It’s No “Geraldo!” Show but Seniors Are Speaking Out

Doing his best Phil Donahue impression, host Doug Waldo worked his way through the television studio audience. Walking up and down the studio stairs, microphone in hand, he quoted a statement made by a local radio talk show host.

“ ‘Social security takes money from productive people in society and gives it to seniors,’ ” Waldo quoted. “Is that senior-bashing? Would you like to talk to the person who said that?”

The audience quietly muttered its approval, sort of like a well-mannered audience of the Morton Downey Jr. show.

On stage, talk show host and former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, the source of the quote, squirmed in his seat. The audience was primed, and it was interested. Not just any cross-section of the community, the group consisted of about 75 senior citizens, all more than a little involved in the social security issue.

As usual, Hedgecock deftly avoided any direct hits, and probably walked out of the studio with more fans than when he entered, but not before the audience took a few shots at him and all “senior bashers,” the topic of that particular episode of “Seniors Speak Out.”

“The thing that bothers me (about Hedgecock’s quote) is that productive part,” one angry woman said. “I hate that stereotype.”

The show, a weekly production of KPBS-TV (Channel 15), is something of a phenomenon at KPBS, and not just because it gives San Diego seniors their only real opportunity to discuss, on television, the many issues affecting their lives.

“Seniors Speak Out” is 3 years old, making it one of the longest-running weekly public affairs shows produced by KPBS. It also prompts more response from viewers than most local shows. Topics range from Social Security to senior sexuality to profiles of active seniors.

“There are many seniors who watch TV quite a bit who aren’t involved in things,” said volunteer Irv Kaplan, a senior who works on the program with his wife, Jean. “The only way to reach them is through this medium.”

The San Diego Health Care Assn. recently presented the show with a “Better Life Award.”

“It serves an audience that is not being served on broadcast television,” KPBS-TV spokeswoman Pat Finn said. “Even if the ratings for the show were lower than they are, we would bring it back, because it provides such an obvious service.”

Producer Wayne Smith, a 17-year veteran with KPBS, developed the idea for the program, which airs at 4 p.m. Sundays and at 10 a.m. Thursdays. In many ways, it is a typical talk show in the Donahue-Oprah Winfrey mold, except that the audience consists entirely of seniors and the subject matter is limited to issues affecting them.

“I became fascinated with the different programs that were available, and the lack of coverage the media was giving this one area,” Smith said.

But it didn’t take long for the 45-year-old Smith to realize he was out of his element. With the help of Evelyn Herrmann, chief of the city’s senior citizen services department, he formed an advisory board to help guide the program.

“I looked at the audience and realized that I just didn’t have any knowledge in this area,” Smith said.

The 13-member advisory board and a group of active senior volunteers make the show work. They arrange for the audience, the spark that starts the show rolling. It’s not always easy.

“They found they weren’t doing too well collecting an audience, so we started going after animated individuals who understand what the show is like,” said Kaplan.

The audience also provides the show with its greatest logistical problem. Many seniors don’t drive, and those who do encounter the severe parking problems at San Diego State University, the home of KPBS. The “Seniors Speak Out” staff arranges to bus audience members from throughout the county.

“It’s very difficult to get seniors to commit,” Kaplan said.

The other challenge lies in getting a diverse audience representing a wide variety of viewpoints. “It couldn’t be just elitists who are supposedly intellectuals,” Kaplan said.

The seniors who attend are often vocal and opinionated. Subjects such as the disappearing mobile home market and health care issues elicit emotional reactions, as well as shows on subjects such as senior sexuality.

“I was amazed (at the sexuality show),” Kaplan said. “I never thought they would be so outspoken.”

Herrmann said she had doubts about that show. But, after it aired, an 82-year-old woman called her about it.

“She said, ‘That was a wonderful program about sex. It let a lot of people know we’re not dead,’ ” Herrmann said.

The show’s goal is to create a forum for seniors to express their viewpoints, an opportunity they rarely get in the general media.

No one has thrown any chairs, as someone recently did during a recent “Geraldo!” episode, but the unexpected is commonplace. Hedgecock surprised everyone by bringing his father, Les, to the taping. His viewpoint was quite different than that of his son.

“I think it’s great,” said Dr. Paul Athan, director of the Joslyn Center in Escondido and a member of the show’s advisory board. “More seniors at the center were talking about it. There was a nice interplay between Roger and his father. It showed two generations looking at Social Security from different perspectives.”

Waldo is the ringmaster for the show, prodding audiences and guests with questions. He took over for Tom Howard, the show’s first host, in the second season.

“The first season, the commentator just wasn’t accepted by seniors,” Athan said. “Waldo doesn’t put them down. Seniors open up to him.”

The first season, 12 hours of “Seniors Speak Out” were produced, and response was encouraging enough to prompt another 12. Last year, in the show’s second full season, 31 hours were produced, a tremendous amount of programming for KPBS. With a budget of about $180,000, including money from the station and donations from the private sector, producers expect to produce 29 hours this season.

“It’s a very complex thing,” producer Smith said. “It takes fairly extensive research to know who the players are,” in addition to the intricacies of the issues.

“We try to balance the series. The programs address everybody from 50 to 105 years old. So it’s serving a very broad age group. We don’t try to make the series service everyone at the same time.”

Finn, the station spokeswoman, said the show usually pulls about a 2.0 rating for Sunday afternoons, hardly a huge number but not bad, either. Certainly, Finn said, the numbers are enough to justify KPBS’ continuing support.

“The senior citizen population of 50 and above is a large segment of the San Diego population,” Finn said.

Even if the show doesn’t rival “War and Remembrance” for ratings, or “Geraldo!” for controversy, the show appears to have carved out its audience.

“It’s wonderful,” Herrmann said. “It’s bringing issues to a lot of people who may have no idea about the problems seniors face.”