I always knew that networks
favoured the younger demographic, but I truly thought it was because they must
watch more. Even if that didn’t actually jive with my reality (my daughters are
NOT loyal TV watchers). But when the viewer-numbers totally support a
show and then to find out that those great numbers still aren’t enough
to secure a show’s future because it's geared to older viewers is soooo disheartening.
I hate to rant about this inequity
because it’s kinda like ranting against bad officiating at an Olympic soccer game
between Canada and the US ;) –if you can’t change a bad call, might as well
accept it, right?
But do we have to accept it? According to the
article, baby boomers spend—get this—400 BILLION DOLLARS MORE THAN ANY OTHER
GENERATION. EVERY YEAR. Yeah. Every year!! See? I’m hoping that if I yell it loudly enough,
advertisers will want to not just take my money, but maybe, maybe, tell my
stories too.
In fact, you don’t have to
look farther than Deb and I to hear tales of authentic and charming film and
television ideas (if I do say so myself) that have been embraced by producers
for these qualities … and then rejected by networks for their target
demographic.
I know young people are sexy
for their youthful glow and hot bods, but surely our money and spending
potential should be waaaay sexier. I mean, you can sell us houses and cars and
vacations and insurance and investment opportunities and expensive creams and,
well, I could go on and on, right? My girls? The supposed ideal demographic for
advertisers? They struggle to pay for their inexpensive goodies, and then have
loyalty to exactly none of them afterward.
Every time I hear another
story about how no one wants to tell our stories because we’re not sexy enough,
the more I want to go all “cougar” on the networks and prove them otherwise.
Except, of course, Harry’s Law, with
its 8.8million loyal viewers (for NBC, second only to Smash in popularity) should have paved the way for us and still
couldn’t do it. And if they can’t do it, how can any of us older viewers/creators
hope to stake our place in storytelling?
I mean, I love the “young
people” shows and movies. I’ll go to Batman
and I’ve watched and loved Girls. But
I can also say that 21-year-old Stefanie is very excited to see the new Meryl
Streep film, Hope Springs. And why?
Because she “loves watching middle-aged people navigate life”. I swear to god,
direct quote. I think lots of young people like to watch older people do their
thing. It’s about knowing what to expect down the road. It’s about relating to
each other, learning from each other, speaking to each other from all different
vantage points. It’s about accepting each other, age spots and all.
Life is interesting in every shape
and size. Please open the door to this reality and don’t dismiss us because … I
don’t know, because we aren’t as sexy as our kids.
Deb: My blood boils as I read this. Barb is too classy
to refer to an exact recent incident because in fact she was my co-writer, but
the project was rejected not because of the writing, but because it was felt
that Colin and I are too old to be the “leads” in a series. Our middle-aged
plot lines are not interesting to the general population apparently. GENERAL POPULATION???? See above for Barb’s
rant regarding just who is doing the spending!!!! But, nonetheless, a few months
ago after peddling our pilot around, we were told in various subtle and not so
subtle ways that we were, well ... past our TV prime. Now I am pretty darned
good at moving on with stuff like this, but I told Barbara that I was frankly
daunted by this for a few days. It is the first time in my life, next to the
day I found out I was menopausal and could no longer have children, that I felt
redundant. So I hope that some other middle-aged couple comes along and does it
for us, and for the considerable audience that is waiting to see their stories
represented.
