Source : Globe & Mail

Watch your backs, networks. The 50-plus demographic is feeling ignored and it's getting mad as hell, GAYLE MacDONALD writes

A decade or two ago, Hollywood actually had time and respect for its elders. During prime time, on any of the three major networks, viewers could see a greybeard or blue-rinse gal necking with a partner on the sofa, foiling a bank heist, or performing heart surgery, all the while barely breaking a sweat.

In the 1980s and even into the early 1990s, actors in their late 50s, 60s and 70s did what now seems almost unthinkable: They got starring roles in big-budget dramas such as Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, Diagnosis Murder or Barnaby Jones, and in long-running sitcoms such as The Golden Girls.

Today, hit 5-0 and you might as well be six feet under.

Run through the dial, and you'll find there's nary a grey hair to be found in places of prominence on network TV. Buff and beautiful folks, in scripts tailored to appeal to the all-important, ad-buying demographic of 18 to 49, rule. Ed Bark, a writer with The Dallas Morning News, recently quipped that "millions of older Americans . . . comprise a core audience of faithful weekly viewers. Don't they deserve at least a handful of shows built around stars who remember the Great Depression as something more than Tony Soprano's chaotic state of mind?"

The call to geriatric arms (that is, Bring Back Geezer TV!) has not fallen on deaf ears. A few weeks ago, the powerful American Association of Retired Persons weighed in. Weary of Madison Avenue's fixation on 18- to 49-year-olds, Variety Magazine reported the pro-retiree group had hired a veteran New York programmer, Dick Kurlander, to help create interesting TV shows aimed at older viewers.

As Mark Slimp, the Washington-based director of broadcast programs for AARP, said in an interview last week, baby boomers are 50 now (and fast getting older), and they're hardly doddering old folk (think of Sir Mick Jagger strutting his 61-year-old stuff at the SARS concert in Toronto last summer).

Contrary to what advertisers and marketers might think, Slimp says this demographic is not dead. Indeed, they still have a lot of clout, energy and money. And they don't just buy vitamins, Viagra and dental adhesive.

Slimp and the 36 million card-carrying AARP members don't want a return of Mr. Wunnerful, Lawrence Welk. But they are lobbying for programs that are informative and entertaining for the mid-century club. And they say they don't think there's a damn thing wrong with a little Bea Arthur (the ringleader of The Golden Girls) or Buddy Ebsen (everyone's favourite hillbilly, Jed Clampett, who was 65 when he starred as the geriatric private eye, Barnaby Jones).

So what is behind TV's rampant ageism? Well, the pundits concur that fragmentation of the broadcast marketplace (more specialty channels, the rise of cable) means the major networks' obsession with ratings and demographics has become ferocious. Advertisers pay proportionately more to buy real estate in programs with strong viewership numbers in the 18-49 sector. Everyone beyond that is pretty much considered over the demographic hill.

Given population statistics, Slimp points out that this out-with-the-old mindset could be shortsighted. The reality is that North Americans are aging. Right now, almost 76 million Americans are 50 or older, the AARP says. Starting in 1996, four million more turn 50 every year. And in 2000, about 35 million Americans were 65 and older.

But senior-citizen status does not mean you're ready for a nursing home. The AARP has compiled data that show people turning 50 today may have almost half their lives ahead of them. Since 1990, the number of centenarians has doubled. By 2050, more than a million Americans are expected to be 100 or older.

Armed with those facts, Slimp says he and Kurlander plan to hold a number of meetings at this week's convention in Las Vegas of the National Association of Television Program Executives, asking advertisers, TV stations and cable networks to wake up to the reality of the viewing landscape.

"It's not our professional goal to change Madison Avenue," Slimp adds. "But the whole industry needs to embrace the fact that baby boomers watch TV. And they have lots of disposable income. At AARP, we think we can use television to put forth content that would be useful -- and in demand -- by a lot of baby boomers."

The reality, says Sunni Boot, president of Toronto media buyer Zenith Optimedia Canada Inc., is that most TV shows are aimed at 30-year-olds and made by thirtysomethings. But, she adds, it's not necessarily smart these days for broadcasters and advertisers to avoid one of the greatest demographic assets they've got.

She points out that programs such as The West Wing, Law & Order, Will & Grace and Friends appeal to a wide range of ages, including the 50-plus crowd. But instead of programmers focusing on making more smart TV, with cross-generational appeal such as enjoyed by the soon-defunct Frasier, Boot watches with exasperation the flood of reality shows -- such as the latest, My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, which premieres soon on Global -- threatening to obliterate intelligent TV. She believes there is room (and an appetite) for a mix of programs aimed at young and old.

Toronto talent agent Mirjam Vanderwerff agrees. She launched her company three years ago with a division aimed specifically at actors who are seniors. She now caters to all clientele, from babies to teens and middle-agers. But when she moved from Vancouver to Toronto in 2000, the 50-plus market, she decided, was an underserviced niche -- and one that would grow. She has been proven right.

"We'd get calls, particularly for commercials, but also for film and television, from producers saying, have your talent bring their grandfathers. There was such a lack of people in the 55-to-60-plus age bracket."

Toronto octogenarian Reg Doresa gave up his day job as an accountant and started taking acting roles in 1993, when he was 77. These days, he says his phone is constantly ringing, from production companies who want him in commercials (he's now starring as Two Weeks' Notice Man in the Lotto Super 7 ads), films (Crime Spree, starring Harvey Keitel) and TV shows (The Music Man, with Matthew Broderick).

Need proof that there is demand, from all ages, for the return of so-called Geezer TV? Check out http://www.petitiononline.com, where there are close to 10,000 signatures from concerned citizens around the globe begging Buena Vista Productions to preserve The Golden Girls (which aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992) on DVD and VHS.

"Preserve the girls!" pleads Michelle on-line. "This is my favourite show. I watch it on Lifetime four times a day and I'm only 16!"

"I would buy it before Friends any day!" gushes Sarah, a 21-year-old.

Hmmm. Sounds like the network brass better start listening to their viewers, short and long in the tooth. Or they're going to get beaten over the head, with skateboards and walking sticks.

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