Scott Ryan - Thirtysomething at Thirty: an oral history

Actors:

Timothy Busfield Elliot Weston; Director; Referred to as Tim or Timmy

David Clennon Miles Drentell

Dana Delany Guest Star Garys Girlfriend, Eve

Paul Dooley Guest Star Bob Spano

Polly Draper Ellyn Warren

Michael Feinstein Guest Star Musician

David Marshall Grant Russell Weller

Mel Harris Hope Murdoch Steadman; Director

Peter Horton Gary Shepherd; Director

Patricia Kalember Susannah Hart

Melanie Mayron Melissa Steadman; Director

Nick Meglin Guest Star Nick

Ken Olin Michael Steadman; Director; Referred to as Ken or Kenny

Corey Parker Lee Owens

Charlotte Stewart Guest Star Peggy York

Patricia Wettig Nancy Weston; Referred to as Patty

Lenny Von Dohlen Guest Star Roy MacCaulay

Production:

Brandy Alexander: Production Designer

Joseph Dougherty: Writer, Producer, Director; Referred to as Joe

Liberty Godshall: Writer; Actress played Madison

Jill Gordon: Writer

Paul Haggis: Writer

Ann Lewis Hamilton: Writer, Producer, Director

Marshall Herskovitz: Creator, Writer, Executive Producer, Director; Actor played Therapist

Winnie Holzman: Writer

Richard Kramer: Writer, Producer, Director

Ron Lagomarsino: Director

Ellen S. Pressman: Producer, Director

Susan Shilliday: Writer

Scott Winant: Producer, Director

Kenneth Zunder: Director of Photography (DP); Referred to as Ken

Edward Zwick: Creator, Writer, Executive Producer, Director; Referred to as Ed

What is an Oral History? An Oral History is the story of an event told by the people who took part in it. This book is told from the people who crafted thirtysomething. Each person told what they remembered from those four years in their own words. There is no fact checking, no challenging of their recollections, only questions and answers. Since the majority of these interviews were conducted conversationally, the author has had to shape some of the sentences. Memories come back in spurts, not complete sentences. Every attempt has been made to make as few changes as possible. The intention of every sentence has been maintained. Dates of all the interviews can be found in the back of this book.

All pictures are used for editorial use only. This book is not affiliated with ABC, MGM or Bedford Falls. All photos and/or copyrighted material appearing in this book remains the work of its owners. Marshall Herskovitz gave permission to use all thirtysomething pictures and scripts. He also said he wouldnt sue me. That was very nice of him. Photos were donated by Dan Steadman, Lisa Mercado Fernandez, Carol Gepper, Joe Dougherty, Ann Lewis Hamilton, Corey Parker, Melanie Mayron, Becca Ryan, Brandy Alexander, Richard Kramer, Todd Huppert, Dana Delany, Ken Zunder and Scott Ryan. Two photos were purchased from Photofest.

Front cover pictures from Ken Zunder. Designed by Becca Ryan.

Back cover pictures from Ken Zunder, Brandy Alexander. Designed by Becca Ryan.

thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history

2017 Scott Ryan. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This version of the book may be slightly abridged from the print version.

Published in the USA by:

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PO Box 71426

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www.bearmanormedia.com

ISBN 978-1-62933-102-7

Cover Design by Becca Ryan.

eBook construction by

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Table of Contents

thirtysomething at thirty? Thirty years ago? How is that possible? I must have been a ten-year-old writing prodigy.

Except that while writing on thirtysomething, I had a miscarriage and got pregnant again and had a son and wrote about those experiences on the show so the ten-year-old writing thing doesnt exactly fly.

But thirty years flies. Faster than anyone can imagine.

When thirtysomething ended, my husband was thrilled. He explained how for years, he would be greeted every Wednesday morning at work with, Hey, John. Guess I know what you and Ann were fighting about the other day.

Oh, no. Had I treated my husband like a laboratory specimen? Did I carry a hidden notebook to record our dinner conversations? After an argument, would I dash into the bedroom and write down the nasty things wed said to each other? Of course not.

Wellokay, sometimes.

But thats one of the things that made thirtysomething so good the honesty about what we were writing. Yes, it made my husband crazy, but I was writing about a real marriage (unfortunately for him, our marriage) the good, the bad, the specifics. For example, once when I was grumpy (once?), my husband washed my hair and it was such a luxury. Later I wrote an episode where Gary washes Susannahs hair, because Susannah deserved that luxury, too.

Writing for the show was like therapy, only instead of going to someones office and paying them hundreds of dollars to talk about our lives, we went to an office, wrote about our lives, and people paid us. How cool is that?

Im a firm believer there is drama in everything. It doesnt have to be Lannisters killing Starks killing Boltons (yep, Im a big fan of Game of Thrones). Drama exists in small things, too. Elliot being a goofball with his kids. Michael and Hope balancing Christmas and Hanukkah. Gary riding his bike. And sometimes larger things.

After my miscarriage, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz gave me the opportunity to write about one of the worst experiences of my life. It wasnt easy to do, but cathartic. We received mail where people told us about the comfort they felt because of that episode and that felt nice, the idea that our show could make a difference.

As writers, it helped that we had wonderful characters to work with. They felt like people you knew or wanted to know. Ed and Marshall created them on paper and the actors brought them to life. They grew and we grew.

Working on thirtysomething spoiled me. I remember talking to Brandon Stoddard, the head of ABC Entertainment and a huge champion of the show. I told him how much I loved working in television and couldnt wait to work on other shows because they would be just as incredible as thirtysomething. Brandon laughed. He said, A show like thirtysomething and creators like Ed and Marshall they dont come around very often.

Of course he was right. Ive worked with many other great people and on great shows, but thirtysomething was unique the combination of actors, writers, crew, and the way Ed and Marshall functioned as executive producers it was like film school. They wanted everyone to learn about the process writers should spend time on the set. Talk to actors, hear what they had to say about the scripts. Melanie Mayron pointed to a line once and told me, You dont need to write that, I can play it. What a lesson we learned to write subtext. We watched a DP (director of photography) line up a shot. Saw the art director and props people make Hope and Michaels house look lived in, not like a page in a magazine.