- Release Date: August 25th, 2009
- Publisher: Shout! Factory
- Price: $38.49 on Amazon
- Run Time: 1200 Minutes
- Special Features: A Conversation Between Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, “From thirtysomething to Forever”-Making thirtysomething, Couples and Singles, Cultural Impact, Commentaries
- Starring: Timonthy Busfield, Polly Draper, Mel Harris, Peter Horton, Melanie Mayron, Ken Olin, Patricia Wettig
- Genre: Character Drama
Every once and awhile a show comes along that while never getting a huge audience, gets a very devote audience. thirtysomething is one of those shows. I absolutely knew nothing about the show and had only heard the name once or twice before I received the first season in the mail. Before checking out the series I did a little research and discovered that there were a lot of fans of the series who were patiently waiting years for the show to be released on DVD. Well that day has come so fans of the series can now enjoy the first season again on DVD.
For those of you who like me were not familiar with thirtysomething, the show follows seven 30 year olds in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. These seven adults weekly went through issues many people faced during that time period. Michael and Hope Steadman are adapting to becoming first time parents. Elliot and Nancy Weston are dealing with marriage troubles. Gary Sheppard is your typical thirty year old that still thinks he is twenty. Melissa Steadman is a struggling artist. Finally Ellyn Warren is a career chaser.
Since thirtysomethings began airing in 1987 and lasted until 1991, it was a little before my time. Since I was only three when the series went off the air, I obviously wasn’t a fan when the series originally aired. Watching the series a little over twenty years after it’s original airing and I have to say that the show is not bad but not great either.
thirtysomething is a pure character drama. The show doesn’t really have much humor in my opinion since it is very character driven. Its too bad that there isn’t more humor since I personally like humor in these type of shows. One thing I thought was a problem was that thirtysomething started off pretty slow. thirtysomething wasn’t that strong out of the gate. It did improve throughout the first season though so if you are willing to give it time and are a fan of character dramas, you should enjoy thirtysomething.
As far as special features you really can’t be disappointed with what you get in this DVD set. With the show being over 20 years old, the DVD set is obviously not going to have as many features as newer shows that knew they were going to have a DVD release of their show. Before getting to the actual special features, I have to mention two things.
First I have to applaud the episode description booklet. Most DVD sets make a very simple booklet that lists the episodes in the DVD set. thirtysomething put quite a bit of effort into their booklet. Along with the normal episode descriptions, there are 19 pages of pictures and information about the show. While it isn’t huge, it is always nice when a DVD set gives the fans something extra.
Second I have to warn people who have not seen seasons two through four, the special features do include spoilers from the final three seasons. If you have seen the entire series that shouldn’t be a problem. You should also really enjoy the special features. If you haven’t seen the final three seasons and don’t want any spoilers I would recommend not checking out the special features.
As far as the special features themselves you can expect:
- A Conversation between Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick-The title is pretty self explanatory. This feature is pretty much Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick talking to each other about the show. Kind of boring but fans of the series should enjoy it. Length: 32 Minutes
- From thirtysomething to Forever: Making thirtysomething-This actually consists of two features named Beginnings and Following Years. The Beginnings is mostly about the first season while The Following Years is about seasons 2-4. It is your typical behind the scenes featurette. Length: 30 and 15 Minutes
- Couples-Features about the two couples on the show Michael and Hope, and Elliot and Nancy. Pretty much your typical character analysis. Length: 10 Minutes Each
- Singles-Very similar to the Couples feature except that it focuses on Gary, Melissa and Ellyn. Length: 11 Minutes
- Writers-A feature that talks about the process and the writers that worked on the series. Length: 5 Minutes
- Directors-A feature that talks about the process and the directors that worked on the series. Length: 6 Minutes
- Cultural Impact-A feature about how the culture of the late 80’s and early 90’s affected the show and how the show affected US culture. Length: 10 Minutes
- Commentaries-Includes commentaries on nine episodes from the creators, cast and crew.
Overall I thought thirtysomething was not a bad or great show. It was slightly above average. There are some die hard fans of thirtysomething and I would highly recommend that they pick up thirtysomething on DVD. If you have never seen the show before I would recommend a purchase if you are a fan of character dramas.
