Television series
thirtysomething
thirtysomething is a quiet, close-up ensemble drama about a knot of Philadelphia friends navigating marriage, parenthood, and the slow death of their countercultural ideals. It moves at conversation speed—more about a pause at the dinner table than any twist. For anyone who wants prestige-drama honesty without violence, and finds real ache in adult compromise.
If you liked this
My So-Called Life1994
From the same creators, Herskovitz and Zwick take thirtysomething's aching, close-up emotional realism and aim it at teenagers—same longing glances, same unresolved feelings.
But Only one season exists, so you'll get attached fast and lose it fast; also, it's a teenage lens, not an adult one.
Once and Again1999
The same creative team returns to grown-up love, centering two divorced parents starting over with the same intimate, hand-held emotional framing.
But Its melodrama runs a notch hotter, and it spent years hard to find on streaming.
Six Feet Under2001
Trades yuppie anxiety for mortality anxiety but keeps the slow-burn ensemble intimacy, where a family dinner does more work than any plot twist.
But Darker and stranger, with dream sequences and death as a constant presence—less cozy, more existential.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
An Unmarried Woman1978
It's the film thirtysomething's entire ethos descends from—the same generation's anxieties about freedom and self-actualization, compressed into two hours instead of four seasons.
A decade before thirtysomething, this film already captured baby-boomer self-reinvention—divorce, art, sex, and the terror of choosing your own life from scratch.
But Slower pacing and dated 70s New York texture might feel quaint next to thirtysomething's polish.
More like this (7)
This Is Us2016
A tearjerking, generation-spanning family drama that shares thirtysomething's belief that ordinary domestic moments deserve just as much weight as any crisis.
But Leans hard into sentimentality and time-jump gimmicks the original never needed.
Parenthood2010
A big, warm extended-family ensemble grappling with marriage, work, and parenting messiness—less moody than thirtysomething, but just as devoted to the mundane.
But Broader and sunnier in tone, missing the original's melancholy self-interrogation.
Brothers & Sisters2006
Another sprawling adult sibling ensemble hashing out love, work, and old family wounds over long, unresolved arguments.
But Slicker and soapier, with more overt drama and less patience for quiet.
Togetherness2015no page yet
A scrappier, funnier cousin about thirty- and forty-somethings stuck between the life they wanted and the one they got, with the same unglamorous intimacy.
But Shorter seasons and rougher comedic edges dilute some of the emotional weight.
St. Elsewhere1982
The ABC ensemble drama that helped invent the serious-adult-ensemble mode thirtysomething would perfect, trading domestic angst for hospital corridors.
But More procedural and plot-driven, with far less interior monologue and marital soul-searching.
Friends1994
The lighter mirror image—same friend-group premise, same decade, but existential dread swapped for laugh tracks and easy comfort.
But Tonally almost nothing alike; if you want the ache, this will feel weightless by comparison.
BoJack Horseman2014
Same raw material—guilt, arrested growth, the gap between who you meant to be and who you became—just filtered through absurdist animation instead of naturalistic drama.
Somehow the most emotionally honest show about midlife self-loathing and squandered idealism arrived in cartoon form, with a depressed horse-man instead of a Philadelphia yuppie.
But The animal-people conceit and dark comedy might feel like a tonal 180 from thirtysomething's earnestness.
People
Cast
Writing
- Edward ZwickCreator
- Marshall HerskovitzCreator
Production
- Ann Lewis HamiltonProducer
Recommended by
Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, Hannah and Her Sisters, A Year in the Life, Family, L.A. Law, Mad About You, Nurse, Once and Again, Sisters