ABC Has Ordered a Pilot for a thirtysomething Reboot With Original Cast

Get out the tissues, because thirtysomething could be back on ABC this fall.

thirtysomething(else), a sequel to the groundbreaking series thirtysomething, has received a pilot pickup from ABC. The show will follow an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up, 30-something children of the original cast reprised by Ken Olin (Michael Steadman), Mel Harris (Hope Murdoch), Timothy Busfield (Elliot Weston) and Patty Wettig (Nancy Weston).

Showrunners and the original show’s creators, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, return to bring thirtysomething(else) to life under their Bedford Falls Co. banner along with MGM Television. Edward Zwick is set to direct.

ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour that a writer’s room is being opened for Thirtysomething(else), which is still a pilot but is already “gearing up for series.”

Burke told reporters after the pickup announcement that “Ed and Marshall really have a vision for the narrative and anything’s possible, really. … 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. So it’s really a true definition of a multigenerational [story].”

Plus, the exec added, “I think you’ll find some surprises in the story that you didn’t see coming.”

The pilot will be in contention for the fall 2020 TV season, Burke added.

Networks typically announce their new fall series in and around May ahead of the annual network Upfronts presentations to advertisers in New York.

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