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May 2, 2018
Rita Moreno and Norman Lear. Photo by Michael Lynn Jones.

Is television reflective of society? And if not, what can be done about it?

These were just two of the questions posited at a recent discussion entitled 鈥淲omen in Their Prime Time: Aging In (and Out of) Hollywood,鈥 hosted by the Writers Guild of America West.

Entertainment legends Norman Lear and Rita Moreno were the star power for the event. Lear is probably best known for producing a slew of iconic television shows, including 鈥淎ll in the Family鈥 and 鈥淪anford and Son.鈥 Moreno belongs to an elite group of only 12 performers who have won an Academy Award, a Grammy, a Tony and an Emmy.

Lear and Moreno were聽joined by Alexa Junge, executive producer of聽鈥淕race and Frankie鈥;, Dr. Zoanne Clack, executive producer of 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy鈥;聽Dr. Bruce Chernof, president of the SCAN Foundation for older adults; and聽Chia Chia Sun, a clinician and genetic cancer researcher.

Lear acknowledged that there has always been a paucity of older adults on television. He said typical responses he received when pitching shows featuring older characters were, 鈥業t鈥檚 funny, but it鈥檚 not our demographic.鈥

Said Lear, 鈥淚 like to think that if something鈥檚 funny, it鈥檚 everybody鈥檚 demographic.鈥 He proved that with characters in 鈥淎ll in the Family,鈥 鈥淢aude,鈥 鈥淪anford and Son鈥 and 鈥淭he Jeffersons.鈥

鈥淚鈥檇 love to see someone my age playing just a person, not a grandmother.鈥 鈥 Rita Moreno

The 95-year-old Lear currently is producing 鈥淕uess Who Died,鈥 a sitcom pilot starring 81-year-old Hector Elizondo, Christopher Lloyd, 79, and Holland Taylor, 75.

Another issue for older actors is the complexity of the roles they undertake, or the lack thereof.

鈥淲e need to tell a broader set of stories that reflect today,鈥 Moreno, 86, said. 鈥淎nd those roles should go beyond the stereotypes. I鈥檇 love to see someone my age playing just a person, not a grandmother.鈥

Junge added, 鈥淓ven though age is a time of nuance and complication, the roles [being offered to older performers] become simpler.鈥 Chernof agreed, noting, 鈥淧eople are living longer, have much more to offer, and that should be celebrated.鈥

During the discussion, panelists referred to a 2017 USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism study that revealed between 2016 and 2017, there were 1,609 speaking characters on network television, and less than 10 percent of those characters were over the age of 60, stereotypical, ageist language was prevalent in many of the shows, and only 5 percent of the 126 shows had writers who were over the age of 60.

Nonetheless, Junge said she believed the future for older performers is looking up. 鈥淐able TV and streaming shows are all looking for stories of older women,鈥 she said. 鈥淪eek out upper-level people and make yourself available. People can鈥檛 get by with what they did before. There鈥檚 an accountability now; it鈥檚 a time of change.鈥

Mark Miller is a humorist, stand-up comic and has written for various sitcoms. His first book is 鈥500 Dates: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Online Dating Wars.鈥

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