8.3/10107 votesLoading...#1 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/29/1987
Hope and Michael Steadman are still adjusting to parenthood while struggling with money problems and best-friend crises.
Director: Marshall Herskovitz
Writer: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
8.4/1087 votesLoading...#3 - We Gather Together
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/17/1987
Hope and Michael plan a quiet Thanksgiving but learn friends are counting on being invited.
Director: Mark Cullingham
Writer: Edward Zwick
8.4/1090 votesLoading...#4 - Love and Sex
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/1989
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
Director: Marshall Herskovitz
Writer: N/A
8.5/1064 votesLoading...#5 - Deliverance
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 3/21/1989
CAPSULE: Ellyn, Nancy, Hope and Melissa go on a cathartic camping trip. Melissa gets some camping equipment as a payoff for a photo shoot and the gang makes plans to take a camping trip to the Poconos. But Elliot gets a lead on some work, forcing Michael to have to tell Hope, who has been looking forward to the trip for months, that he can't go. Gary opts out of the trip, and Ellyn, despite her ulcer, decides to go. The four women set off in the car for the journey. On the trail to Parker Cave, Ellyn is gung-ho and pushing the group until they get to the cave, then she's afraid to go in. Nancy and Hope remember the scary old tour guide at the cave from their youth. Ellyn says she'll hike around the mountain cave--seven miles!--rather than go through. Hope decides that she and the others shouldn't leave her. They hike until nightfall, then they make a camp. Nancy's ghost story makes Ellyn more nervous. In the tent that night, Hope inadvertently reveals to Nancy that Elliot had an affair
Director: Peter Horton
Writer: Ann Lewis Hamilton
8.6/1094 votesLoading...#6 - The Parents Are Coming, the Parents Are Coming
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1987
Hope's anxiety over her parents' impending visit taxes everyone's patience.
Director: Edward Zwick
Writer: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
8.6/1087 votesLoading...#7 - South by Southeast
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/5/1988
It's a Hitchcockian nightmare as Gary falls in love; as the romance progresses, he begins receiving a series of threats against his life.
Director: Dan Lerner
Writer: Paul Haggis
8.6/1085 votesLoading...#8 - Business as Usual
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/9/1988
Michael's hopes for a joyous reunion with his father are destroyed when he discovers the real reason for the visit.
Director: Claudia Weill
Writer: Marshall Herskovitz, Paul Haggis
8.6/1067 votesLoading...#9 - The Distance
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/1990
CAPSULE: An offer of a new job for Susannah leads to her and Gary taking a bold and unexpected step in their relationship. Ellyn finds out that Jeffrey is going back to his first wife. Early in the morning Richard is getting ready to leave on a business trip, but Ellyn makes him stay for coffee. He seems very distant this morning, but gives her an extra kiss and says ""I love you"" before he leaves. Susannah has received a great job offer from a foundation in New York, but she tells Gary that of course she won't take it in light of their new situation (her pregnancy). At Race St., Susannah finds that a leaky roof's collapse has ruined boxes and boxes of records. The situation there makes her long for the job in New York, and she now tells Gary she's thinking of going to see about it. Ellyn calls Indianapolis to talk to Jeffrey and finds that, unbeknownst to her, he has gone on to Los Angeles. At a gathering at the Steadmans' Gary and Susannah talks separately with Michael and Hope about
Director: Melanie Mayron
Writer: Joseph Dougherty
8.6/1064 votesLoading...#10 - The Difference Between Men and Women
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 2/26/1991
Bachelor and bachelorette parties for Billy and Ellyn provide the backdrop for a look at the various couples' relationships with each other and their fideliity.
Director: Timothy Busfield
Writer: N/A
8.7/1090 votesLoading...#11 - Housewarming
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/13/1987
Michael and Hope race to renovate their crumbling mansion for a huge housewarming party.
Director: John Pasquin
Writer: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
8.7/1083 votesLoading...#12 - Couples
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/27/1987
A night out with friends degenerates as Nancy and Elliot's marital woes become apparent.
Director: Marshall Herskovitz
Writer: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
8.7/1083 votesLoading...#13 - Nancy's First Date
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/22/1988
Melissa's burgeoning romance slows when she learns he doesn't want any more kids. Nancy has her first date since the separation.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.7/1090 votesLoading...#14 - We'll Meet Again
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 12/6/1988
As she and Michael argue about her working and having another child, Hope learns about some previous tenants of their house. Hope is making tentative moves toward returning to work full-time. Michael suggests, though, that there might be some problems in doing that and muses about having a second child. Hope, Melissa and Gary find an old trunk in the Steadman's basement full of letters and photos of previous residents, Sally and Roy McCauley. Hope gets lost in these, imagining the courtship of Sally Spangler and Roy, who goes to the South Pacific during World War II. Later Hope and Nancy find Sally's journal. There are more fantasy flashbacks about Roy and Sally getting married and him leaving for war. Later that night as Hope works in bed, Michael comes in and begins to get amorous. Hope, not wearing her diaphragm, stops him. Ellyn finds Hope at home crying. Hope has just read about Sally getting a telegram saying Roy is missing in action.
Director: Scott Winant
Writer: N/A
8.7/1065 votesLoading...#15 - Politics
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 1/17/1989
CAPSULE: Michael takes on a client that he, his wife and his friends find repugnant. Gary and Susannah's odd relationship continues to grow. At a diner with Hope, Gary, Elliot and Melissa, Michael returns a phone call to Jerry Kravitz, an old friend of his and Gary's from their college days at Penn. He wants the Michael & Elliot company to do some media work a Senate candidate he represents, Diana McKay. Mike has the first of several flashbacks seen throughout the show of himself, Gary and Jerry involved in demonstrations and campus politics. Gary goes to the Race St. Project and offers to help Susannah write up their grant application. A little attraction seems to be developing. Gary leans in as if to kiss her, but she pulls away. Michael & Elliot take on the McKay account, but Gary, Susannah and Hope let them know they think McKay is a terrible choice. Hope is not too impressed with Jerry either after a night of reminiscing with him and Michael. Susannah apologizes to Gary for the ""w
Director: Claudia Weill
Writer: N/A
8.7/1068 votesLoading...#16 - Michael Writes a Story
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 4/4/1989
Michael takes a creative writing class, as does Nancy. Michael incurs Nancy's wrath when he writes about something he heard about her in confidence from Elliot. Also, Michael and Elliot get new jobs working for Miles Drentell at DAA.
Director: Tom Moore
Writer: Joseph Dougherty
8.7/1066 votesLoading...#17 - The Other Shoe
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 3/20/1990
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
Director: Ken Olin
Writer: Joseph Dougherty
8.8/1085 votesLoading...#18 - Nice Work If You Can Get It
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/1/1987
Before a deadline, Michael and Elliot wrestle with a creativity block; Ellyn develops a crush on an associate.
Director: Claudia Weill
Writer: Paul Haggis
8.8/1095 votesLoading...#19 - I'll Be Home for Christmas
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/15/1987
Michael and Hope argue about whether their infant's first holiday should be Christmas or Hanukkah. A famous photographer shows interest in Melissa's work.
Director: Rob Lieberman
Writer: N/A
8.8/1072 votesLoading...#20 - Competition
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/1988
Michael's jealousy is aroused when an important client make it clear he prefers Elliot. Meanwhile, Hope and Nancy try to come to terms with computers.
Director: Rob Cohen
Writer: Joseph Dougherty
8.8/1069 votesLoading...#21 - I'm in Love, I'm in Love, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Gynecologist
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1988
Competing for the attention of the same man jeopardizes the new found friendship between Ellyn and Melissa.
Director: Scott Winant
Writer: Ann Lewis Hamilton
8.8/1088 votesLoading...#22 - Accounts Receivable
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 3/1/1988
A rocky relationship between Michael and his brother Brad is further strained when Michael learns the family business is almost bankrupt.
Director: Edward Zwick
Writer: N/A
8.8/1083 votesLoading...#23 - Whose Forest Is This?
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 3/15/1988
Nancy and Elliot's separation takes its toll on their son; Elliot prepares for a blind date with a chiropractor.
Director: Peter Horton
Writer: N/A
8.8/1077 votesLoading...#24 - Undone
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/12/1988
Michael's old girlfriend from college pays a visit.
Director: Dan Lerner
Writer: Joseph Dougherty
8.8/1066 votesLoading...#25 - Trust Me
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 1/3/1989
Melissa and Gary consider having a child together. Gary volunteers his time at a social services center, where he is irritated by and attracted to a brusque administrator. Gary and Melissa's relationship seems to be drawing closer as they both have rejection at work in common, along with thoughts of parenthood for themselves now that Hope and Michael are expecting. Gary goes to a private social welfare agency, the Race Street Project, and meets with Susannah Hart there about a mentoring program for a local youth. Susannah is skeptical of Gary's commitment. Gary meets his charge, Curtis Caldwell, a Stanford-bound student who does not want to be in the program. At a wedding, Melissa meets Russell Weller, a painter who has noticed her at the galleries. He invites her to a party. Melissa goes to the party with Russell. When his good mood turns bleak after a phone call, she realizes that he's gay and has just heard about a friend contracting AIDS.
Director: Steven Robman
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of thirtysomething
Every episode of thirtysomething ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of thirtysomething!
Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick...
Genre:Drama
Network:ABC
Worst Episodes Summary
"Pilot" is the worst rated episode of "thirtysomething". It scored 8.3/10 based on 107 votes. Directed by Marshall Herskovitz and written by Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, it aired on 9/29/1987. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "But Not for Me".
