THIRTYSOMETHING
DRAMA / ROMANTIC DRAMA
USA
1987-1991
THIRTYSOMETHING is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991. THIRTYSOMETHING consists of 86 episodes of 1 hour.
STORY: Thirtysomething is an ensemble drama. The series revolves around husband and wife Michael Steadman (Ken Olin) and Hope Murdoch (Mel Harris) and their baby Janie. Michael's cousin is photographer Melissa Steadman (Melanie Mayron), who used to date his college friend Gary Shepherd (Peter Horton). Gary eventually marries Susannah (Patricia Kalember). Michael's business partner is Elliot Weston (Timothy Busfield), who has a troubled marriage with his wife Nancy (Patricia Wettig), a painter. Hope's childhood friend is local politician Ellyn Warren (Polly Draper).
GAY COUPLE STORYLINE: Russell (David Marshall Grant) is an artist, who is preparing for his first solo gallery show. He meets Peter (Peter Frechette) at the advertising agency that is designing the catalog for the show. They get together at Russell's for dinner and end up sleeping together. In the days following, Russell hesitates to call Peter. Melissa (Melanie Mayron) asks him why, and Russell says that (because of the AIDS epidemic), this is a bad time to start forming attachments. Melissa convinces him that there's never a "right time" to start forming attachments. Russell drops off a copy of the catalog for Peter and invites him to the opening.
Russell (David Marshall Grant) & Peter (Peter Frechette)
DAVID MARSHALL GRANT (1989-1990) June 21, 1955, Westport, CT, USA
PETER FRECHETTE (1989-1991) October 3, 1956, Warwick, RI, USA
SPECIAL: A scene included in the episode "Strangers" showing Russell (David Marshall Grant) and Peter (Peter Frechette) in a post-coital conversation is widely believed to be the first time gay male characters were ever shown in bed together in a sexual context on American network television. Although the other (heterosexual) couples on the show were frequently shown kissing and having sex scenes, and despite the fact that the scene contained no revealing nudity, no kiss, or even any physical contact at all between between Grant and Frechette, just the fact that the two men were implied to have just had sex was enough to prompt the loss of about US$1.5 million worth of advertising revenue when many of the show's advertisers withdrew their commercials. ABC responded by pulling the episode out of the rerun and syndication lineup, so it was only seen again once the show was released on DVD. Actor David Marshall Grant went on to a second career as a writer and producer of plays and TV shows, including the shows "Brothers & Sisters" and "Smash," both of which featured gay couples who display affection with little controversy.
AWARDS: 'THIRTYSOMETHING' won 13 Primetime Emmys. 28 wins and 63 nominations.
7.5 IMDB
