thirtysomething
Real world tie-ins to names of 
people, places and companies
on the show:

Credits: Attributions are in parenthesis after each entry.
If you see your name here and would rather not, email me 
and I'll remove it. Alternatively, if you'd like me to 
include your email address with your name, let me know.
Special thanks to Lisa Stevenson, who was the main 
contributor other than myself. Her 30-s site, formerly at 
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~lasteven/index.html, is now
hosted on my site at:
http://home.kc.rr.com/bobfahey/lb-30s/index.htm

Susan Shilliday was a writer for the show, and
      Val Shilliday was a character played by Rosalind 
      Cash, first appearing in Weaning, 12/8/87
      (submitted by me)
DAA was apparently named after the mighty firm CAA,
      and it follows that Miles Drentel was patterned
      after Michael Ovitz, head dude at CAA who in 1996
      was destined to get very rich by getting fired
      by Disney.  There are differences, of course. The 
      name CAA stands for Creative Artists Agency,  
      Los Angeles-based literary and talent representatives.
      DAA stands for its founders' names (Drentel, Arthur 
      and Ashley), the business is in Philadelphia, and 
      the work is of a different nature. (submitted by me)
Winant Scott was the name of a business mentioned on
      the show (I forget which episode and whose business)
      and Scott Winant was supervising producer and
      sometime director on the show. Further, Bruce
      Winant played Dr. Rawlins in Advanced Beginners,
      1/22/91.  (submitted by me)
Robert Gould Shaw was a minor character in the last episode 
      (California - 5/28/91).  Hope says, "Again she asks 
      'who is Robert Gould Shaw'."  Robert Gould Shaw was 
      a real life Civil War officer and subsequent character 
      in producer/writer Ed Zwick's Oscar-winning movie "Glory."
      (submitted by Jan Nicholson)
Bedford Falls - Thirtysomething's makers took their company name 
      from Bedford Falls, the fictional town in the classic 
      movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." The line, "...and dance 
      by the light of the moon," (heard during thirtysomething's 
      end credits) is from the song, "Buffalo Girls," sung in 
      that movie. The house seen in the end credits also is 
      from the movie. You can see the house and hear the song 
      by clicking the Bedford Falls Logo link on my main 
      thirtysomething page. Michael and Eliott mention Bedford 
      Falls in thirtysomething's final episode, "California."
      (submitted by me)
Grendel is Michael and Hope's dog, and it's also the name of a 
      key character (the monster) in Beowulf. That epic is, of 
      course, Gary's favorite book, and he mentions it in 
      several episodes, including "Second Look"-2/12/91. 
      (submitted by Markus Schmitz)
Rabbi Markowitz was a character in the Christmas episode "The 
      Mike van Dyke Show"-12/20/88. His name probably is derived 
      from the name of that episode's writer: 
      Mar(shall) (Hers)kowitz. (submitted by Markus Schmitz)
Bistro Le Parsons III is a restaurant visited by Michael, Hope, 
      Billy and Ellyn in "Hopeless" (5/17/91). This is probably 
      a reference to Lindley Parsons III, executive producer.
      (submitted by Markus Schmitz, and also mentioned by Lisa 
      Stevenson in her exhaustively detailed episode guide)
Jerry Stahl was a character in the episode "Housewarming"-10/13/87.
      He was someone from Hope's past, with whom she had an 
      "extended physical encounter." Michael was unhappy about the 
      prospect of meeting Stahl, but to Michael's delight he turned 
      out to be a dweeby guy with a cheesy grin and a nasal voice.
      In real life Jerry Stahl penned the episode "Born to be 
      Mild"-5/10/88. Stahl was a heroin addict at the time he was 
      writing for thirtysomething, "Alf," and other shows. He later 
      wrote a book about himself during this time period, called 
     "Permanent Midnight."  (submitted separately by Andrea
      Stanfield, someone called RCR,  Hal Beardsley and me)
Patsy Klein, a character in the episode 'Happy New Year' 
      (12/18/90), has a name annoyingly similar to that of singer 
      Patsy Kline. That's all. I know it's not much. I watched 
      the episode to see if she says she's "crazy" or that she 
      "falls to pieces," but it just didn't happen. However....
My So-Called Life (MSCL) tie-ins:  Mary Kay Place, who played
      Klein,  turned up again in the Bedford Falls Company's MSCL
      as Camille Cherski, mother of Sharon Cherski, the former best 
      friend of Angela Chase (the central character on the show).
      Other actors who crossed over from 30-s to MSCL include:
      Danton Stone - brother Brad to Michael Steadman, the main 
      male character on 30-s, and brother Neil to Graham Chase,
      the main male character on MSCL.
      Paul Dooley as Bob Spano, the Minnesota Brands big boss 
      in "Towers of Zenith" on 30-s, and as Chuck Wood (what a 
      name) on MSCL. Dooley is married to 30-s writer/producer/
      director Winnie Holzman.
      Jeff Perry - David Hall in "New Baby" on 30-s, and really 
      neat, sympathetic teacher Mr. Katimski in episodes 12 and 
      13 of MSCL.
      (submitted by me, except for the bit about Dooley being 
      married to Holzman, which I stole from Lisa Stevenson's site)
thirtysomething cameo - Onscreen for maybe half a second, a 
      director's slate in episode 60, "Going Limp," in the 3rd season,
      reads "THIRTYSOMETHING." It's backwards but easily readable. 
      To see it, click the thirtysomething pictures link on my main 
      30-s page.  (Nathan Olson spotted this and emailed Lisa Stevenson 
      about it, and I shamelessly stole it from her site and used it here)
Kate Hodges, who played the young Hope in the ep "the burning bush" 
      went on to star as Randi Wallace in the series "She-Wolf of 
      London." That series' episode "Little Bookshop of Horrors" 
      opened with a scene of a couple called Hope and Michael 
      discussing business, and the names Elliot and Miles were 
      dropped as well. Hope later went nuts and beheaded Michael. 
      (This provided the impetus for the plot of the episode, 
      running down what had happened.) It obviously was a send-up 
      of "thirtysomething," but it's not clear whether Kate Hodges 
      herself contributed the idea.
      (this gem contributed by Lisa Stevenson)
Joseph Dougherty, frequent writer/director for the show, "appears" 
      as the voice of Sherman Howard on the answering at the 
      beginning of the second-season episode first day/last day.
      (Sent by Lynn Wilhite to Lisa Stevenson and 
      shamelessly stolen by me)
Pressman Department stores, where Mr. Pressman rudely interviews 
      Michael and Eliott for jobs in the second-season episode 
      "First Day/Last Day," is most likely a tip of the hat to 
      thirtysomething producer Ellen S. Pressman. 
      (shamelessly stolen from Lisa Stevenson's web site)
W.H. Macy, co-writer of the fourth-season episode "Sifting the Ashes,"
     became much more famous after the end of thirtysomething in 
     1991. Switching to his acting cap, William H. Macy was a regular 
     on the TV show "ER" and appeared in many movies, including 
     Fargo, Mystery Men and Magnolia.  Check out this 
     page: http://www.whmacy.com/thirty.htm.  Also, go 
     to http://www.whmacy.com/rose.htm to read what he told Charlie 
     Rose about how he came to write a thirtysomething episode.
     (submitted by me)

If you know of other potential "insider" items to add to this 
page, please email me at robertafahey@hotmail.com