Serious Sitcom Situation

Interesting to note that just one day after Calendar ran an article on ageism toward television writers (“An Age-Old Question Persists in Television,” Nov. 1, by Brian Lowry), I read of the death of TV writer Larry Rhine. Rhine, who died at age 90, wrote for many television programs, including “All in the Family,” for which he won various awards.

If my math is correct, that would have made him in his 60s when he churned out scripts for the much-heralded Norman Lear show. What has changed in the last 30 years to have created such a marked change in attitude on the part of network executives where sitcoms are concerned? Is it merely the fact that they feel a younger targeted audience spends more advertising dollars than an older audience?

More to the point is that shows like “All in the Family” had wider appeal and targeted both younger and older audiences. With such a fragmented audience, only a handful of shows attempt to do so today. Offhand I can come up with two: “Frasier” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Perhaps if more sitcoms were created to target a wider age group there would be room for a wider range of sitcom writers.

VIVIAN RHODES

Oak Park