It's not a criticism, it's an observation.
TV- ridiculously young
Mike Cox

Have you seen the new Viagra commercial on television? The ad features a man coming home from work each boring day in his boring compact meeting his bored wife who doesn't even look up to acknowledge his arrival.

Magically, after he starts taking the drug and becomes enhanced, he drives up on a Harley, wearing one of those retro looking helmets. His wife is so stunned she drops the groceries.

The suddenly interested wife hops onto the back of the Harley, and they go cruising, feeling younger every minute. The commercial closes with the motorcycle parked outside a mountaintop resort and the lights turning off in their room.

Male enhancement ads are the worst culprit but television as a whole refuses to show old people using products designed for old people. The only actors over 40 allowed on TV are Wilford Brimley and Betty White. And the former Golden Girls co- star is selling pet products.

All those guys going to games together when one of them needs to make a pit stop appear to be under 50. So do the women in the ads for bone density drugs, wrinkle removers, and dentures.

TV is systematically removing any hint of maturity from their programming. Every expert on every subject who appears on the

Today show is under 35. She is also female and cute. So are all the most recent news readers. Don't we make old experts with combovers and bad teeth anymore?

I understand the need for television to keep things young. No one wants to watch old people live normal lives and have fun. They are supposed to be shut up inside, watching

Matlock reruns and Jeopardy.

Maybe sticking their heads outside once in a while to yell at whippersnappers walking in their yards.

But we need to at least acknowledge that people do live past 40. Baby Boomers may be responsible for the pressure on the Social Security system and for screwy hippie ideas, but at least we are still trying to do stuff.

I can personally attest to the fact most people over 50 still feel 35, except when we try to move suddenly. We are genuinely shocked when we see the reflection of an old person in a store window and realize it is us. But we shouldn't be completely banished from public viewing.

Marg Helgenberger turns 50 soon. So does Madonna, the one who sings and has started talking with a British accent. I've never been much of a Madonna fan, but have admired Ms. Helgenberger since her China Beach days. She looks as good today as she ever has.

These ladies, along with countless other actors, are proof we can find appropriately aged people to do commercials for older Americans without making the young whippersnappers turn the TV off in horror.

Like anyone else, I don't want to see Tom Bosley and Angela Lansbury in a hot tub together, but why can't we get Sam Elliott and Susan Sarandon? Of course, if a guy is coming home to Susan Sarandon each day, he probably won't need enhancing.