thirtysomething sequel now in the works, will probably not be called sixtysomething

Because everything that leaves TV seems to eventually boomerang back to TV, now there are reports of the 1987-91 drama thirtysomething returning to the small screen. Some TV watchers (or their parents) may remember the series that featured Hope, Michael, Elliot, Nancy, Melissa, Gary, and Ellyn and their various familial, career, and romantic travails. The episodes often featured cozy domestic events that opened up lots of opportunities for conversation, glasses of wine, and various levels of whining.

Now, says Deadline, creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick are “pitching a new incarnation of the show, which is garnering interest from multiple networks, including ABC, which aired the original series.” The followup series would focus on the now-thirtysomething offspring of the original cast (so, not sixtysomething): Hope and Michael’s kids Janie and Leo, and Elliot and Nancy’s Ethan and Brittany. Did Melissa and Lee have a baby too, or Ellyn and Billy? And wasn’t Gary’s wife Susannah pregnant at some point? See, lots of options, especially when you consider that Michael and Melissa were cousins in the original series, seems reasonable that all these kids would hang out. (And yes, we may have watched way too many reruns of this show during a certain segment of of our lives.)

Naturally, the showrunners would probably try to draft some of the original cast back for guest spots, although none are onboard yet. Real-life marrieds Ken Olin and Patrica Wettig (Michael and Nancy) finally played an actual couple in ABC’s Brothers And Sisters, while Busfield (Elliot) moved on to The West Wing and Designated Survivor, and Melanie Mayron (Melissa) was recently on Jane The Virgin. Many of these actors are also now TV directors as well. So there are lots of options for blasts from the thirtysomething past here, even for Gary (Peter Horton), who died in one of the last episodes of the series. He could always show up in an arty fantasy or flashback sequence—it’s the thirtysomething way.