As Time Goes By: Age, Aging And Ageism On TV

[Guest]

I'm wondering if any forum focuses on television series, streaming or network, with senior citizen themes. 

I post often enough on the Perry Mason forum, and especially given the fact Perry is 65 as of this year, I'd really enjoy discussing how older people are depicted on it. In fact, some of the best villains and heroes are older. Perry is just one example of shows that incorporate older people. My beloved "Endeavour" does as well. I'm in America and do not want the current unaired Season 8 spoiled, and the moderator of Endeavour suggested looking elsewhere.

Yesterday, I watched "The Manor," an Amazon-based film starring Barbara Hershey. It's nominally a horror story but deals with many issues affecting older people not eaten live by monsters :) An older Bruce Davison is in it, too, and it addresses topics such as being erased because of age, having one's sanity doubted, tension between the old and young based on mutual mistrust. You know, really happy upbeat stuff.

I'm not looking for an "Oldies but Goodies" forum. I'm looking for any forum to discuss shows that incorporate age as an essential element of the story.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Your place to discuss senior-related topics on TV. 

[SusanM]

One thing I've noticed is how often a sitcom will feature an elderly guest star and have that person die. Can't they just have an older character show up once in awhile and leave it at that?  The worst example I can think of offhand was killing off the Cloris Leachman character on an episode of Two and Half Men but there are lots more examples out there where it seems the only reason to write in an older character is to kill them off!

[Llywela]

It was a one-off rather than a series, but a couple of years ago, acclaimed actress Glenda Jackson came out of retirement at the age of 83 to film a BBC TV movie called Elizabeth Is Missing, which does explicitly revolve around age as an essential element of the story. The story follows Maud, an 80-something with Alzheimer's, who is convinced her friend Elizabeth is missing and doesn't understand why no one will help her search - but over the course of the story, it becomes clear that the cause of Maud's distress is actually rooted in a much, much older mystery. The programme is based on a book of the same name, told from Maud's POV, and is a beautifully written, searingly honest glimpse into what it is like to live with Alzheimer's.

[Ambrosefolly]

I was little sadden when Jennifer Tilly made the very true point that the only way for her to circumvent being tossed into "grandma" roles was to have a role in, let's face it, almost B-Level horror series after she turned 40. Now she can have a bit of a resurgence (hopefully) in the Chucky Tv Series. Unless you are Meryl Streep or you own your own production company like Reese Witherspoon, it is pretty slim pickings, even if you have an Oscar or Oscan nom underneath your belt.

[Spartan Girl]

9 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

I was little sadden when Jennifer Tilly made the very true point that the only way for her to circumvent being tossed into "grandma" roles was to have a role in, let's face it, almost B-Level horror series after she turned 40. Now she can have a bit of a resurgence (hopefully) in the Chucky Tv Series. Unless you are Meryl Streep or you own your own production company like Reese Witherspoon, it is pretty slim pickings, even if you have an Oscar or Oscan nom underneath your belt.

I do appreciate that she said Don Mancini makes it clear that her character is the same age in all the Chucky movies. I can’t imagine her in a grandma role, regardless of her age.

[JustHereForFood]

Actors call for better onscreen representation of women over 45

Quote

In an open letter signed by more than 100 actors and public figures, the Acting Your Age Campaign (AYAC) called for equal representation in the UK between men and women over 45 and urged immediate action on a “parity pledge”.

“Today’s in-demand young actress is tomorrow’s unemployed middle-aged actress,” it said, adding: “We are fighting to ensure that our generation of excluded women is the last generation of excluded women.”

Women in the UK only have a “shelf life” on screen while their male colleagues have a “whole life”, it claims.

Quote

Additionally, it states that news pieces on women’s physical and mental health and violence against women “shouldn’t have exclusive bias towards young women”. While celebrity and entertainment news should feature women and men over 45 equally and use recent photographs.

“This isn’t an attack of artistic freedom,” the letter states. “This is highlighting that too often excluding older women is enabled through the cloak of artistic choices.”

[Scarlett45]

I like movies featuring older people- two of my fav Rom Coms are Something's Gotta Give and It's Complicated (of course I acknowledge Meryl is a exception to every rule about women aging in Hollywood).

I am looking forward to the new Father of the Bride with Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan, where by their marriage is the focus and the daughter's wedding a backdrop.

[peachmangosteen]

I saw a trailer last night for a movie with Annette Bening and Bryan Cranston that looks fun so I'm looking forward to that. And I'm interested in the new Father of the Bride as well. And, on the plus side, they're both streaming so I don't even have to go to a theater lol.

[llongori]

Not a series, but there's a lovely film called "Still Mine" that I saw a while back.  It's worth a watch.  It's available to stream with Amazon prime.

Here's a link to the trailer...

Edited June 7, 2022 by llongori

[Ms Blue Jay]

There's some good TV about middle aged or older characters from the past few years

Julia
The Staircase (but it's terrifying)
The Gilded Age
Gaslit
The First Lady
Curb your Enthusiasm
The Good Fight
Mare of Easttown (also scary)
The Shrink Next Door
The Undoing (scary again)
Dirty John
The Morning Show
Dead to Me
Living with Yourself
Why Women Kill
Nine Perfect Strangers
 

I also watched "And Just Like That" and "The Landscapers" but I wasn't as much a fan of either.  Also there's all the Real Housewives franchises.  American Crime Story Impeachment was about Clinton and Linda Tripp in the 90s but I wasn't knocked out by that either.  I do like the reboots of "Will and Grace" and "Mad about You" though.

Funny to remember that Sandra Oh is 50, considering she is obsessed with a woman 21 years younger than she is in "Killing Eve".  That's an amazing show.  I also watched "The Chair" but did not love it.
 

I assumed this was the Age in TV topic?  There is an Age in Movies topic here 

.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Bastet]

57 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

There's some good TV about middle aged or older characters from the past few years

My favorite is Grace and Frankie, on Netflix, which recently concluded.  It covers characters from their 70s-80s (initially aging them down, which is a big problem in Hollywood - you don't get to pat yourself on the back for casting 75-year-olds if you only cast those who can pass for 65 - but eventually correcting (and creating continuity errors, but so be it) itself to have the characters more in line with the actors' ages, and telling the stories of that age group instead of treating everyone 50+ as if they're the same, instead acknowledging the commonalities but highlighting the differences each decade brings.  The series honestly and humorously addressed ageism, sexism, and sexism within ageism and ageism within sexism (plus a look at homophobia's intersectionality, and the privilege of marriage over other partnerships, as well), and is one of my favorites. 

[Llywela]

Elizabeth is Missing is another recent show (okay, TV movie) that can be added to the list of recent TV featuring older women. Glenda Jackson came out of retirement at 80-something to make the film, which was wonderful. How often do we get to see media centred around an 80-year-old woman with Alzheimer's, told from her point of view?

[Haleth]

I've been watching Night Sky with Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons, another show starring an older woman.

[Scarlett45]

7 hours ago, Haleth said:

I've been watching Night Sky with Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons, another show starring an older woman.

My Mom liked that one a lot. 
 

@Ms Blue Jay- thanks for your list! I admit I forgot we were in the tv section!! One of the things I was so pissed about with the AJLT debacle is that it was a chance to show older women on tv, having fun and their relationships- but they screwed that up. 
 

Shows I too liked featuring older characters recently:

The Gilded Age 

Pachinko (older Sunja is PHENOMENAL) 

Bridgerton (Lady Danbury is the smartest person of the entire Ton)

[Ohiopirate02]

29 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Shows I too liked featuring older characters recently:

The Gilded Age 

Pachinko (older Sunja is PHENOMENAL) 

Bridgerton (Lady Danbury is the smartest person of the entire Ton)

I really like how Bridgerton is employing it's older female characters.  Lady Danbury is everything.  I also find Portia Featherington fascinating, and Queen Charlotte.  These women have layers, and all of them kept on living after menopause.  

[Scarlett45]

26 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I really like how Bridgerton is employing it's older female characters.  Lady Danbury is everything.  I also find Portia Featherington fascinating, and Queen Charlotte.  These women have layers, and all of them kept on living after menopause.  

Me too. I want them to develop Violet a little more in Season 3, she and Lady Danbury make a fun BFF team. I do think they wasted Lady Mary (who actually isn’t older, given how young women had kids back then, but is a “matron”.) Lady Mary as a woman who gave up status for love and then lost her husband so young- she probably has a lot of wisdom to share. 

[meep.meep]

The Kominsky Method on Netflix is primarily about aging.

[Ms Blue Jay]

My Dad is really enjoying this show - Samuel L. Jackson plays 91 years old!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Days_of_Ptolemy_Grey

[andromeda331]

8 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I really like how Bridgerton is employing it's older female characters.  Lady Danbury is everything.  I also find Portia Featherington fascinating, and Queen Charlotte.  These women have layers, and all of them kept on living after menopause.  

I also like that they show women for the most part solving problems. Lady F. maniuplating the hell outof the new Lord F. and coming out on top with money and getting the title and estate back. Trying to marry off Marina to men who didn't care she was going to have someone else's baby. Yeah, they were all really old but she was trying to save Marina's ( and her family's) reputation. Daphne using her position as duchess to help Marina out and track down what happened to George. Queen Charlotte's plan to figure out who Lady Whistledown is by keeping track of who befriended Edwina Sherma.  Violet having her servants get information from Lord Berbrooke's servants to find out information to get Daphne out of having to marry him.  Lady Danbury maniuplating Charlotte to name Edwina the diamond of the season and Charlotte knew what she was doing. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by andromeda331

[JustHereForFood]

There was a British miniseries Girlfriends a few years ago, with Phyllis Logan, Miranda Richardson and Zoë Wanamaker as 3 best friends balancing drama of relationships, children and parents. I have to say that I expected more from it and the plot turned a bit too weird for me by the end, but it was still worth the watch.

[Ms Blue Jay]

My mother told me about a British show she likes starring Judi Dench:  "As Time Goes By".  What she had no idea about is that it lasted for 9 seasons, or 10 "Series" as the British put it.  It's from the 90s and the 2000s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Time_Goes_By_(TV_series)

Quote

Starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, it follows the relationship between two former lovers who meet unexpectedly after not having been in contact for 38 years.

Oh my god, I just realized that's the title of this topic thread.  🤪

[Zella]

42 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

"As Time Goes By".  What she had no idea about is that it lasted for 9 seasons, or 10 "Series" as the British put it.  It's from the 90s and the 2000s.

PBS used to show this on Saturday evenings. I was too young to appreciate it at the time--I was there for Waiting for God and Keeping Up Appearances! But now that I am an adult, I end up thinking about As Time Goes By a surprising amount and wishing I'd actually given it more of a chance than I did as a teenager. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

13 minutes ago, Zella said:

PBS used to show this on Saturday evenings. I was too young to appreciate it at the time--I was there for Waiting for God and Keeping Up Appearances! But now that I am an adult, I end up thinking about As Time Goes By a surprising amount and wishing I'd actually given it more of a chance than I did as a teenager. 

There's an app called Britbox -- I'm sure all those shows are on there.  But I understand anyone's hesitancy to spend on yet another app.

I just checked online, and yes, As Time Goes By is on there.  I assume that's the case with most BBC shows.  

I don't know that many British shows.  But I do like Mr. Bean, Fawlty Towers, The Office (BBC version), Killing Eve, The Crown, and Luther.  I keep wanting to try Luther but god it's just so violent.  For some reason it's always being shown on the planes I've taken.  Oh and Broadchurch -- Broadchurch season 1 is as good as anything I've ever seen.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Zella]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

There's an app called Britbox -- I'm sure all those shows are on there.  But I understand anyone's hesitancy to spend on yet another app.

I just checked online, and yes, As Time Goes By is on there.  I assume that's the case with most BBC shows.  

Oh thank you! I will have to check it out. Britbox and I would probably get along very well. :) 

[Ms Blue Jay]

There's some new British shows out right now - Why Didn't They Ask Evans?  Which is based on an Agatha Christie novel and A Very British Scandal.

[LilWharveyGal]

17 hours ago, Zella said:

PBS used to show this on Saturday evenings. I was too young to appreciate it at the time--I was there for Waiting for God and Keeping Up Appearances! But now that I am an adult, I end up thinking about As Time Goes By a surprising amount and wishing I'd actually given it more of a chance than I did as a teenager. 

I had no time for ATGB as a teen, either.  I thought it was a total snooze.  Now it's a different story; I can appreciate the charm and I try to catch reruns whenever I can.  (And my favorite line-up back in the day was KUA, The Vicar of Dibley, and Are You Being Served? 😊) 

[SusanM]

We have a station here called Vision TV which is religious based but they do show some great Britcoms (and a few other, I guess what they see as "wholesome" dramas and sitcoms).  The funniest to me is the way they had Father Ted and AbFab on for awhile - I think whoever picked those shows had never actually seen an episode or figured "Hey British let's go for it".  Anyway, I digress. One show I watch now and then is Last of the Summer Wine and I am finding the older I get the better I like it.  If you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd like this show, which is basically about a group of elderly people bobbing along having gentle adventures in the Yorkshire countryside, I'd have thought you were nuts!

[Crashcourse]

I tried watching a few episodes of As Time Goes By on PBS and I thought it was awful.  Judi Dench (I liked her in other roles) and Geoffrey Palmer's lame attempts at "humor" were awful, as was the laugh track.  I was especially surprised at how bad Dench was.  Never again will I watch.  

[proserpina65]

On 6/9/2022 at 3:16 PM, Crashcourse said:

I tried watching a few episodes of As Time Goes By on PBS and I thought it was awful.  Judi Dench (I liked her in other roles) and Geoffrey Palmer's lame attempts at "humor" were awful, as was the laugh track.  I was especially surprised at how bad Dench was.  Never again will I watch.  

I find it kinda just there.  Not great, not terrible, it fills the background well enough.  I do like that the main romance is between older characters rather than the younger ones, even if the execution is a bit lackluster.  I think Lionel's father's housekeeper is funny, though.  And Jean's brother-in-law Stephen is amusing.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 6/9/2022 at 1:07 PM, SusanM said:

We have a station here called Vision TV which is religious based but they do show some great Britcoms (and a few other, I guess what they see as "wholesome" dramas and sitcoms).  The funniest to me is the way they had Father Ted and AbFab on for awhile - I think whoever picked those shows had never actually seen an episode or figured "Hey British let's go for it".  Anyway, I digress. One show I watch now and then is Last of the Summer Wine and I am finding the older I get the better I like it.  If you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd like this show, which is basically about a group of elderly people bobbing along having gentle adventures in the Yorkshire countryside, I'd have thought you were nuts!

I've been trying some shows on this channel.  They have Columbo, Quantum Leap, and Murder She Wrote.

Only Murders in the Building is good, I think that's on Hulu.  Obviously I have to roll my eyes at yet another project about old men and a young woman, though.  It's like a TV show by Woody Allen except without the icky romance, LOL.  And Selena Gomez was in one of Woody's recent movies too.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Haleth]

14 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Obviously I have to roll my eyes at yet another project about old men and a young woman, though.

At least neither of them is romantically involved with her.  Or will ever be.  

[roamyn]

What I found unusual was that the CW - notorious for under 30 - had a semi-main character on Supernatural who was not only older, but not traditional attractive, kinda grimy & gruff, in Bobby Singer.  They even devoted several episodes to his character.

Even aft they killed Bobby off, they kept finding ways to incorporate the character into the series, at least once a season, sometimes more.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 7/12/2022 at 7:23 AM, Haleth said:

At least neither of them is romantically involved with her.  Or will ever be.  

That's exactly what I meant by "Except without the icky romance".

They make it uber clear that they are in no way peers, which I appreciate.  Selena has love interests her own age, and Martin has a son way older than she is.

"A Fine Romance" also starring Judi Dench is on the Vision channel.

[methodwriter85]

On 10/13/2021 at 2:34 PM, SusanM said:

One thing I've noticed is how often a sitcom will feature an elderly guest star and have that person die. Can't they just have an older character show up once in awhile and leave it at that?  The worst example I can think of offhand was killing off the Cloris Leachman character on an episode of Two and Half Men but there are lots more examples out there where it seems the only reason to write in an older character is to kill them off!

They did this on Pen15 as well. It was a little ridiculous because the woman was on an oxygen tank yet Anna's mother expected her to help with raising Anna and seemed shocked when the mom passed away.

Anne Hathaway is doing an Amazon movie where she plays the divorced mother of a teenaged daughter who falls in love with a 24-year old boybander she meets at a music festival:

Ah, yes, the ol' "depressed person finds a new lease on life with a younger romantic interest" trope.

[janie jones]

I am happy to learn that it is the mother who falls in love with the boy bander, not the teenaged daughter, as I originally thought.

I know Michael Showalter as a comedian. Does he direct serious stuff?

[Cinnabon]

4 hours ago, janie jones said:

I am happy to learn that it is the mother who falls in love with the boy bander, not the teenaged daughter, as I originally thought.

Same! 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 9/21/2022 at 1:43 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Anne Hathaway is doing an Amazon movie where she plays the divorced mother of a teenaged daughter who falls in love with a 24-year old boybander she meets at a music festival:

Ah, yes, the ol' "depressed person finds a new lease on life with a younger romantic interest" trope.

How Olivia Wilde.

[AstridM]

15 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

How Olivia Wilde.

Woody Allen comes to mind for me. 

[Zella]

10 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Woody Allen comes to mind for me. 

I think Woody's baggage goes well beyond "depressed person finds a new lease on life with a younger romantic interest," though. Even beyond the molestation allegations, any time I think of his marriage, I always think of what Rowan Farrow said about it: "He's my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression." That's a pretty big distance from what Olivia Wilde did or what the movie is about. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 minutes ago, Zella said:

I think Woody's baggage goes well beyond "depressed person finds a new lease on life with a younger romantic interest," though. Even beyond the molestation allegations, any time I think of his marriage, I always think of what Rowan Farrow said about it: "He's my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression." That's a pretty big distance from what Olivia Wilde did or what the movie is about. 

Yeah, uh, I've watched a lot of Woody Allen and the normal coupling is man is 20-40 years older than the woman.  I don't think a woman has ever been older in a WA movie.

[Zella]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yeah, uh, I've watched a lot of Woody Allen and the normal coupling is man is 20-40 years older than the woman.  I don't think a woman has ever been older in a WA movie.

Yeah I didn't think he'd ever had that in a movie, but I'll readily admit I've only seen 2 of them as far as I know, and neither of them featured an age gap that I remember. But I definitely know more about Woody Allen's personal life than I do his movies. 

[Bethany]

I just saw an episode of Rules of Engagement last night that had me grinding my teeth.  A  youngish male character for various supposedly humourous reasons decides to sleep with a much older woman - aged somewhere in her early to mid 60s.  Anyway what had me grinding my teeth wasn't the age difference it was the "jokes" about this terribly elderly woman.  Apparently once you hit 60 you are an aged, decrepit old dear almost ready to shuffle off to your nearest assisted living facility.  This will come as some surprise to most of the 60+ people of my acquaintance!  And as an aside, why do I bet that at least a few of the writers and other members of the production staff will never see 50 again?

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Elizabeth Anne

[methodwriter85]

Hong Chau's grey wig on The Night Agent. Honestly, I think it's cool she decided to age herself. She's already angling for that elder character actress niche.

[Anduin]

Movie version. Napoleon. Joaquin Phoenix, born 1974, plays Napoleon, born 1769. Vanessa Kirby, born 1988, plays Josephine, born 1763. Napoleon married a woman six years older. But Kirby is 14 years younger than Phoenix. There's certainly worse, but I still sigh.

[Ohiopirate02]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

Movie version. Napoleon. Joaquin Phoenix, born 1974, plays Napoleon, born 1769. Vanessa Kirby, born 1988, plays Josephine, born 1763. Napoleon married a woman six years older. But Kirby is 14 years younger than Phoenix. There's certainly worse, but I still sigh.

I also noted that and wonder how Ridley Scott is going to handle this in his story.  Josephine being older than Napoleon and 33 at the time of their marriage is rather important to their story.  

[Blergh]

21 hours ago, Anduin said:

Movie version. Napoleon. Joaquin Phoenix, born 1974, plays Napoleon, born 1769. Vanessa Kirby, born 1988, plays Josephine, born 1763. Napoleon married a woman six years older. But Kirby is 14 years younger than Phoenix. There's certainly worse, but I still sigh.

To say nothing of the fact that by the time Nap was Mr. Phoenix's age (c.48-49 during filming), he'd already been deposed as Emperor of the French,twice maritally split and biding his time until his somewhat suspect death in St. Helena at age 51.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Blergh

[Trini]

There is an "Age" topic in the movie subforum, BTW.

[Anduin]

26 minutes ago, Trini said:

There is an "Age" topic in the movie subforum, BTW.

I could not bloody find that when I was looking. These things only appear several hours after I post. Grumble grumble.