scenes of Michael and Elliot meeting, working together, and forming their own company are interspersed with the present-day dissolution of the Michael and Elliot Company. The two have seriou…
E9 · About Last Night
Gary and Susannah try to figure out what to do when they finds out that she's pregnant. Nancy misses a publishing deadline for her book.
E10 · Elliot's Dad
CAPSULE: Elliot gets involved with his wayward father. Ethan suffers an injury. Elliot goes to see his divorced father Charlie who is in town. Charlie introduces him to a woman friend, Roberta Sessio…
E11 · Payment Due
CAPSULE: Ellyn's work and personal life take a great toll on her, both physically and emotionally. Ellyn has been suffering from an unknown stomach ailment but she tells Woodman and Hope that's she's…
E12 · Deliverance
CAPSULE: Ellyn, Nancy, Hope and Melissa go on a cathartic camping trip. Melissa gets some camping equipment as a payoff for a photo shoot and the gang makes plans to take a camping trip to the Pocono…
E13 · Michael Writes a Story
Michael takes a creative writing class, as does Nancy. Michael incurs Nancy's wrath when he writes about something he heard about her in confidence from Elliot. Also, Michael and Elliot get new jobs w…
E14 · New Job
CAPSULE: Hope suffers a miscarriage just as Michael and Elliot begin work for Miles Drentell at DAA. Elliot and Michael are in Miles Drentell's office interviewing for jobs at DAA. While they are the…
E15 · Be a Good Girl
CAPSULE: Melissa must deal with her aging grandmother who wants her to take over her business. Melissa is preparing to go to her parents for a birthday dinner for herself, her mother Elaine and her b…
E16 · Courting Nancy
CAPSULE: Nancy pursues her relationship with Matt, but Elliot makes a concerted effort to win her back. Elliot returns the kids to Nancy and has an awkward meeting with her new boyfriend Matt Enwrigh…
E17 · Best of Enemies
CAPSULE: Hope is writing an article that could affect Susannah's Race St. Project, driving a wedge between her and Gary. Gary and Susannah are proceeding with preparations for parenthood. Melissa doe…
E1 · Nancy's Mom
CAPSULE: Nancy's and Elliot move closer to a reconciliation, to the disapproval of her visiting mother Eleanor. Elliot and Nancy are spending an evening at Michael and Hope's talking about Nancy's up…
E2 · Love and Sex
CAPSULE: While she and Michael are having problems of their own, Hope gets involved in the love life of her teenaged babysitter. Hope and Michael arrive home early while their teenaged babysitter Lau…
E3 · Mr. Right
CAPSULE: Ellyn and Melissa try using a video dating service. Melissa is unexpectedly attracted to a younger man she meets. Ethan must kiss a girl in the school play. Ellyn and Melissa are talking abo…
E4 · New Baby
CAPSULE: Susannah and Gary become new parents after a difficult delivery. Melissa has a hard time accepting Gary's new status. In a story told in reverse, the opening scene has Susannah in the hospit…
E5 · Legacy
Elliot and Michael have a close encounter with disaster on an airplane. Hope's employer, the magazine Synergy, is being taken over and will curtain its environmental watchdog activities. At a dinner p…
E6 · Strangers
CAPSULE: Melissa must come to terms with the problems she has over the age difference with Lee. Their relationship is paralleled by a new one between Russell Weller and Peter Montefiore. Russell drop…
E7 · Pilgrims
CAPSULE: Elliot reunites with his family, but Ethan is still full of anxiety which manifests itself as fear for his safety. Elliot moves back in his house with his wife and children on a busy morning…
E8 · The Burning Bush
CAPSULE: Ellyn takes steps toward starting an affair with Jeffrey Milgrom. Hope begins work on an environmental project. Ellyn and Hope's present-day relationship is compared to the one they had in hi…
E9 · New Parents
CAPSULE: Gary's decision to quit teaching and stay at home with his new baby causes a conflict between him and his mother. Gary and Susannah's new baby Emma cries for twelve hours and they can't figu…
E10 · Michael's Campaign
CAPSULE: Michael crosses swords with the creative director at DAA. Hope gets more involved with her environmental project. At DAA, Michael and Elliot attend a ""war council"" on Minnesota Brands, a h…
E11 · Pulling Away
CAPSULE: Michael is given more responsibility at DAA, causing friction between him and Elliot. Hope also has to take some responsibility with the anti-incinerator campaign. Michael and Eliot are exci…
E12 · Another Country
CAPSULE: Just as her children's book is published, Nancy is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. On a typical madhouse morning at the Weston house, Nancy is experiencing some back pain. Later when she sees…
E13 · Post-Op
CAPSULE: Nancy, family and friends deal with the aftermath of her cancer surgery. Nancy has come out of surgery and Elliot calls the Steadman house to tell Hope and Ethan the news--she's OK. Hope tel…
E14 · Once a Mermaid
CAPSULE: Ellyn restarts her affair with Richard, this time in earnest. Ellyn seems to be putting her flirtation with Jeffrey behind her, as she talks with Melissa about men and has a blind date with …
E15 · Fathers and Lovers
CAPSULE: Melissa has conflicts with Lee over finding him a new job and with her father over his plans to buy her building. At a dinner with her parents, the Steadmans and Lee, Melissa mentions that s…
E16 · Her Cup Runneth Over
CAPSULE: Richard leaves his wife and takes his daughter and moves in with Ellyn. This new instant family experiences some rough times right away. Richard and Ellyn meet for a noontime rendezvous. It'…
E17 · Good Sex, Bad Sex, What Sex, No Sex
CAPSULE: Against the background of an examination of the characters' sex lives, Melissa and Lee break up. Melissa and Lee's sex life is going great and she tells the other women about it, to their en…
E18 · The Other Shoe
CAPSULE: Nancy finds new support from another cancer patient, but their relationship threatens her closeness with her own family. Nancy has been receiving chemotherapy and as a result has been feelin…
E19 · The Three Year Itch
CAPSULE: While in Washington, DC about a possible job, Hope almost cheats on Michael with John Dunaway. While Michael has gotten a big raise almost doubling his salary and lots of perks with his new …
E20 · I'm Nobody, Who Are You?
E21 · Arizona
CAPSULE: Michael and Hope's relationship is deteriorating as they gather to attend her parents' anniversary celebration. Hope informs Michael they need to attend her parents' 40th wedding anniversary…
E22 · Going Limp
CAPSULE: Elliot gets a chance to direct a public service announcement, but is he capable of doing the job? Ellyn comes to DAA with a request for them to film a public service announcement for the cit…
E23 · Towers of Zenith Part 1: The Go-Between
CAPSULE: As Elliot grows more dissatisfied with DAA, Michael finds out something that could change everything about the company. Miles plans to take Michael to New York with him to meet with Bob Span…
E24 · Towers of Zenith Part 2: Samurai Adman
CAPSULE: Michael's career is on the line as the hostile takeover attempt of DAA heats up. As Minnesota Brands plots its hostile takeover of DAA, Miles wants to take Michael with him to see Carol Arth…
E1 · Prelude to a Bris
CAPSULE: The decision whether or not to circumcise the newborn Leo brings up larger questions: is he Jewish and what does that mean? Hope gives birth to her and Michael's new son Leo. After bringing …
E2 · Life Class
CAPSULE: Nancy feels that the hysterectomy has adversely affected her sex drive. Shots of Nancy teaching a class at the art center are intercut with her being examined by Dr. Eilertson. She asks abou…
E3 · Control
CAPSULE: Melissa starts a fledgling relationship with Miles. Ellyn and Jeffrey look for a new apartment. Melissa gets a job photographing five notable Philadelphians for a magazine. She's a bit appre…
E4 · The Distance
CAPSULE: An offer of a new job for Susannah leads to her and Gary taking a bold and unexpected step in their relationship. Ellyn finds out that Jeffrey is going back to his first wife. Early in the m…
E5 · The Haunting of DAA
CAPSULE: Amidst a big company layoff, Michael is visited by a mystery man. It's Halloween time and Ethan is fighting with his mother. He wants to be Freddy Krueger; Nancy says no. At DAA Michael come…
E6 · The Guilty Party
CAPSULE: Hope tries to do it all, including throwing a surprise birthday party for Michael. Her relentless perfectionism might be rubbing off on Janey. Contractors and repairmen are tearing up the St…
E7 · Photo Opportunity
CAPSULE: Melissa gets a big photo assignment at the same time that her mother breaks her leg. Melissa is ecstatic about a job she's up for, doing a photo shoot in New York for Vanity Fair magazine. A…
E8 · Never Better
CAPSULE: The ""friends of friends"" Gary and Ellyn become closer, but it's Billy Sidel that Ellyn is really interested in. Ellyn haltingly tells her therapist that she wants to terminate her treatmen…
E9 · Guns & Roses
CAPSULE: Nancy's continuing treatment for her cancer places more and more of a strain on her and her family. Nancy gets a phone call one morning about exhibiting her paintings at a show. She later go…
E10 · Happy New Year
CAPSULE: Everyone gathers at the Steadman house for a New Year celebration. Gary and Melissa help Hope prepare for the night's New Year's Eve party. Ellyn is worried because she didn't invite Billy; …
E11 · Melissa and Men
As she prepare for a gallery exhibit devoted to her work, Melissa examines her past relationships with the men in her life and wonders why they have been such failures.
E12 · Advanced Beginners
While Ellyn and Billy are living together temporarily, an old girlfriend of Billy's arrives upon the scene, causing some problems.
E13 · Sifting the Ashes
On a business trip to Baltimore, Elliot confronts issues with his mother and with his religious faith. Ethan too is wondering if religious faith can help his own mother.
E14 · A Second Look
Amidst the celebration over the success of Nancy's cancer surgery, a terrible and unexpected tragedy strikes another member of the group.
E15 · Fighting the Cold
Susannah returns for Gary's funeral. Melissa is an emotional wreck in the aftermath. She and Susannah come to terms with each other.
E16 · The Difference Between Men and Women
Bachelor and bachelorette parties for Billy and Ellyn provide the backdrop for a look at the various couples' relationships with each other and their fideliity.
E17 · The Wedding
Ellyn and Billy get married. Predictably, all does not go smoothly, as Ellyn gets a bad case of pre-wedding jitters.
E18 · Closing the Circle
Michael tries to come to terms with Gary's passing. Among the living, he has problems with Susannah and with Miles and Peter at work.
E19 · Out the Door
Michael's fortunes seem to be rising at DAA, but Elliot is more dissatisfied than ever and is ready to quit the job, leading to conflict between the two.
E20 · Hopeless
Hopr volunteers at a shelter for the homeless and gets personally involved in the life of a woman and her daughter there. She accuses Michael of having lost his social conscience.
E21 · A Stop at Willoughby
The stress of working at DAA becomes too much for Michael.
E22 · Melissa in Wonderland
Melissa goes to Hollywood to photograph a sitcom star who comes to rely on her advice.
E23 · California
Michael gets a job offer in California. While out there, he runs into Elliot and they talk about forming another partnership. But Hope is adamantly against the move, so much so that her and Michael's …