It seems to me that TV is ...
Question: It seems to me that TV is constantly going younger. I greatly miss
Jessica Walter on
Arrested Development, and now with the cancellation of
Gilmore Girls I'll miss
Kelly Bishop. While
Sally Field is wonderful on
Brothers & Sisters, I can't help but wonder what the future holds for older actresses on TV, or if audiences must grow even more accustomed to viewing shows targeted for a much younger audience.
Answer: I think you're already seeing it. TV is a demographics game, and the focus on who's winning in the 18-49 sweepstakes has become much more pronounced the longer I've been covering this beat. If we're lucky, the example set by Sally Field will encourage other shows, producers and networks to create similarly meaty roles for veteran actors of both genders. But these stars will rarely be asked to carry a show, it seems. Hard to imagine a network giving a shot to a
Golden Girls-style show anymore, which is a real shame.