DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
twentysomething years ago, there was "thirtysomething"...
August 25, 2009  | By David Bianculli
 

Thirtysomething_l.jpgOne of the most eagerly anticipated TV-shows-on-DVD releases hits stores today: the first season of thirtysomething, the ABC series that, beginning in 1987, examined yuppie angst. The tangled web of music rights is what has discouraged the series from being packaged until now... but now, as Diane Werts already has alerted us in her blog, Shout! Factory has made it a reality...

thirtysomething-olin-busfie.jpg

It's quite an artifact of Reagan-era television, as reflective, in its way, as NBC's The Cosby Show. Both shows presented people who were more affluent than the norm. Bill Cosby's program, though, was a sitcom populated mostly by blacks. ABC's thirtysomething, conversely, was a drama that, like Seinfeld and Friends after it, was overwhelmingly white.

The first few episodes of season one of thirtysomething are rather clumsy affairs: Everything is overwrought, overwritten and, for the most part, overacted. But starting with episode four -- a double-date dinner gone bad and re-enacted, Rashomon-like, from different perspectives -- this show began finding its footing, as well as its voice. Some scenes still irritated as others amused, but the percentage kept improving.

I'll have a full review of the DVD release later this week on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and you can read Diane's fine Newsday feature on the show and its cast and creators by clicking HERE.

thirtysomething-box.jpg

Most important, perhaps, you can buy the set at a discount -- while still providing a small but much-appreciated kickback to TV WORTH WATCHING -- by clicking HERE.

And, coincidentally, guess what it costs to purchase?

thirtysomething dollars.

 

3 Comments

 

SG said:

Wait...this show started in 1878? That can't be right... :)

(All right, you guys -- so I made a major date typo. Guilty as charged. And that goes for the other message on this topic, too. Sigh. I eventually fixed it... -- David B.)

Comment posted on August 25, 2009 10:30 AM


Hudson said:

It truly was pioneer television. But I don't recall it being set in 1878.

(Very, very funny. Really. Made me chuckle. -- David B.)

Comment posted on August 25, 2009 11:10 AM


Joe said:

I just love to sit back and watch these shows of the 70's and 80's. It's worth watching them.

Comment posted on September 9, 2009 4:32 PM
 
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
JYFIT
Type in the verification word shown on the image.