CAPSULE: Michael and Hope's relationship is deteriorating as they gather to attend her parents' anniversary celebration.

Hope informs Michael they need to attend her parents' 40th wedding anniversary celebration in Arizona, but Michael says he needs to stay home for a while to attend to work. John Dunaway is in town and Hope invites him to stay at their house in her absence. Michael attends a dinner party at Melissa's where the guests joke about Hope having the hots for John. Michael returns home to find John looking very comfortable, seated in front of the fireplace with Grendel the dog at his feet. Michael immediately books the next flight to Phoenix.

When Michael arrive earlier than expected in Arizona, it doesn't take long before festering tensions between him and Hope rise to the surface. She accuses him of working too much and ""checking out"" on his family. She tells him he's not proud of her for the things he should be, such as her work as a mother and with the ERC. Michael sneer

Arizona

Ken Olin

Mel Harris

Timothy Busfield

Patricia Wettig

Peter Horton

Melanie Mayron

Polly Draper

Patricia Kalember

Edward Zwick

Going Limp

I'm Nobody, Who Are You?

CAPSULE: Nancy's and Elliot move closer to a reconciliation, to the disapproval of her visiting mother Eleanor.

Elliot and Nancy are spending an evening at Michael and Hope's talking about Nancy's upcoming book. Nancy says her mother Eleanor, who is coming for a visit, is OK with her but still can make her crazy. When Nancy and Elliot leave, they kiss goodbye like a dating couple. When Eleanor arrives, she asks about Matt, but Nancy mentions that Elliot has been ""around."" Later Elliot has dinner with Nancy, Eleanor and the kids. Eleanor makes it clear she doesn't approve of Elliot or his marketing idea for a ""monster doll"" book tie-in. Later that night Eleanor refuses to go to bed and leave Nancy and Elliot alone, so he leaves and sneaks back in Nancy's bedroom window. Still later, Elliot is downstairs raiding the refrigerator when he runs into Eleanor.

Nancy admits to her mother that she's seeing Elliot again. Eleanor still isn't ready to forgive him. She surprises Nancy by telling he

Nancy's Mom

CAPSULE: While she and Michael are having problems of their own, Hope gets involved in the love life of her teenaged babysitter.

Hope and Michael arrive home early while their teenaged babysitter Lauren is there, saying they have some important matters to discuss. What they're really there for is some baby-making, though Mike has a little trouble at first. Lauren seems to admire Hope; she's read her article on the ozone layer. At DAA, Michael and Elliot are nervous about a presentation when Gary, dressed like a playground basketball bum, shows up just in time for Miles to see him. Gary tells the guys he and Susannah won't be marrying. Michael arrives home late. After some arguing about domestic matters, Hope says she can't ""switch gears"" and have sex.

After shopping with Melissa and Ellyn, Hope comes back home to find Lauren on the front lawn with her boyfriend Bernard, music blaring, having a picnic. Hope is furious. Lauren profusely apologizes, saying she and Bernard are being kept a

Love and Sex

CAPSULE: Ellyn and Melissa try using a video dating service. Melissa is unexpectedly attracted to a younger man she meets. Ethan must kiss a girl in the school play.

Ellyn and Melissa are talking about using a video dating service, and despite the misgivings of others, they go in and give interviews at the service. They go through the books of available guys and find a cute one, William, whose profile and interview they like. Melissa is afraid to ask for his number, though; she'll wait, hoping he will contact her. Later when they return to the service, Melissa is dismayed to find that the list of guys interested in Ellyn is much longer than hers, and it includes William. Meanwhile, a good-looking young man named Lee Owens has come to paint Melissa's loft. He's spending a lot of time there, and there seems to be an attraction between the two. Also, Ethan is upset about having to learn to dance for the school production of ""Cinderella"" he's starring in. Even worse, he's supposed to kiss

Mr. Right

CAPSULE: Susannah and Gary become new parents after a difficult delivery. Melissa has a hard time accepting Gary's new status.

In a story told in reverse, the opening scene has Susannah in the hospital having a difficult delivery. Gary is there with her. We see earlier scenes of Susannah in pain, getting nauseous and being a little abusive to Gary. Gary calls Melissa but gets her machine. Michael is at the hospital with Gary. The doctor checks the dilating Susannah and sends Gary out.

Still going backwards: The labor starts getting difficult. Gary calls and leaves a message for Melissa, apologizing for what happened earlier. Melissa is listening but doesn't pick up. Gary gets ready for the hospital as contractions are starting. Earlier, Melissa is at his outside his house. She's brought a present for them--a car, albeit an old junker. Melissa argues with Gary, saying he hasn't given her a thought lately, and she stalks off angrily.

Back to the wedding shower: Susannah is looking a litt

New Baby

Elliot and Michael have a close encounter with disaster on an airplane. Hope's employer, the magazine Synergy, is being taken over and will curtain its environmental watchdog activities. At a dinner party, Hope gets irritated with Michael and Miles' date. Nancy is ready to take Elliot back.

Legacy

CAPSULE: Melissa must come to terms with the problems she has over the age difference with Lee. Their relationship is paralleled by a new one between Russell Weller and Peter Montefiore.

Russell drops by Melissa's place and is surprised to find Lee there wearing a towel. Melissa takes Russell to DAA, where he meets Peter Montefiore. Melissa encourages Michael to talk up Peter to Russell; Michael didn't realize before that Peter was gay. Later Lee and Melissa are still in the throes of passion when he has to leave. Lee wonders why she never introduces him to her friends. Melissa tells him that they will go have dinner at the Steadmans soon.

Mel photographs Russell painting. She's nervous about her friends meeting Lee and he's nervous about seeing Peter again. Melissa deliberately passes up a locksmith where she was going to get a key made for Lee. Melissa and Lee arrive at the Steadmans. She imagines all sorts of bad things even though everyone likes her new boyfriend. Peter and Russell

Strangers

CAPSULE: Elliot reunites with his family, but Ethan is still full of anxiety which manifests itself as fear for his safety.

Elliot moves back in his house with his wife and children on a busy morning as Thanksgiving is approaching. Ethan tries to get out of going to school. He's being a bit of a discipline problem, complaining that no one listens to him. He walks to school with his friend Nicholas and they talk about a recent spate of robberies that have occurred in the area. Nancy is at her mother Eleanor's new place. She's moved to the area from Indiana, and Nancy hopes she will come by for the holiday celebration. Elliot and Nancy are happy the family is back together, but at night, Ethan listens warily to the police sirens.

Ethan asks his grandmother if his grandfather ever left her. She admits that he did, but came back. Nancy tells Hope and Melissa that Ethan has been obsessed with the recent robberies. Elliot tries to help Ethan with his reading; he balks at the help and then ru

Pilgrims

CAPSULE: Ellyn takes steps toward starting an affair with Jeffrey Milgrom. Hope begins work on an environmental project. Ellyn and Hope's present-day relationship is compared to the one they had in high school.

Flashback: At Lower Merion High School in 1970, Hope and Ellyn are sneaking a smoke. Ellyn tells Hope she's going off to New York with bad boy Mark McCreary. The two girls circulate a petition opposed to a dress code.   Present Day: Hope talks with Ellyn, saying that she's quit the magazine Synergy and might be working on an anti-incinerator project. She doesn't tell her friend that she's pregnant. At the gym's pool, Ellyn is swimming and meets Jeffrey Milgrom, an acquaintance from the Steadmans' dinner party. He's Hope and Michael's lawyer and he works with his wife Valerie.  Ellyn drops off a batch of material about the incinerator and tells Hope she's seen Jeffrey at the gym the past few days. They're meeting for lunch.

Flashback: Ellyn and Hope protest the dress code and wal

The Burning Bush

CAPSULE: Gary's decision to quit teaching and stay at home with his new baby causes a conflict between him and his mother.

Gary and Susannah's new baby Emma cries for twelve hours and they can't figure out why. In the morning Susannah is reluctant to go to work, but Gary insists. She finds out there that the nearby homeless shelter might be closed to make way for condos, which gets her fighting spirit up. Gary's mother Eileen comes by while Hope is there and mistakenly thinks she is Susannah. After Susannah comes home late and the baby is put to bed, Gary tells his mother he's not going back to teaching; rather, he's going to be a househusband. His mother's reaction is simply, ""Oh.""

During the next day or two, however, Eileen makes it clear that she's not thrilled with Gary's decision to quit teaching. They argue about his deceased father, who wanted badly for him to go to law school. Eileen tells Gary that he's avoided every big decision he ever had to make and should concentrate on g

New Parents

CAPSULE: Michael crosses swords with the creative director at DAA. Hope gets more involved with her environmental project.

At DAA, Michael and Elliot attend a ""war council"" on Minnesota Brands, a huge potential account who they've convinced to give their agency a try. DAA's creative director, Carl Draconis, doesn't even give them credit for this in a meeting about the account, however. Michael has a flashback to 1968. He tells his father he's running for vice-president at school. His father wonders why he isn't running for president instead. Back in the present, Michael comes up with a bold marketing strategy for Oh My Pies, a product of Minnesota Brands which has not been selling well. Draconis coldly shoots his idea down. But privately, Miles tells Michael to stay directly accessible to Minnesota Brands on this project. Meanwhile Hope is getting more involved in the anti-incinerator campaign, planning for a big meeting and finding office space for John Dunaway and his organization.

M

Michael's Campaign

CAPSULE: Michael is given more responsibility at DAA, causing friction between him and Elliot. Hope also has to take some responsibility with the anti-incinerator campaign.

Michael and Eliot are excited: Miles loved their ideas for the Snap Happy/Oh My account and DAA will make a commercial to show to a focus group. In a very public way, Miles upbraids Carl Draconis for shooting down the guys' ideas. The next day, Michael and Elliot are stunned to find that Draconis has ""left"" the company ""to pursue other interests."" Miles tells Michael he will be the creative director on the account, and depending on his performance with it, he could be offered Carl's job as the agency's creative director. Michael inherits Carl's office and his assistant Page, who he and Elliot formerly referred to as the ""dragon lady."" Meanwhile, Hope goes with John Dunaway and Ricky Bianca to see a congressman to enlist his opposition to the incinerator, but they receive no encouragement.

Elliot asks Michael if he c

Pulling Away

CAPSULE: Just as her children's book is published, Nancy is diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

On a typical madhouse morning at the Weston house, Nancy is experiencing some back pain. Later when she sees Melissa and gives her a copy of the new book dedicated to her, Nancy says the pain may be stress related. While at school to pick up the kids, she gets ill has has to rush to the bathroom. Dr. Silverman does an ultrasound for Nancy the next day. At home she tells Elliot that the doctor found ""something,"" an ovary that has dropped behind her uterus, and she wants to do a test.

Dr. Silverman does the examination and says there might be a tumor. More definitive results will come on Monday. Both Nancy and Elliot are worried, but try to keep family life normal and for now aren't telling anyone the news. When Nancy comes to pick up Ethan after a basketball practice, he gets upset with her because she didn't watch him play. Nancy loses her temper and snaps at him, then quickly apologizes. Ethan s

Another Country

CAPSULE: Nancy, family and friends deal with the aftermath of her cancer surgery.

Nancy has come out of surgery and Elliot calls the Steadman house to tell Hope and Ethan the news--she's OK. Hope tells a stunned Melissa that Nancy had the operation. Nancy's mom Eleanor is there at the hospital, and soon her sister Deb arrives too. They're both glad to see Deb, who is a nurse, but a little of the familiar mother/daughter tension surfaces immediately. Ellyn comes by to see Nancy bearing a gift of banana bread (a running joke in this episode.) She appears to be extremely uncomfortable. Nancy comes home, to the delight of her children.

Eleanor and Deb take up temporary residence at the Weston house and Ethan and Brittany go to stay with the Steadmans for a while. Nancy misses her kids, though, and wants to get back to a semblance of normality. Elliot is very solicitous, though, and wants her to take things very easily. Gary, Melissa, Hope and Michael discuss Nancy's condition. Nancy had a

Post-Op

CAPSULE: Ellyn restarts her affair with Richard, this time in earnest.

Ellyn seems to be putting her flirtation with Jeffrey behind her, as she talks with Melissa about men and has a blind date with Billy Sidel arranged by Hope and Michael. Bur while leaving the gym one day there's a knock on her car window--and it's Jeffrey, who is willing to start the whole affair over again. She leaves him there, but later at home is thinking about him. Jeffrey calls and leaves a message for her to meet him tomorrow at a park. The next day Ellyn is there waiting in a torrential rainstorm, but before Richard arrives who should appear on the scene but Gary. Barely having avoided being seen, Ellyn lets Richard kiss her.

At the sauna Ellyn and Melissa talk about the blind date. Ellyn reveals she's about to start up with Richard again, though she knows it could be trouble. Melissa tells her to do what she thinks is good for her. Ellyn and Jeffrey meet for dinner and he tells her some of his marital histo

Once a Mermaid

CAPSULE: Melissa has conflicts with Lee over finding him a new job and with her father over his plans to buy her building.

At a dinner with her parents, the Steadmans and Lee, Melissa mentions that she's concerned about her building turning into condominiums. Her father Murray surprises her when he invites her to his office to propose that he co-sign a loan for her which would allow her to buy the building. Melissa runs across Lee's sketchbook and she's impressed with his drawings. She tells him he's overqualified to be a house painter and that she could help him. He says the drawing is just for fun. Later at DAA, Melissa is there when Courtney Dunton comes into Elliot's office with some portfolios of job applicants. Melissa gets the idea to suggest Lee for the job.

Melissa tells Lee about the job opening for a trainee at DAA. He doesn't seem interested, but goes there to be interviewed. His interview with Courtney is awful; he has no background at all or desire to work in advertising.

Fathers and Lovers

CAPSULE: Richard leaves his wife and takes his daughter and moves in with Ellyn. This new instant family experiences some rough times right away.

Richard and Ellyn meet for a noontime rendezvous. It's been five weeks since he said he would leave his wife for her, but he promises today will be the day. At the Steadman house the talk is of their will. Melissa is supposed to be the new baby's godmother and is worried about what that entails. Valerie comes over with some paperwork concerning the will. She breaks down and cries, telling everyone that Richard has left her. She angrily blames Ellyn for selfishly ruining their family. Richard, Ellyn and his daughter Christy (Valerie's stepdaughter) check into a hotel room and awkwardly try to sort out living arrangements.

Among the other women, the news about Ellyn is a hot topic. Ellyn's therapist asks her about her relationship with Christy--her presence has kept Ellyn and Richard from having sex for six and a half days. Ellyn gives Christy

Her Cup Runneth Over

CAPSULE: Against the background of an examination of the characters' sex lives, Melissa and Lee break up.

Melissa and Lee's sex life is going great and she tells the other women about it, to their envy and amazement. They seem to be doing it all the time, unlike Gary and Susannah who are having a hard time fitting sex into their schedule with a new baby to take care of; in fact, he gets injured when he slips on a toy while attempting an encounter while Emma sleeps. Melissa and Lee are out with a couple of Lee's friends of his age, Stephanie and Robert. They end up going to a late-night rock club where a girl throws up on Melissa's shoes. At DAA the next day Melissa is worn out after the late night out. She tells Michael that the nightlife with Lee is boring. She begs off going out on the town with Lee again which causes some tension for a while which is succeeded by--sex!

At the Weston's house, Nancy is concerned when she finds copies of Playboy under Ethan's bed. Elliot makes a candle

Good Sex, Bad Sex, What Sex, No Sex

CAPSULE: Nancy finds new support from another cancer patient, but their relationship threatens her closeness with her own family.

Nancy has been receiving chemotherapy and as a result has been feeling ill a good bit of the time. The experience, along with the movie Fantastic Voyage, has given Ethan a new idea for another story to do with his mom, one in which a whole planet is sick. At her support group for cancer patients, Victory Partners, Nancy meets a woman named Beatrice Holden and they go out for coffee. Beatrice talks to her about getting a new circle of friends for support. She attends a meeting at Beatrice's place and finds the frank talk and even humor about death a new, liberating experience. As Nancy comes more under the influence of Beatrice, she becomes ""radicalized"" and starts talking about carcinogens and other cancer-related matters endlessly. At dinner with the Steadmans, Melissa wonders out of Nancy's presence why she's so mad. When Nancy puts forth opinions on carci

The Other Shoe

CAPSULE: While in Washington, DC about a possible job, Hope almost cheats on Michael with John Dunaway.

While Michael has gotten a big raise almost doubling his salary and lots of perks with his new job, Hope is disenheartened when the incinerator plan passes the city council after she made a presentation against it. Later she calls John Dunaway, looking for other ways to fight the incinerator and arranges a lunch meeting with him. At lunch she asks about a court challenge, but John is doubtful. At DAA Elliot tells Mike he should ask for a raise; Michael doesn't tell him he's already got it. That night in bed, Hope is kissing Michael, but momentarily imagines him as John. The next day John calls Hope with the news of a possible press relations job with an environmental organization in Washington, DC. When she senses Michael's lack of enthusiasm about the possibility they argue, she telling him that she always accommodates to his career.

When Hope tells Ellyn and Nancy about going to Wa

The Three Year Itch

CAPSULE: Elliot gets a chance to direct a public service announcement, but is he capable of doing the job?

Ellyn comes to DAA with a request for them to film a public service announcement for the city's new promotional campaign. Elliot pleads with Michael to give him the job of directing it, and Mike agrees. At a meeting with City Hall officials, Elliot's presentation strikes many of them as too far-out, but Michael assures Ellyn things will be OK. Elliot impresses Mike by obtaining the services of the well-known actor Ron DeLisle, a Philadelphia native, for $7500, but one of the City Hall people complains to Miles about a lack of confidence in Elliot. Miles reminds Michael that this project is his responsibility. Ellyn confides in Mike that she thinks the upcoming shoot looks like a ""train wreck."" Michael reassures her, but alone, he repeats her assessment: it's a train wreck. Even Nancy is getting apprehensive about Elliot's ability to do the job. The night before shooting starts, Et

CAPSULE: As Elliot grows more dissatisfied with DAA, Michael finds out something that could change everything about the company.

Miles plans to take Michael to New York with him to meet with Bob Spano, head of Minnesota Brands, their largest client. In a meeting, Miles informs Elliot and Michael that a spokesman for another big account has been lost to another agency and he puts the blame squarely on Eliot. Later Michael ask Miles why he was so tough on Elliot. Miles picks up the phone and calls Elliot, giving him a perfunctory apology. In New York, Miles and Michael dine with Spano and Gus Hennesey from Minnesota Brands. The down-to-earth Spano finds Miles a little weird, but seems to like Michael. Later Gus calls Michael and sets up a private meeting. He tells Mike that Minnesota Brands is looking to expand into media.

Elliot tells Nancy that his job has become a burden and that he's thinking of quitting after her ""second look"" surgery. Miles tells Michael that he thinks Elliot is di

Towers of Zenith Part 1: The Go-Between

CAPSULE: Michael's career is on the line as the hostile takeover attempt of DAA heats up.

As Minnesota Brands plots its hostile takeover of DAA, Miles wants to take Michael with him to see Carol Arthur, the widow of former company partner Duncan Arthur who owns 27 1/2% of the stock. But Carol comes by the company, rather than have Miles set foot in her house. Michael decides to bring Mark in on the takeover secret. They realize that their failure in this matter could cost them both their careers. Hope worries that Michael may be crossing some ethical lines and turning into Miles.

Michael is in Miles' office doing a bit of snooping when Miles and his secretary come in. He makes an excuse and then listens in as Miles places a phone call to Gabe Rivera, setting up an emergency appointment. Michael sends Elliot to spy on the Drentell/Rivera meeting. While on this mission, Elliot runs into Mark, who is doing the same thing. They find out Rivera's identity--he's Miles' dentist! Meanwhile Min

Towers of Zenith Part 2: Samurai Adman

thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties.

Arizona

Seasons4

Season 3 Episodes24

Cast8

Crew1

Discussion

Episode Summary