"thirtysomething" set for DVD release

It's taken 18 years, but the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the first season of 'thirtysomething' is set for DVD release on August 25. And the other three seasons will come out about every six months after that.

Just to remind you "thirtysomething" ran from September 1987 through May 1991, and looked at Reagan-era class-consciousness, career striving and family values collided with post-hippie ethics, and was enacted through a group of educated, upper-middle class characters. There were two main couples featuring actors you'll be familiar with even if you didn't watch "thirtysomething": Michael/Hope (played by Ken Olin/Mel Harris) and Elliot/Nancy (Timothy Busfield/Patricia Wettig), and their friends, families and co-workers.

I'd argue that "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" are here because of "thirtysomething." (You decide whether that's a good thing.) 

Apparently the hold up was complicated, expensive music rights clearances. According to the article, Garson Foos, president of Shout! Factory, which will release "thirtysomething," said the Emmy-winning drama also had another hurdle: no master copies that would allow the easy transfer to DVD.

The Season 1 DVD set will feature interviews with and commentaries from cast members Harris, Busfield, Melanie Mayron (Michael's Single Lady cousin, Melissa), Peter Horton (serial bachelor Gary, who met with a shocking end in the final season) and real-life couple Olin and Wettig (who are now a fictional couple on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters"). Polly Draper, the final member of the core cast (Ellyn, Single Lady No. 2), also will participate, according to a Shout! Factory spokesman.