Does it ever bug you to watch dead/older people?

[Tankeryanker]

I am good at watching the older shows as long as I don't think about or see some modern mention of the stars of the shows I watch. Then it's kind of hard for me to get back into the show.

Strange, I know.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

I am good at watching the older shows as long as I don't think about or see some modern mention of the stars of the shows I watch. Then it's kind of hard for me to get back into the show.

Strange, I know.

I've noticed while watching current episodes of "Mom", that stuffing a 60 year old bag of wrinkles into a pair of uber tight bluejeans, doesn't really "fix" anything.

But as far as watching actors who were old 50 years ago in these old classics, Gus the fireman on LITB for example.....no it really doesn't bother me that they are dead now. I figure they "put in their time" and deserve their rest, just like everyone else.

What I do find a little shocking is when reading through a site such as IMDB.com.....the number of actors I recognize from long ago who died relatively young. Like "wow, he died when he was 42?" ...stuff like that.

But then, I might be a tad of a misanthrope. One of the things I currently enjoy is reading the local obituaries, and finding a person who I disliked strongly 40+ years ago, who has passed. ...often a real "fist pump" type event for me.

I guess that sentiment is not all that uncommon, but few people are willing to openly admit it.

[GentlemanJim]

One thing that I've noticed in particular, just in the past few years, characters who played crusty old villains in those old shows.....guys who I thought were really rotten when I watched them as a kid. An example being "Ben Weaver" on TAGS, now when I watch them I find their ornriness to be heart warming.

[merlinjones]

I have heard this from certain friends in the past who were focused on the age of the film and actor and whether cast-members might be dead -- but it never, ever occurred to me even as a kid (except Dorothy/60s Judy which taught me about aging). All my favorite films were older than me always.

To my mind anything that is on film or video is just a shadow of the past captured at the moment. Unless it's a live performance, it's all in the past, whether shot last week–or 70 years ago. So any filmed element is equivalent to the viewer right now and can be enjoyed just the same.

[Tankeryanker]

I have binged watch older shows through lots of seasons and then I go outside and I have to pause a minute to notice I am not in whatever town that show was supposed to be in nor am I in that era.

I forget the modern world sometimes watching older shows.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

I have to pause a minute to notice I am not in whatever town that show was supposed to be in nor am I in that era.

.

Do you suspect that the age you actually were when you first started watching a particular old classic, has a material affect on how you see yourself fitting into the plot?

For example, I started watching LITB in the mid-late 1960s (syndication), and I was roughly the age of the children, so that's the perspective that has stuck with me.

In contrast, I never saw an episode of Father knows best until I was in my 30s, so I tend to be more sympathetic to the parents in that show, I guess because I identify with them more closely

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by GentlemanJim

I've noticed while watching current episodes of "Mom", that stuffing a 60 year old bag of wrinkles into a pair of uber tight bluejeans, doesn't really "fix" anything.

But as far as watching actors who were old 50 years ago in these old classics, Gus the fireman on LITB for example.....no it really doesn't bother me that they are dead now. I figure they "put in their time" and deserve their rest, just like everyone else.

What I do find a little shocking is when reading through a site such as IMDB.com.....the number of actors I recognize from long ago who died relatively young. Like "wow, he died when he was 42?" ...stuff like that.

But then, I might be a tad of a misanthrope. One of the things I currently enjoy is reading the local obituaries, and finding a person who I disliked strongly 40+ years ago, who has passed. ...often a real "fist pump" type event for me.

I guess that sentiment is not all that uncommon, but few people are willing to openly admit it.

mis·an·thrope
/ˈmis(ə)nˌTHrōp,ˈmiz(ə)nˌTHrōp/
: misanthrope; plural noun: misanthropes; noun: misanthropist; plural noun: misanthropists

a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.


LOL I never concern myself about living or dead actors - it is what it is

BUT when I was 10 watching Gilligan's Island I thought Mrs Lovey Howell was old, and now I'm older than she was then - that crosses my mind more than I care to wish to remember ...

[GentlemanJim]

LOL, just the ones who insist upon being a problem...

[stevea]

Didn't Wally call Beaver a mis-anthropoid? lol

[visaman666]

When John Ritter passed away, I couldn't watch Three's Company for many years after.

I worked with John in one of his movies, Stay Tuned, nice guy.

[stevea]

Interesting, and sorry for your/the loss.

The first time I saw him was as the Rev. on the Waltons (I think). Or if that's wrong, the Rev. on some program...

[GentlemanJim]

I thought that "Real Men" was the zenith of his career. I still get visions of the clown attack.

[vitoscotti]

I enjoy reading about the cast after viewing an episode. Little rough when I see an actor died young. LITB definitely has it's share.

[Scrabjan1]

Hey Tanker do you mean if you’re watching Father Knows Best you don’t want to see Lauren Chapin on YouTube talking about her horrid life of abuse?

I wasn’t a fan of Three’s Company mainly Suzanne Somers but boy was John Ritter good in Slingblade as a gay man in a small southern town.

[Chocolate Moose]

interesting discussion!