‘Thirtysomething’ Stars Rally for Amazon Run and Reboot With #Whereisthirtysomething
Thirtysomething stars Mel Harris and Peter Horton are leading the charge to get the iconic 80s series available for streaming on Amazon and maybe even film an update on where the characters are today.
Of course, the role of Gary – played by Peter Horton – will have to be a ghost if they show returns.
Horton launched a social media campaign using the hashtag, “whereisthirtysomething.” He teased that getting the series released on the streaming platform was possible with fans’ help.
“Help us bring back thirtysomething!! Try blasting away at #whereisthirtysomethhing,” he tweeted and tagged MGM Studios and Amazon Studios. “Send a message, then send another. Help us get first thirtysomething streamable and thirtysomething reboot off the ground. We’re already so close! But we need your help.”
“It’s time to stream ‘thirtysomething,'” Harris tweeted along with the same tags. “And let’s start shooting our wonderful continuation of the story ‘thirtysomethingelse’ while we’re at it!”
‘thirtysomething(else)’ was in the works
Thirtysomething‘s return isn’t just an idea. The pilot, thirtysomething (else) was pitched to ABC in 2020 by the original series creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick. The new series planned to revisit the same characters, but years later. “Revolves around the children of the characters in the original show, which are now 30-something themselves,” according to the IMDb description.
ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke was optimistic about the series. “Ed and Marshall really have a vision for the narrative and anything’s possible, really,” Burke said at the January 2020 Television Critics Association panel (via People.)
“They know those characters in their bones, and their children are thirtysomething themselves, not just the children on the show, so they are creating characters in that generation that they also know and can relate to.”
Burke also teased, “I think you’ll find some surprises in the story that you didn’t see coming.”
The pandemic shelved ‘thirtysomething(else)’
Unfortunately, thirtysomething (else) and a slew of other productions fell victim to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. By June 2020, the pandemic had no end in sight, so production companies canceled some series even though thirtysomething (else) was “pegged as early frontrunners for series pickups prior to the pandemic,” Variety reported. But, because the series was more expensive to produce, ABC decided to shelve the pilot.
Of course now Hollywood is in the middle of a writers and actors strike, which would delay any movement toward filming or even revisiting the series.
Bring back ‘thirtysomething’ to Amazon
While the reboot simmers, fans still want their thirtysomething. Horton and Harris’s tweets stirred their fanbase and people began re-tweeting the hashtag. One fan wondered if the reason why the series isn’t streaming was due to ownership rights.
“No ownership questions,” Harris replied in the thread. “Amazon Studios just have to want to do it!”
Horton also urged fans to “swamp” the streaming platform with requests. “Yes. Amazon and MGM. Swamp them with messages, then swamp some more!”
