Creatively Dead Network Exec Brief: thirtysomething

I MADE IT through about eight minutes of the premiere of the new Melrose Place last night before shaking it off. Somewhere between the Seth Cohen-wannabe and Sydney in the pool I realized that the most important part of the TV guilty pleasure was the pleasure part. They don't call it "Guilty TV dreary."

So instead I dipped into a great series that I didn't watch enough during its two year run, Life. Both seasons are now available on DVD. Go, mourn at what you missed. (And yes, smuggington who watched it, save the, "I watched it!" comment. It's really no better than typing "First!")

But the bad taste of MP got me thinking about those thirtysomething DVD's I was watching last weekend. Too much hairspray. Too many skinny ties -- and did we really think power suspenders were a good idea? I mean ... really?

It's the quintessential boomer navel-gazing show -- pilloried and praised; absolutely influential to all that followed. Celebrator of character, freer from the shackles of genre --

So, then.

Say you're a mid level exec. The blood is just dry on the contract. Satan's packing up the suitcase of blow and getting out of your office, and you now have the power to do what you've always wanted to do:

Re-imagine thirtysomething.

All of it's up for grabs. Cameos by the old cast? Remake? Re-invention? What are the new issues? What do they all do? Is there a Miles Drentell? What is the what?

Have at it in the comments.