[00:00:00] Nearly 7% of primetime television shows depict adults older than 60 years old. How do filmmakers present them? Researchers examined 112 episodes of popular american television series between 2004 to 2018. They selected tv programs according to the highest Nelson ratings in fiction series, regardless of genre. Two coders recorded the characters gender, age, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, disability, speaking role, and role prominence. The coders focused specifically on characters 65 and older, assessing cues such as physical appearance and character role. The researchers categorized older characteristics as young old, middle old, or old old. Primetime tv rarely features older adults. Younger older adults outnumber the middle olds or old olds. Male characters outnumber women. Approximately 90% of characters are caucasian and 9% african american. Nearly 75% are middle class, 8% upper class, and 8% lower class. Half of older adults are heterosexual the remainder are not specified. Few characters have disabilities. This study reflects the need to broaden how primetime tv portrays older adults. Let's have more elderly depicted plus representative diversity in ages, ethnicity, and disability. Especially since our population is aging, we can all learn from older adults in character roles, giving us wisdom and diversity.
