and they called him king ..

[frenchy]

a long long time ago in a land where television was still kinda new there was a show called the tonight show .. it had a few hosts startin with steve allen and then jack parr but neither of them stayed for more than a few years until johny carson took the reins .. and there he ruled the late night airwaves for 30 years , altho it must be said there really wasn't any competition for most of them 30 years .. for a little while you had merv griffin in some markets and dick cavett tried his hand at it too but i heard it pretty much gave him a nervous breakdown .. and then joan rivers tried too but she had crossed the king and he made it well known to everyone with the decree that if they appeared on her show then they couldn't also appear on his .. for johnny carson could be a vengeful king .. on his 10th anniversary they gave him a party and joey bishop said a few words statin that this wasn't really johnny's 10 anniversary but his 6th and johnny's 4th because he had subbed as host for him so often .. of course it was a joke but you never saw joey bishop guest host again .. seems the king didn't have such a great sense of humor .. but thats not the point of this post .. because its not that hard to be the king if you're the only one in the kingdom .. no.. this post is about his heir .. jay leno ..

last thursday nite was jay's last show and the more i think about it the more it pisses me off .. why ?? because they let him go because of his age .. its as if by marginalizin him they also marginalized me too .. and all of us here in this group .. its as if .. like pluto we were a planet and then we were not .. we have all been plutoed .. it wasn't just jay .. its as if none of us count anymore .. now i could see before when they fired conan obrien because he took the tonight show from 1st in the ratins to dead last .. no network wants to keep runnin a show thats not bein watched .. but that was never the case with jay .. he was always number one . when they let him go for conan he was number one by a wide margin and now again when they let him go for jimmy fallon he was again number one by a wide margin .. and here's the thing , unlike the king of late nite jay did it against all commers and always won .. jay was there everyday come rain or come shine , in sickness and in health .. no matter what .. jay was there .. in fact jay was there so much in his 22 years he actually hosted more shows than the king did by a few hundred ..jay really loved that show .. and dare i say it but i'm pretty sure he loved it more than johnny carson ever did ..  so who are these nbc execs ?? how old are they ?? and how will they feel when someone sweeps them out the door when they're 57 or 59 , or 56 .. because they just ain't with it anymore .. cause after all none of us watch tv anymore now that we're in our late 50's or early 60's .. who cares what we think cause we are now the invisible generation .. get them nursin home beds warmed up cause here we come .. lets not say anything tho ok cause we don't want to get them younger folks upset with us .. cause after all what could we possibly know ? we're old and in the way now .. but here's the really sad thing , all them younger folks who think its ok  will someday be thinkin gee , now they're doin it to me too , wish i woulda said somethin but nobody ever said anything so i never thought about it .. gettin old is always somethin that happens to someone else .. till it happens to us .. then it becomes real .. 

in closin i'd just like to say i have nothin against jimmy fallon .. i think unlike conan he'll probably do ok hostin the tonight show .. but if they let jay stay 2 or 3 more years what would it have hurt ?? fallon would have still got the tonite show , jay woulda left when he was ready instead of bein kicked out and i wouldn't be so pissed off now .. somehow i think 63 is kinda young to kick somebody out .. especially if they're still performin well .. do they do that in corporate board rooms too ?? well mr. chairman we had another banner year ..our stock has gone up 4 fold ,  we crushed the competition and we have to fire you.. see ya later bye...

how do you guys feel about bein plutoed ?? be honest .. 

  

[crestofwaves]

The market is for the young.  We are over the hill.  I don't like it, but people my age get pushed out of everything.  My boss kept asking me the last few years I taught if that would be my last year. I can understand that because they could get two young teachers for what I was making, but oh, the expertise they lose when they do that.

I remember when men started looking at my daughter instead of me--women become invisible to men after we hit a certain age,  I thought to myself, "Time to pass the torch onto the young."

Like it or not, it is the way.  At least we are not part of that Native American tribe that puts their old out into the wild to starve and die, lol.

Watch the movie "Last Vegas."  It's a silly movie--made us laugh, but it deals with this getting old crap.

[frenchy]

so you think we should just accept it cresty ?? cause after all we're old .. yeah go ahead and just wipe your shoes on me .. cause i'm old now .. get out them welcome matt t shirts ??  

[crestofwaves]

I think you can fight it all you want, but it's not going to do any good.  It's all about the money and the market--everything is about the money and the market.

Remember back in the day when the Grey Panthers were mobilizing?

I think I feel somewhat freer being this age.  I don't have to worry about pleasing anybody at all.  I wish I weren't this number ( age) but I am, and I either have to be ok with it or die off. I think it's my time now to fight for a better world for the younger ones.  I wonder if anyone agrees with me.  I just wanna have fun now, have fought all my battles, but still feel the need to speak out against war and the economic inequities.

Look at what happened to country music!  It's CRAP now, but the cosmopolitan kids are into it again.  So screw Vince Gill and Kris Kristoffersen and bring on Taylor Freaking Swift--ugh!

I'm interested to read what others in the group have to say on the subject. Maybe I just got lazy, Frenchy, and you didn't yet.

[frenchy]

nahh .. i'm pretty lazy too cresty .. if i'm gonna have a battle i have to really pick my spots carefully cause i don't have the energy to fight over stuff that ain't all that important .. but somehow this just strikes me as wrong .. if they wanted to replace you as a teacher cause they could get two young ones for the price of you why not just put you out on the ice at say 51 ?? trade you in for two 25 year olds ?? where do you go from there at 51 ?? 

i'm not sayin that we have to march in the streets and set cars on fire and bust store windows and throw molitof cocktails at the police .. but a letter from a bunch of different 63 year year olds and a few years younger might make em think.. i agree that at some point they can say ok you're done , especially if you're in a rigorous job that takes a bit of eye hand coordination and it could be unsafe for you and the ones around you if you lose that .. and while jay may have tripped over a joke or two here and there so has every other comic who ever did standup .. and nobody ever really got hurt .. i think apathy is what they're dependin on from people our age.. and the more we give it to em the more they'll give it to us .. weren't we the generation that stopped the war in vietnam ?? what happened to us anyway  ?? ehh who gives a shit anyway huh ?   

[crestofwaves]

We have the numbers to effect change since the Baby Boomers outnumber the younger generation.  But we don't spend our money.

And I don't know what happened to us and what happened to America. We let everyone walk all over us--and all for money.

[Karin M Fichtner]

Oh, I agree that the audience they are interested in are the young. That has really been going on for years....but then we didn't notice it because we weren't yet at the age where it involved us. I do think Hollywood is paying some attention to us Boomers, though, with the advent of more movies aimed at and starring seniors....."Red", "The Expendables", "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", "Las Vegas", just to name a few. Crest.......one thing I have noticed in country music nowadays is the disappearance of the "love song" and the predominance of the "hook-up song". No more do you want someone's love; now you have songs about meeting in bars and getting it on. I saw Trace Adkins this past summer in concert.....and now I hear he is retiring. That breaks my heart. The only old timers left in the business are Reba and George Strait. And she hasn't had a hit song in over a year. French......I don't know what we can do to make our voices heard or our feelings known. I think this attitude has been going on since WW2 ended. Other cultures, past generations, have respect for the elders of the community. My Thai daughter-in-law will never be my friend.....because she has placed me on a pedestal as the Family Matriarch, and as such, she is not worthy to be my equal. We put our elders in the back of the room. Oprah herself said it.....that it was time for us old folks to die off so that the "smarter" generation could take over. I am very blessed because I am treated with the utmost respect by my family. Yes, they coddle me a little now, and worry about my health and comfort....but it is me they come to for advice and to tell their troubles to. My opinions are given due consideration and my feelings are taken into account. It seems the only thing our generation is good for anymore......is voting. Politicians are still paying attention to us.....at least to some extent.....because more of us vote. Most of my grandkids' friends don't give current events and elections a second thought. And they have no interest in, or knowledge of, history. Go to Gettysburg.......you won't see a single tourist there without gray hair.....unless it's Spring, and the school groups are there. My own granddaughter was there, and couldn't tell you one thing she saw. The world belongs to the young; we might as well get used to it. Let's hope that "smarter" generation becomes wiser as they age.

[frenchy]

that ain't what happened to jay .. he was only 63 .. and was still ahead in all the ratins .. but they replaced him by a 39 year old . we'll see how you feel when you're 62 .. you're still on the bubble so to speak .. over 50 but not yet 58 or 59 .. wait till 60 hits you first thing in the mornin .. and this ain't just about jay .. its about me too and everybody else who is just over 60 .. i can hear neil young singin now .. its better to burn out .. than to fade away .. my my hey hey .. 

[frenchy]

and karin we are the audience too .. its not just 25 to 45 year olds .. when i was a kid i watched captain kangaroo , and it was fittin for a 4 or 5 year old .. why does nbc assume that we as over 60 people don't count or matter ?? if they can take the time to make programin for 4 year olds why not us ?? 

[crestofwaves]

Simple. We over sixties are not earning the money anymore, therefore not spending on all the things we used to spend on.  I would never get a luxury car, for example. As long as the car kicks on and there is a radio and heat and air conditioning, I am good.  I would never buy a high end appliance anymore. A washing machine that does hot, cold and warm is good enough.  We are not the market.

Like Callie, I feel ok about it.  As the Native Americans say, "It is the way...".  I kind of like being released a bit.

[frenchy]

by that logic there shouldnta been any captain kangaroo then either cause last time i checked the best i could come up with when i was 4 was maybe a nickel for a pack of life savers .. if my dad took me to the store .. and gave me a nickel too.. which he actually did do once or twice .. eeeeeeeeeeee.. i'm not ready to be put out on the ice just yet .. i don't wanna run the world anymore either .. not that i ever really did .. i just don't like gettin swept under the rug .. 

[blithe spirit]

Wasn't a big of Leno to begin with..I remember some of his on the street videos were cute. I think most folks get stale doing the same ol stuff day and day out..it's entertainment...needs to be fresh and new.
He's had a good run and there's something to be said about bowing out gracefully. Was he really all that? I guess that surprises me..didn't know he was all that popular...what do I know?
NBC or any TV station or commercial holds absolutely no power over how I feel about my age or my relevancy in the world. I can't think of a single program that I ever thought looked like me or my world at all. So, thinking like that, I guess I've been irrelevant most of life..lol.
I can get all fired up about age discrimination in many facets of life...the two fer hiring so ya don't have to pay someone a higher salary... firing an older person so they don't have to pay higher insurance premiums... but not show business or entertainment...they already make an obscene amount of money.. and have had every advantage that celebrity offers.
In my little world I feel appreciated...don't feel like I'm being put out to pasture. I have gone back to school to learn more and have done others things...this teaching gig was a later in life choice...even though the cancer thing has thrown me for a loop in some ways it's allowing me a little more time to do some other stuff that I probably wouldn't have...I have a couple things I'm working on..
I certainly don't want to go back to a different age or time...Now is good. I really don't care if I turn the eye of a 30 or a 40 year old man...or if I'm cool enough to have the latest electronic gadgetry...or have a twitter or and instagram acct...
There is a man in my neighborhood that I talk to sometimes when I'm walking Schotzie...he thinks I'm funny...cracked him up when I circulated the pot petition..so I still got a couple sparks left.

[Lifesighs]

I never really took to Jay Leno when he took over I stopped watching so I don't mind at all if someone is taking his place. Now I like the daytime shows of Colbert and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

I agree with crest that we have to let the young take over and give them the prime time stuff, I'm usually asleep at that time anyway. zzzzzzzzz us old folks need our rest.