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It is interesting that Mac is actually the youngest one!!

posted 9 years ago by jack-bunny-bandit
7 replies | jump to latest

Mac *seems* older than what Catherine Bell was in real life. It never specified the ages of the characters, but it always *felt* like Mac and Harm were the oldest two other than Admiral Chegwidden. David James Elliott is actually 8 years older than Catherine Bell, but in the show Harm and Mac appear to be about the same age. I suppose that is because they are of equal ranks and experience and can talk to each other as equals. Meg Austin/Tracey Needham came across as Harm's little sister, but she is actually a year older than Catherine Bell!! Lt Austin looked like a baby and had a very childlike way about her, in a very endearing way of course. I loved her character and would have loved to see her and Mac interact. Mac also seems older than Bud, but Patrick Laboryteaux is 3 years older than Catherine Bell in real life. He comes across as her little brother in the show, probably again because of the difference in rank. Harriet is also older than Mac but seems younger.

[–] eel2178 9 years ago

In Mac's first episode (We the People) she says she got sober at 19 and hadn't had drink in 10 years. It could be inferred from that she is 29 when she started the series. However, there are enough inconsistencies in Mac's back story (see other thread) that we probably don't really know for sure.

[–] Jeneral28 9 years ago

It is highly unlikely such would be a middle level JAG officer and a Major at 29 especially have an affair.

[–] Jeneral28 9 years ago

does it really matter?

[–] windanafive 9 years ago

Only insofar as there are those among us who like to work out the backgrounds and pretty much all of us suffer from "circle syndrome" regardless of whether we're among those who like to work out backgrounds or not. I've no idea whether that concept has an official name but it's the one where if someone draws an incomplete circle (leaving out just a small section) we feel compelled to finish it, if only in our minds. So we like consistencies and when there are conflicts we can tend to try and find a way to resolve them.

And in answer to Mac getting so far so fast, I found a chart one day that I've never been able to find since, which I believe showed that with accelerated promotion, she could have reach Lieutenant Colonel when she did, assuming she joined the Marines pretty much straight after drying out. The only bit I'm confused over is the schooling and getting a degree (I believe having a degree is required of officers) but I'm confused over US schooling anyway. You people do things differently to us and/or name things differently to us so I'm having trouble getting the hang of it all. For example, what's Junior High, and also, would it be unusual to graduate high school at age 19 as Mac did?

Anyone wants to start a new thread giving details of US schooling and how someone could go from civilian to officer the quickest route, it would be much appreciated.

Getting back to the original topic, apart from the obvious 'suspect' such as the actors who play Mikey Roberts, Coates and Tiner, Andrea Parker is also younger than Catherine Bell by roughly 18 months. Stephen Culp is five years older than Elliott, which I find surprising. He only seems a couple of years older, at most.

[–] eel2178 9 years ago

I've no idea whether that concept has an official name

I call it "I like a lot of reality in my fiction."

As for US schools, it varies a lot in the municipality where you live and what years you were in school. Where I went to school in the 1960s and 1970s, kindergarten through 8th grade, called "elementary school," was the norm. In the 1980s it changed to kindergarten through 5th grade was "elementary," 6th through 8th grade was "middle school" and 9th through 12th was "high school." The next town over, by the early 1970s they had adopted the "junior high" system with elementary being k-6th, JH 7th-9th, and Senior HS 10th-12th.

It is most common is the US to graduate from high school at 17 or 18; however, since Mac admits to having spent most of those years drunk, it is possible that she didn't finish high school until 19.

[–] liscarkat (16530) 4 years ago

In California, when I went to public school (which in the U.S. refers to school operated by the government) from 1959 through 1972, "elementary school" (also called "grade school" or "grammar school"), consisted of Kindergarten through sixth grade. Children usually entered Kindergarten at the age of five. "Jr. High School" (now called "Middle School") consisted of seventh and eighth grades. "High School" was ninth through twelfth grades, and most students graduated at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Each grade, throughout Kindergarten and the twelve grades, spanned mid-September through mid-June. There was also optional summer school for students who wanted to get ahead or make up missed time.

[–] Costumer (1786) 3 years ago

It varies considerably from place to place. Where I live in the public schools elementary school is 1st through 6th. Junior High is 7th through 9th and high school is 10th through 12th.

On the other hand, for Catholic school, elementary was 1st through 8th grade. High School was 9th through 12th.

For both kindergarten wasn't considered part of elementary school.

This is still the way it is fifty years later.

There isn't, of course, any right or wrong way to organize. It just depends on the local preferences.