Thinkpiece Thursday

It was thirty years ago last week that the seminal television series 30 Something first aired on ABC. Within a year it won an Emmy as best drama.  Hollywood Reporter published a great look back at the development of the show.  Here is a quote:

Baby boomers Herskovitz and Zwick realized that outside of Kate & Allie and Saturday Night Live, they weren’t seeing a lot of their baby boomer peer group on television. That led to conversations about doing a series that not only captured who their generation was but did it without making them be doctors, lawyers or cops. As they talked things out, they realized how they and their friends were all struggling with the same issues: fear of marriage, having kids and not really understanding how to be a parent and not having a clear career path.

I think we are in the same situation thirty years on.  You never see 60 somethings on TV unless they fill the minor role of grandparents in a drama. It’s like this whole huge population segment has no life of their own.  (Netflix’s Grace and Frankie is a rare exception but, like Golden Girls, is a comedy.)

I wish someone would realize that this age group (as above) is struggling with the same issues: fear of losing independence, launching kids and have them coming back and not knowing where to draw the line, not having a clear path to retirement or what comes next, dating and finding love again. This is the stuff of drama.  I wish someone could take the leap that ABC took with 30 Something.