The invisible generation: Portrayals of the elderly on prime‐time television
- 1 June 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Communication Reports
- Vol. 8 (2) , 111-119
- https://doi.org/10.1080/08934219509367617
Abstract
Characters 65 years of age and older continue to be an invisible generation on television. In a random sample of 100 prime time shows, only 2.8% (n = 34) of the 1,228 adult speaking characters were judged to be over 65. Only 8.8% of the 65+ characters were cast in major roles, suggesting that the role prominence of characters 65 and older has actually decreased since the 1970's. While the number of male characters 65 and older has decreased since 1975, the number of female characters between 50 and 64 years of age has increased slightly during that time. There is not strong evidence that television is graying with America, but there is reason to believe that characters between 50 and 64 are portrayed differently than characters 65 or older.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cohort Change in Images of Older Adults, 1974-1981The Gerontologist, 1992
- Prime-Time Television Portrayals of Older Adults in the Context of Family LifeThe Gerontologist, 1988
- The Daytime Television Drama Portrayal of Older AdultsThe Gerontologist, 1984
- The Older Adult in Daytime Serial DramaJournal of Communication, 1980
- Aging with Television: Images on Television Drama and Conceptions of Social RealityJournal of Communication, 1980
- Television and Aging: Is What You See What You Get?The Gerontologist, 1977
- Too Young, Too Old--Age in the World of TelevisionThe Gerontologist, 1975
- Old Age in Prime TimeJournal of Communication, 1974
- Heroine of the Daytime SerialJournal of Communication, 1974
- Women as a Minority GroupSocial Forces, 1951