Marshall Herskovitz

Producer Marshall Herskovitz has sold his home in a Brentwood equestrian area for $4.6 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service. The one-story ranch-style house, built in 1948, was designed for entertaining and opens to covered patios and an expansive backyard. The flat lot of more than half an acre includes a swimming pool and spa. The 2,655-square-foot home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Herskovitz, 57, recently purchased an equestrian home in Calabasas for $4.1 million.

It's tough enough for a director to get a film's performers to connect on set, to bring an instant trust and intimacy to the story while still hitting their marks. But once the clothes come off, things really get tricky. In "Love & Other Drugs," the Nov. 24 romantic comedy about a charming pharmaceutical sales rep who falls for an artist afflicted by early onset Parkinson's disease, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway spend much of the film half-naked (or more). Accordingly, director Edward Zwick decided early in the rehearsal process that he'd have to get the stars comfortable with each other while they wore little-to-nothing.

Marshall Herskovitz and his partner, Edward Zwick, are best known for their acclaimed television series "thirtysomething," "My So-Called Life" and "Relativity." During the four-year run of "thirtysomething," Herskovitz, 45, was honored with two Emmys for writing and received two Directors Guild of America awards for directing. In 1992, Herskovitz directed the box-office flop "Jack the Bear," starring Danny DeVito. He also co-produced Zwick's film "Legends of the Fall."

Producer Marshall Herskovitz has sold his home in a Brentwood equestrian area for $4.6 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service. The one-story ranch-style house, built in 1948, was designed for entertaining and opens to covered patios and an expansive backyard. The flat lot of more than half an acre includes a swimming pool and spa. The 2,655-square-foot home has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Herskovitz, 57, recently purchased an equestrian home in Calabasas for $4.1 million.

Twenty-two years ago this fall, just before ABC premiered "thirtysomething," the producers were keeping their expectations low. "We wanted to make movies," Marshall Herskovitz, who created the era-defining drama about a group of yuppie pals in Philadelphia with writing partner Edward Zwick, explained in a recent interview. "We thought if we do something that is so specific to us and our friends, no one will watch it, it will be quickly canceled, and we can get back to making movies."

The irony is not lost on producer Marshall Herskovitz. The veteran Hollywood filmmaker has been elected president of the 3,000-member Producers Guild of America, where he has been a strong voice in the PGA's fight to curb the proliferation of producer credits. Yet, Herskovitz is one of seven producers listed on the Warner Bros. film "The Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, that is currently filming, according to the Internet movie database IMDB.com.

I was appalled at the attitudes displayed by Bill Cosby and Marshall Herskovitz, executive producer of "thirtysomething," in the Dec. 11 article, "Big 3 Networks Tackle Social Ills in Support of 'End Hunger' Project." Cosby may be politically opposed to the Bush Administration, but is he also opposed to ending world hunger? His refusal to air the special 900 number and an address from the President concerning the importance of volunteerism portrays him as purely selfish. Herskovitz must have no conscience if he can put this issue aside simply by labeling it "propaganda."

It's tough enough for a director to get a film's performers to connect on set, to bring an instant trust and intimacy to the story while still hitting their marks. But once the clothes come off, things really get tricky. In "Love & Other Drugs," the Nov. 24 romantic comedy about a charming pharmaceutical sales rep who falls for an artist afflicted by early onset Parkinson's disease, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway spend much of the film half-naked (or more). Accordingly, director Edward Zwick decided early in the rehearsal process that he'd have to get the stars comfortable with each other while they wore little-to-nothing.

I read Howard Rosenberg's enthusiastic review of the new ABC series "thirtysomething" ("New TV Generation Gets Older, Better," Sept. 29). My wife (age 30-something) and I (like Rosenberg, age 40-something) then watched the premiere episode. Boy, were we disappointed! Sure, the series concept holds worthy promise: a realistic, poignant look at the lives of attractive, articulate people who have just crossed the threshold from the protracted childhood our society affords the educated children of the upper middle class into the responsibilities and ambiguities of adult lives committed to love and work.

The two producers of the ABC yuppie drama series "thirtysomething," Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, have agreed to supply the network an additional three series over the next five years. But in a blow to MGM-Pathe Communications, Zwick and Herskovitz will not produce the new series at the studio, which has financed "thirtysomething" for four years. They will take the series commitments to another studio for financing.

Producer Marshall Herskovitz has purchased an equestrian property in Calabasas for $4.1 million. The ranch has a Mediterranean-style house with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 7,000 square feet, a seven-stall barn, two arenas, pastureland and a separate caretaker apartment. The remodeled home's family room opens to a wrap-around veranda overlooking the swimming pool area. An outdoor living area has a hacienda-style fireplace and barbecue. There are mature oak trees and a creek.

Twenty-two years ago this fall, just before ABC premiered "thirtysomething," the producers were keeping their expectations low. "We wanted to make movies," Marshall Herskovitz, who created the era-defining drama about a group of yuppie pals in Philadelphia with writing partner Edward Zwick, explained in a recent interview. "We thought if we do something that is so specific to us and our friends, no one will watch it, it will be quickly canceled, and we can get back to making movies."

The irony is not lost on producer Marshall Herskovitz. The veteran Hollywood filmmaker has been elected president of the 3,000-member Producers Guild of America, where he has been a strong voice in the PGA's fight to curb the proliferation of producer credits. Yet, Herskovitz is one of seven producers listed on the Warner Bros. film "The Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, that is currently filming, according to the Internet movie database IMDB.com.

Marshall Herskovitz and his partner, Edward Zwick, are best known for their acclaimed television series "thirtysomething," "My So-Called Life" and "Relativity." During the four-year run of "thirtysomething," Herskovitz, 45, was honored with two Emmys for writing and received two Directors Guild of America awards for directing. In 1992, Herskovitz directed the box-office flop "Jack the Bear," starring Danny DeVito. He also co-produced Zwick's film "Legends of the Fall."

Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz have been down this road before--producing an acclaimed, marginally rated series that puts a microscope over the small and sometimes awkward moments in daily life. They reinvented the genre in "thirtysomething," then turned to high school in "My So-Called Life" (nicknamed by some as "fifteensomething") and now they're chronicling a twentysomething couple in ABC's "Relativity."

It's refreshing to see ABC buck tradition and extend the season of one of prime time's least popular series. Rarely has a network been so high on a series so low. The beneficiary here is "My So-Called Life," a weekly drama tracking the bumps and grinds of a fitful, moody, self-conscious, self-obsessed--in other words, quite typical--15-year-old, an inside-out account of middle-class adolescence presented mostly from her own perspective. "My So-Called Life" is capable of greatness.

Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, creators and executive producers of ABC's "thirtysomething," expected their show "to last for six episodes--and then die." Test audiences complained that the pilot was confusing, the dialogue wasn't interesting, the characters whined and nothing ever happened.

Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz have been down this road before--producing an acclaimed, marginally rated series that puts a microscope over the small and sometimes awkward moments in daily life. They reinvented the genre in "thirtysomething," then turned to high school in "My So-Called Life" (nicknamed by some as "fifteensomething") and now they're chronicling a twentysomething couple in ABC's "Relativity."

When it comes to season-ending cliffhangers, this one's revolutionary. That's because it's not the unsettled futures of feuding Michael and Hope and the show's other characters that deepen the mystery over tonight's finale of ABC's "thirtysomething" (at 10 on Channel 3, 7 and 10) as much as it is something else. The future of the series itself. In fact, the veiled destiny of TV's finest, boldest dramatic series carries that distinctive "thirtysomething" stamp of enigma.

The two producers of the ABC yuppie drama series "thirtysomething," Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, have agreed to supply the network an additional three series over the next five years. But in a blow to MGM-Pathe Communications, Zwick and Herskovitz will not produce the new series at the studio, which has financed "thirtysomething" for four years. They will take the series commitments to another studio for financing.