Who doesn’t miss Michael Steadman? The clear star of thirtysomething, Ken Olin as the handsome Michael embodied all of the angst and growing pains of the late ‘80s male—he wanted to be the perfect father figure without losing his boyish youth, tried to escape corporate America only to return to working for the man, and loved his wife and supported her through many meltdowns (while wistfully dreaming of their spicier, pre-baby days). The role made Olin the fantasy husband for female audiences (and the envy of their husbands). Now 55, Olin is working steadily as a major television producer and director—he has directed episodes of Alias, Felicity, The West Wing, Freaks and Geeks, and Brothers & Sisters. Olin is also still acting—he plays David Caplan on Brothers & Sisters (which he executive produces), alongside former thirtysomething castmate (and real-life wife) Patricia Wettig.
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Mel Harris—a.k.a. Hope Murdoch Steadman—was the female center of the show. Still slender and stylish after having a baby, Hope embodied the kind of self-attuned emotional anxiety that was rampant among yuppie moms. She could never get along with her critical mother, and she moaned constantly about missing her younger, sexier self (while also bombarding her single best friend with an endless stream of stories from married mommy life). In 1989, Harper’s Bazaar named Harris one of “America’s 10 Most Beautiful Women,” but unfortunately, this did not have much of an effect on her long-term career. Though Harris, 53, has appeared on several shows since— The West Wing, Cold Case, House, JAG, CSI: NY, and a little-watched show on MyNetworkTV called Saints & Sinners, her career never reached the heights that the hype around her seemed to promise (though her tabloid life did—she’s been divorced five times). But we will always have Hope’s crying episodes and love of oversized accessories.
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Now 52, Timothy Busfield is still going strong—he is directing ( Lipstick Jungle), producing ( Ed, Without a Trace), and acting (he had major roles in The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Entourage). But will he really be anyone else besides Elliot Weston? He of the red beard, zany business ideas, and rampant infidelity? Viewers alternatively loved and hated Elliot—he was comic relief and spoke the truth, but always seemed to take advantage of his earnest wife, Nancy, and frankly, was a bit of jerk throughout the seasons before Nancy started struggling with cancer. He then stepped up his game as a husband and father, converting many nonbelievers by the series' end. Busfield has continued to support the thirtysomething family; he cast Melissa (Melanie Mayron) as an Annie Leibovitz-style photographer in Lipstick Jungle, and also tapped her to direct an episode of the show.
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By tying on a headscarf and soldiering bravely through her cancer plotline, Patricia Wettig won over American hearts as the beleaguered artist mom of thirtysomething, Nancy Weston. Wetting, 57, currently stars as Holly Harper in ABC’s Brothers & Sisters with husband Ken Olin (they married in 1982, five years before thirtysomething went on the air), and has enjoyed a healthy television life since the ‘80s, with roles in L.A. Doctors, The Practice, Breaking News, Alias (produced by Olin), and Prison Break.
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The young creators of thirtysomething knew they had produced a groundbreaking show, but they went on to create equally memorable series My So-Called Life, Relativity, and Once and Again (as well the less-memorable Quarterlife, a recent experiment in online video and social networking that never really took off). Edward Zwick is still one of Hollywood’s most prestigious directors, having made Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance, and Glory. Herskovitz also remains a major producer and director—he was involved with Traffic, Shakespeare in Love and I Am Sam, and directed the cult hit Stealing Beauty. Together with Zwick, he formed the Bedford Falls Company, a production house that will likely continue to churn out touching, zeitgeisty programming as long as audiences will lap it up.
Though she was only in a few episodes, Patricia Heaton made a memorable appearance in the thirtysomething universe as Dr. Silverman, the gynecologist who discovered Nancy’s ovarian cancer (a big plotline in 1990, given that the shows aired in the wake of Gilda Radner’s death of the same disease). The six-episode cancer cycle sparked countless doctor’s exams and watercooler fretting sessions—and drew in 17 percent more viewers than before Nancy got the bad news. After delivering the prognosis, Heaton, 51, went on to her most iconic role, long-suffering wife Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. She recently completed a pilot for a new ABC show, The Middle, featuring yet another despondent mom and her dysfunctional brood.
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Thirtysomething’s clear heavy, Miles Drentell (David Clennon), became Elliot and Michael’s new boss when they went to work for the larger ad agency DAA. The majority of the time at DAA, Drentell was determined to corrupt Michael and turn him toward the corporate dark side, and it provided some of the shows most dramatic moments. In a two-episode arc, Elliot and Michael secretly plot to take over the company behind Drentell’s back, and though they fail, it drew massive ratings. Some fans argue that Miles was the greatest villain in the history of television, and while that’s debatable, Clennon’s turn on the show cemented his status as the essential TV guest star. Since thirtysomething, Clennon, 66, has appeared on Cybill, Once and Again, The Agency, NewsRadio, Saved, Scrubs, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and about 100 more. Perhaps he will never rise about being “that guy” in a bunch of shows, but he’s thirtysomething’s “that guy,” and the legend of Miles Drentell lives on in the dirty dealings of Mad Men’s seedier executives.
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Remember the guy who stole the Oscars in 2005? Paul Haggis, director of the racial morality play, Crash, won the statue over Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, and a nation went, huh? But long before he was gold plated, Canadian director Paul Haggis wrote and produced several episodes of thirtysomething. Haggis started working on the show during the first season, and later went on to create the series Walker, Texas Ranger, Family Law, The Black Donnellys and the short-lived EZ Streets (incestuous note: thirtysomething’s Ken Olin starred and produced). Haggis also went on to screenwriting glory, penning the Clint Eastwood films Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Flags of Our Fathers. His next project, the thriller The Next Three Days, will star Russell Crowe. Haggis has come far from writing plotlines about diapers and ordering takeout.
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Though she has long moved on from her days as moody photographer Melissa Steadman, Michael’s cousin, Mayron will not be forgotten—the leather jacket, on-and-off again romance with Gary Shepherd, and the cool, industrial loft apartment provided a much-needed, infant-free element to the show. One of the most successful of the thirtysomething alumni, Mayron, 56, has become an in-demand television director (she got her directing start on the thirtysomething set, taking on two episodes by herself). She also directed Dawson’s Creek, Arli$$, In Treatment, 90210, Drop Dead Diva, Greek, and Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band (another thirtysomething connection—Polly Draper is mother to the Naked Brothers stars and creator of the show).
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A supervising producer on 64 episodes of thirtysomething, Scott Winant was a major force behind the success of the show. It was his first big Hollywood gig, but not his last—Winant went on to direct episodes of high-drama cable shows like Californication, Huff, and Carnivale, and most recently, HBO’s True Blood.
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Polly Draper played Ellyn, Hope’s best friend from childhood and a chronically single gal who toils away at City Hall. In the final season Ellyn marries Billy Sidel (Erich Anderson), and, we assume, lives happily ever after. In real life, Draper, 54, became a screenwriter, penning the film The Tic Code in 1998. She also married twice, and with her second husband, musician Michael Wolff, gave birth to the Nat and Alex, the stars of Nickelodeon’s Naked Brothers Band (which Draper created and produces). In the The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, all of her former thirtysomething castmates had cameos as themselves.
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When on thirtysomething, Patricia Kalember played quite the divisive character. She started out as Gary Shepherd’s (Peter Horton) icy social-worker girlfriend, Susannah—and later became his wife and baby mama. Though none of the other characters liked her, Susannah survived Gary’s final season death, and so got to carry on his memory as his widow. At the same time as she was filming thirtysomething, Kalember was also starting work on Sisters—her role as Georgie Whitsig on the long-running NBC drama made her an early ‘90s phenomenon. Now 51 and still acting, Kalember recently played a judge on Law & Order: SVU, and guest starred in an episode of Gossip Girl. She will next appear on the big screen in Rabbit Hole, the film adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony/Pulitzer-winning play, starring Nicole Kidman.
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English professor Gary Shepherd—played by the long-haired, free-sprited Peter Horton—was the show’s heartthrob (that is, until he died in a car accident). Horton, 56, went on to become one of the show’s most lauded graduates—he was an executive producer on Grey’s Anatomy, Dirty Sexy Money, and the new NBC series, The Philanthropist. He also directed several episodes of The Wonder Years, Once and Again, and The Shield, and continued to act, appearing in In Treatment (connection: Melanie Mayron), Brothers & Sisters (connections: Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig). Less hair, more cred.
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