via Giphy/Courtesy YouTube/MGM Television
*Hope (Mel Harris), cousin-in-law Melissa (Melanie Mayron) and friends Nancy (Patricia Wettig) and Ellyn (Polly Draper) are having a ladies wine night by the fire. For all the talk about thirtysomething's angst, this is a lighthearted, fun scene.*
"Okay, okay. Let me see if I can get this straight. Ellyn, you're pretty sure that you love Woodman, but you don't know what that means. Melissa, you think that you could love Dr. Bob, only he won't let you. And Nancy, you know that you don't love Elliot. In fact, you hate him. But, making love with him was incredibly great."
"Right. But not enough to wreck my life for."
"So, what's your crisis, Hopey?"
"Me, I'm incredibly jealous of all of you."
"Oh, please."
"Oh, well, I can see why."
"I feel guilty, of course, because, you know, I mean, my life is, you know, so full now."
"Please."
"Do us a favor, Hope. If you're gonna suffer about being happy, suffer in silence."
*They end up going to make cookies.*
There's something endearingly quaint about "Therapy" and "Nancy's First Date." I'm not sure if Nancy and Elliot (Timothy Busfield) talking about the endless frustrations in their marriage before separating and then hooking up on their son's bedroom floor was considered shocking to 1988 audiences. How about the idea of Nancy still going out with Jed, who drives a '62 Falcon and is the dad of one of her daughter's classmates? A short while later, Nancy insists that what happened between her and Elliot won't happen again. Because it's 1988 and everyone's afraid of STDs, Nancy says she should have made Elliot wear a condom. Oof! Minus 10 points for the ham-fisted reveal of a detail that will matter later. As it turns out, Elliot hasn't had sex with anyone else during his separation. Nancy also didn't have sex with Jed. Well, we all know what to expect ...
Wettig is the MVP of "Date." Busfield shares second place with Melanie Mayron, who held her own amid a challenging plot. Things are getting serious between Melissa and Dr. Bob (Robin Thomas). Melissa, whose biological clock is ticking, not only likes Bob, but his daughter Robin (Kellie Martin). The problem is, Bob doesn't want to have another child. Here in 2021, I'm thinking, "Melissa, you shouldn't have waited so long to find this out." Anyway, the story's most interesting when Robin's involved. Things get strained during a photography lesson, when she wants to skip practicing with an apple and go right to Melissa. Later, Melissa doesn't like Robin making fun of her childhood doll. I've got mixed feelings about Melissa admitting that her jealousy isn't about Robin having Bob in her life, it's Bob having Robin (i.e. a child) in his life. That's a lot to lay on a girl whose parents just divorced five months ago. "Date" was the last episode for both Martin (a pity; Robin would have made a great recurring character; I see a "thirteensomething" episode) and Thomas.
"Well, I guess me and my eggs will be moving on."
It looks like I caught a quiet pair of episodes for Hope and Michael (Ken Olin). He does a dickish thing in "Therapy," betraying Ellyn's trust by revealing that she has a tattoo to Elliot and Gary (Peter Horton). This only was revealed to Michael because Hope and Ellyn laughed when he had "tattoo" as a Scrabble word. In her teens, Ellyn went to a Donovan concert, getting a rose from the guy himself. She not only kept the rose, but got it and the words "Mellow Yellow" inscribed on her butt. I'm so mad that my DVD crapped out, since I really wanted to see if Ellyn was going to slug Michael. In "Date," Ellyn reminds Melissa that Michael may do the dad routine when he comes home from work, but Hope is still the one mostly raising baby Janie.
As for Gary, the most notable thing he does in this pair of episodes is recommend Dr. Nicolson. Marshall Herskovitz, who co-created thirtysomething, not only acted in "Therapy" but directed a script written by his then-wife, Susan Shilliday. Here come my mixed feelings again ... Elliot and Nancy's problems are mostly organic. He cheated on her, something I don't think she found out (it didn't seem to come up in "Date"). No, the couple's issues include everyday things like overwhelming passive aggression. Once Nancy had her hands full making dinner. She asked Elliot to make their son a PB&J. He used grape jelly, which the boy won't eat. She's annoyed that he can't remember things like that. No one said drama had to be high concept.
*Elliot is evasive about his and Nancy's sex life, but she admits that he's unsatisfied*
"I mean, we're here, you might as well take advantage and just talk to (Dr. Nicolson). You never miss the opportunity to let me know how you feel about it, so just tell him. ... Okay, um. He thinks that I'm not interested in sex anymore. He thinks that I don't take care of his needs."
"Is that true?"
"If she says it, it must be true."
"Oh, stop it."
"Stop what? Stop what? You seem to have to have all the answers."
"Damn it, Elliot. I am trying to save our marriage. I am trying to understand why it is that you are so miserable every day. Day in and day out, you're, you're, you're insulting and complaining and you're angry, and I, I do, I think I have the right to understand what it is that you feel ..."
*Elliot claims that Nancy doesn't really want to know what he's thinking, nor that he should think at all*
"You know what? You won't be happy until everything is just the way Nancy wants it ..."
Thoughts:
-- *the gals are watching Nancy try on clothes for her date, including a pink sweater with exposed shoulders* Melissa: "It's more third date." Ellyn: "Yeah, it says, 'Touch me now.'" Hope: "Ellyn!" Ellyn: "But in the nicest possible way."
-- Awards Watch: "Therapy" won Wettig the Emmy for supporting actress in a drama, and Busfield a supporting actor nomination. The show, the script for "Business as Usual" and guest actress Shirley Knight also won Emmys, with Draper earning a supporting actress nomination. Over at the Golden Globes, a lone nomination and win for the series itself.
-- Behind the Camera: Shilliday also wrote "Date," directed by Ron Lagomarsino.
-- Something I find cool about thirtysomething is that six of the seven original leads all tried their hand at directing. Busfield, Horton, Mayron and Olin are still active TV directors and each directed at least two episodes of the show. Harris directed one episode, her lone credit in that field, while Draper directed after the show. I wonder if Draper and Wettig were offered the opportunities to direct episodes.
-- Fun With Product Placement: Evian, Coke and Rolling Rock ... and also a modified Budweiser bottle.
-- Hey, It's ...!: If Kellie Martin wasn't enough, future Woman of 1988 TV Faith Ford plays Janine, Michael and Elliot's assistant ("Therapy"). She filed a dairy account under "M" for milk.
-- Hey, It's the Late Eighties!: Melissa's meal for Bob (and Robin) includes veal stew. She's a failure at using Hope's cappuccino machine ("Date").
-- Hey, It's 1987-88!: Bob can't find a movie to take Melissa and Robin to ("Date"). Robin has seen Moonstruck and My Life as a Dog. She and Melissa have seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
-- "How come people always hang out in kitchens?"
-- Next: Beauty and the Beast. On deck: L.A. Law.
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