Product Details

• Actors: Timothy Busfield, Melanie Mayron, Ken Olin, Peter Horton, Patricia Wettig
• Directors: Edward Zwick
• Format: Box set, Color, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: January 19, 2010
• Run Time: 810 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002NN7EXS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,999 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "thirtysomething: The Complete Second Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Few television programs can claim to have the cultural resonance that thirtysomething did in late 1980s America. Winner of four Emmy Awards, the groundbreaking hour-long drama held up a mirror to a generation of young adults struggling to find a larger meaning to their existence in an era marked by rampant consumerism and the yuppie ethos. Season Two picks up where everyone left off and then some.

Hope and Michael contemplate a second child; Elliot moves to lure Nancy back; Gary gets serious with his girlfriend Susannah (played by Patricia Kalember); Melissa continues to find herself; and Ellyn gets an ulcer. Then there is all that happens in between, including the arrival of an antagonist for Michael and Elliot: David Clennon joins the cast as the diabolical, smug, manipulative and very successful advertising mogul Miles Drentell.

In becoming a commercial force that connected with millions of viewers every week, the series continued to push the limits of what a great television show was capable of while consistently maintaining its artistic and creative edge. thirtysomething: The Complete Second Season features all 17 episodes restored from the original film elements along with new interviews and commentaries for the optimal DVD experience.

Bonus Features

* New Cast Interviews

* Commentaries by Creator, Cast and Crew

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful DVDs, but a problem January 22, 2010

By Rosemary L. Rodgers

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just received this DVD set. The commentaries are interesting and insightful, and it's great to see the uncut episodes for the first time in over twenty years. I have only watched one of the discs, but have found what I consider to be a big production problem. On Disc 1, episode 2 "In Re: The Marriage of Weston", the scenes have been edited out of order. It's very obvious, but to be certain I compared the DVD with a copied episode from "Lifetime". Two sequences stand out. On the DVD, early on Hope and Ellyn giggle about the instructor at the art center and Hope intimates he and Nancy have slept together. However, the scene where Nancy gets the art center job and meets the instructor comes later in the DVD. Likewise, there is a scene where Nancy angrily confronts Elliot about contacting a Realtor to sell the house, and rips him for instructing Ethan not to tell her. The scene in the DVD where Elliot is showing the Realtor the house and admonishing Ethan not to tell his mother comes after this scene.

The DVDs are beautiful. I would have given the set 5 stars if not for the production problem

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonder and pathos November 22, 2009

By Andrew Dale

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I had forgotten how good and original this series was. 16 years since I first watched it, it still delights, and has not aged, but matured. Some episodes would win awards as free standing dramas. The characterization is excellent, the performances outstanding, the drama real and moving, and the team work unequalled since The Big Chill. The direction and writing deserved the awards they won. Five stars.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic show, flawed DVD March 7, 2010

By Victoria Deni

Format:DVD

That thirtysomething is finally out on DVD (after almost 20 years!) is the answer to one of my most fervent prayers. Or it would be.

Because the DVD is a letdown.

As with the first season DVDs, the technical quality of the remastering wavers considerably. There are entire portions that simply were not remastered at all. It's often one camera track, while the other camera track in the same scene has been remastered. So one moment you're watching a reasonably high resolution DVD, the next moment (cut to the other camera), it's TV and VHS tapes all over again: fuzzy contours, awful colors. And then back to the high resolution. And back to VHS. That quickly. It makes you dizzy. And mad.

In the second season, it gets increasingly worse - as if Shout Factory (the DVD manufacturer) had been running out of money, or time, or just not felt like doing it any longer. The worst episode I've seen to date is "Michael writes a story" (2nd season, # 13). About half of the entire episode is simply not remastered at all. Or only the actors but not the background. Then they cut to the second camera and it's o.k. again.

Btw, the closed captions are sloppy too. That out in La-La-Land, they don't know what "Ardmore" is may be all right, but there IS a difference between saying "I'm scared" and "I'm sorry." In short: bad job, Shout Factory!