Parents age problem? - Growing Up Fisher (2014) Discussion

[–] llbfgt 10 years ago

She never said she WAS a teenager when she became pregnant with her daughter; just that she "missed her adolescence" and "went from being somebody's daughter to somebody's wife/mother". This implies that she never got to live on her own, out of somebody's eye and cut loose a bit. I admit that visually the apparent age gap is a stretch, but hey, it's just a TV show, y'know...we suspend disbelief for a lot of things.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Sort of yes, sort of no.

Katie (daughter) told her mom (Joyce) that she already had her chance to be a teenager. Joyce responds with, "I kind of didn't" and pointed out that she was very young when she got married and had Katie. That to me implies that she was 18 or 19 (at the oldest) when all this happened.

Though in regards to real age differences, Katie is supposed to be 16 or so (she's learning to drive). So if Joyce had her when she was 20, that would make her 36 now and not 42. In one of the commercials, there's a reference to Mel being roughly 50. So somewhere, there's either some explaining that needs to be done (maybe she was into older men?) or there's a huge plot hole that the writers didn't think about.

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[–] SmokeyTheGreat 10 years ago

If Joyce was 20 and Mel was 34, what's the issue? Both would've been considered adults and it was legal so I don't see a problem.

I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least its an ethos.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Remember when they were talking about how he pulled off his first date with Joyce? Had his brother take him through the museum the night before so he could memorize all the paints from what his brother told him. That was how he got a second date with Joyce and that second date is how they ended up with Katie. Something seems off about a 34 year old memorizing all the paintings at a museum to impress a date. If he had been, say, 25, then that would seem more fitting. I'm not bashing the show, I like it so far and I have a feeling it's going to do well. Just the OP brought up a good observation. Seems like they goofed when it comes to the storyline.

What they need to do is to somehow de-age Mel, perhaps have him being 40 (or younger) and have his age appearance be due to stress or something. Then she could have been 17 and he could have been 21, which would have been more fitting not only for the ages but more so for the story (it was almost as if it were indicated that she wasn't even an adult yet when she got pregnant).

It's just something they need to tweak or explain.

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[–] DeepFriedJello 10 years ago

I was sure the dad was grandpa for half the show.

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[–] mklasr 10 years ago

I use the rule of half your age plus 7.

If he's 34, that means 34 / 2 + 7 = 24. Therefore, anyone under 24 is a little young for him. Conversely, if she's 20, that means 20 * 2 - 14 = 26, and anyone over 26 is a little old for her. It's legal, but by that equation he's still a creep.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

mklasr (Wed Feb 26 2014 09:19:39)
I use the rule of half your age plus 7.

If he's 34, that means 34 / 2 + 7 = 24. Therefore, anyone under 24 is a little young for him. Conversely, if she's 20, that means 20 * 2 - 14 = 26, and anyone over 26 is a little old for her. It's legal, but by that equation he's still a creep.

Your equation is flawed and you forgot to say that by using your equation, he's a creep in YOUR opinion.

Okay, so if she's 20 and dating someone 27, does that make her a creep or does it make him a creep? If you say her, then how is she a creep for dating an older guy? I would think that when it comes to age and referring to someone as a creep, it would be the older person. Yet, someone who is 27, by your equation, could date someone who is 20 without being a creep. Also, what if a couple of 12 year olds are going out with each other? 12÷2+7 = 13. So they are both creeps for dipping down below 13.

I guess you think that Hugh Hefner is a creep many times over, despite the women he marries being legal, fully aware and everyone being okay with it. Well, everyone except you.

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[–] mklasr 10 years ago

"Your equation is flawed and you forgot to say that by using your equation, he's a creep in YOUR opinion."

It's my equation? Gee, thanks. Would you be willing to testify to that in a civil suit against "Parks and Recreation", because they were using it about 3 years ago.

"Okay, so if she's 20 and dating someone 27, does that make her a creep or does it make him a creep?"

The older person would be considered the "sleeze", according to "Parks and Recreation", when they were using "my" equation, assuming you will help me in the aforementioned civil suit.

"Also, what if a couple of 12 year olds are going out with each other? 12÷2+7 = 13. So they are both creeps for dipping down below 13."

Anyone below 14 is too young for anyone to "date", according to "my" equation, as well as the most leniant age of consent laws in any state in the US, assuming that you define "date" the same way as I do.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

mklasr (Wed Mar 5 2014 12:03:02)
"Your equation is flawed and you forgot to say that by using your equation, he's a creep in YOUR opinion."

It's my equation? Gee, thanks. Would you be willing to testify to that in a civil suit against "Parks and Recreation", because they were using it about 3 years ago.

You used it here as your way of thinking, so without assigning ownership status to it, it was your equation in the sense of how you decide to think. Also, you would fail at that lawsuit since you failed to give credit to your source. If anything, since you used it as your own (even if you didn't claim it to be your own), without giving proper credit, you could be sued.

That aside though, if you're willing to pay me (and all expenses) for me to be at that trial, then sure, I'll be a willing witness. Would be funny to watch you make a fool of yourself.

Oh and shame on you for stealing an equation from a TV show and then acting like it's the end all deciding factor. Learn to think for yourself.

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[–] mklasr 10 years ago

"That aside though, if you're willing to pay me (and all expenses) for me to be at that trial, then sure, I'll be a willing witness..."

You'd be willing to testify under oath in exchange for compensation even though you side with the opposition? I'm glad I'm finding this out now. I was going to bust you for hanging your opinion on Hugh Hefner's failed marriages, but that one is even more fascinating.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Your reading something that wasn't said isn't my fault. Also, I wasn't basing my opinion on Hefner, I was bringing it up as an example. You must live in a backwards place if someone can't use examples unless it's the reason for their viewpoint, opinion or fact.

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[–] katish7 10 years ago

it seems like these "writers" didn't think through too many things on this show, and yes the age difference was too much there to suspense disbelief or whatever, just another evidence of sloppy and cliched writing, like it was rushed extremely, which is strange because it's supposedly based on a true story...

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Actually, thinking more on it, it may not be the writers fault. It could be the one who did the casting. After all, if the role calls for a guy who is in his mid to late 30's and they cast a woman who is only 22, is that the writers fault?

Basically, could be that the writers didn't do anything wrong, though they will now have the task of trying to explain (in future episodes) about the age difference or somehow explain how he looks older but really isn't.

Other than that, great writing and love the originality. True, going for a few easy shots, but that's where the humor comes in (example, when cutting down the tree and someone asking why he's wearing safety glasses).

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[–] Wood-20 10 years ago

The creators (head writers) had some say in the casting. Though your point that it's not the fault of the writing that the casting is bad.

However, just a quick look at DJ Nash's credits, I think there is a pattern established of pre-ruined shows that he has been involved with, and this project is likely going nowhere.

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[–] LETumEAT 10 years ago

In real life Elfman is 42, Simmons is 59.

It's a good thing this isn't real life.

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[–] Wood-20 10 years ago

I'm more offended by the 25 year old playing a teenage girl than the 35yo who married the 18yo he knocked up. I couldn't figure out if the Katie character was supposed to be Joyce's sister, or Mel's adult daughter from a previous relationship. The age of the actors in this show are very strange casting choices. JK Simmons usually plays a grandfather in his previous roles, and all I found the age thing a bit distracting in the pilot.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Wood-20 (Tue Feb 25 2014 08:27:23)
I'm more offended by the 25 year old playing a teenage girl than the 35yo who married the 18yo he knocked up.

The actress playing Katie isn't 25. But if it offends you that someone older plays a teenager, then don't watch the movie Grease (1978) or the original Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). In 90210, Gabrielle Carteris was almost 30 when she played the part of a freshman in high school.

Wood-20 (Tue Feb 25 2014 08:27:23)
I couldn't figure out if the Katie character was supposed to be Joyce's sister, or Mel's adult daughter from a previous relationship.

If you had paid attention to the show instead of looking up everyone's ages, you would have gotten it much sooner. The issue some people are having here is the believability of the ages. The actress playing Katie looks like she could be a teenager, so that's believable. Belita Moreno played George's mom in George Lopez (2002) even though she was only about 12 years older than him (though in the series, she was about 16/17 when she had him, so not that far off). That's why I've said that they would need to explain why he (the character Mel) looks older than he really is.

Wood-20 (Tue Feb 25 2014 08:27:23)
JK Simmons usually plays a grandfather in his previous roles, and all I found the age thing a bit distracting in the pilot.

I didn't know he played the role of a grandfather in the Spider-Man movies. :P

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[–] Wood-20 10 years ago

The pedantic nature of your posts make it hard to have a conversation with you. Let your post be a small victory for yourself as you sit there counting leaves.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Wood-20 (Wed Feb 26 2014 03:28:56)
The pedantic nature of your posts make it hard to have a conversation with you. Let your post be a small victory for yourself as you sit there counting leaves.

I'm going to translate this for everyone. I made some good points that you are unable to argue with, so instead of trying, you are going to try to make it seem like you are right but that I'm the one with a problem.

You refer to my posts as pedantic in nature, yet you hopped on a minor and irrelevant detail about someones post because examples they gave were from older shows. Way to miss the main point Sherlock.

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[–] FlushingCaps 10 years ago

Did any of you ever think that an actor or actress could play a character who is supposed to be a different age than the performer?

If you check it out, you'll find this has been the case on almost every TV series in history.

Some examples:

Richard Thomas, at 22 played 17-year-old John-Boy Walton
Michael J. Fox at 21 played 16-17 year old Alex Keaton
Laurie Walter at 30 played Joanie, appx. age 20, on Eight is Enough

On The Dick Van Dyke Show, Laura was supposed to have been 17 when she married Rob. In real life, they are over 11 years apart, so I guess Rob was 27 when in the Army he started dating the 16-year-old dancer that he married a year later.

Phylicia Rashad as Claire, was supposed to be the same age as her husband Cliff, even though Rashad was 11 years younger than Bill Cosby.

Mr. Boynton was constantly pursued by Our Miss Brooks, despite the fact that Robert Rockwell was just 32 and Eve Arden was 44. High School student Walter Denton was played by Richard Crenna, who was 26 when the series began.

Donna Douglas was supposed to be about 16 years old when The Beverly Hillbillies began. They never really let her grow up, basically pretending she was about 20 when the show left the air. Fact is, she was 29 when it began and 38 when it finally was cancelled.

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[–] Wood-20 10 years ago

Do all of your examples come from 30+ years ago?

Anyway, it's not so much the age of the actors, it's their believability. In this case, the weird ages are distracting.

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[–] FlushingCaps 10 years ago

Wood, if you want to talk about the actors being believable in playing someone of a given age, that is a different argument. Most of the comments before mine were people going by the listed age of given actors and saying they had a problem because of how old they would have been for certain things in the script. The whole discussion was based on the real age of the actors involved.

I tried to think of some of the most famous examples I could from TV history, to illustrate that this has been going on as long as TV has been around.

Just to please you, how about Last Man Standing for a current series that features actors and actresses playing people of a somewhat different age than they actually are.

I have read people complaining that Tim Allen is too old to have teenage daughters on Last Man Standing, since he is now 60 years old. His wife on the series was 50 when the show debuted, so have a 13 year-old doesn't seem too much of a stretch for her. I believe at one point on that show's board I put up something saying that I believe the character Allen plays is not supposed to be as old as the actor.

I see Molly Ephraim, who plays the middle daughter, was supposed to be in high school when the show debuted, even though the actress graduated college three years before that happened, making her an estimated 25 at the time she was supposed to be 17.

Amanda Fuller plays the oldest daughter, the one who became pregnant as a teenager, now raising a son who was in pre-school when the show began. She serves as another example, since she turns 30 this year and the son she had as a teenager is no more than 6 years old now, although he is played by a kid about two years older than that.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

FlushingCaps (Wed Feb 26 2014 10:16:09)
Wood, if you want to talk about the actors being believable in playing someone of a given age, that is a different argument. Most of the comments before mine were people going by the listed age of given actors and saying they had a problem because of how old they would have been for certain things in the script. The whole discussion was based on the real age of the actors involved.

I tried to think of some of the most famous examples I could from TV history, to illustrate that this has been going on as long as TV has been around.

Just to please you, how about Last Man Standing for a current series that features actors and actresses playing people of a somewhat different age than they actually are.

To be honest with you, I think Wood-20 is a troll, or at the very least, a wannabe troll. Looking for ways to take jabs at people and if they have a good point with little to no flaws, they Wood just tries to brush the person off like they aren't worth the effort.

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[–] Wood-20 10 years ago

I am not so worried about their literal age, it's whether they can pull off the age they are supposed to be playing.

It's like in The Middle, when the youngest son, who was playing a 9 year old, had his voice cracking because of puberty. That kind of crap is distracting, and they have pretty much stopped mentioning his age, and/or added years to his age. Eden Sher is no longer a teenger, but is playing something like 16-17, but she has remained believable. No concern with the oldest son character either. The adults seem like a reasonable pair.

I think Last Man Standing suffered from the same issue that Growing Up Fisher had. In fact, now that you mention it, the age weirdness is pretty much exactly the same in that show as with GUF. Tim is a fat ugly annoying character married to younger attractive woman with two children that are 10 years apart supposedly by the same woman. It is distracting and unbelievable, and that may be one reason I stopped watching after only a few episodes.

The Growing Up Fisher cast is a mess when it comes to believability. They look like grandfather, daughters, and grandson. Maybe they make it work, but I doubt it.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

Don't forget about Scott Baio, who was like 87 years old playing a young college student in Charles In Charge. Or Scott Wolf who was like 109 in "Party of Five" but playing a high school student. Okay they weren't really that old, but they were definitely much older than their characters.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] lockon_stratos 10 years ago

I thought he was the grandpa as well from the previews. I think it would have worked even better that way with a grandpa, daughter and his grand kids. Mom is the uptight divorced woman raising two kids with an eccentric grandpa.

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[–] leader-7 10 years ago

Flushingcaps! Thank you thank you. I agree w/ your summation of ages... <to add one more -- in an episode of The Real McCoys (yes, guilty) just aired yesterday, someone asks Luke how old he is. He says, "25". Crenna, born in 1926, was 33 in 1959, at the airing of that episode.

WAY too many people are overanalyzing the ages of performers.

Was Dustin Hoffman old enough to play Willy Loman on Broadway in 1984 when he was only 47? No. The character, as written, was 63. It's called ACTING for a reason.

Thank you again, FlushingCaps.

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[–] calamarisoup 10 years ago

Also Dustin Hoffman was around 30 when he played the 21-year old title character in The Graduate in 1967. William Daniels who played his father was only 10 years older than Hoffman. Ann Bancroft, who played Mrs. Robinson, was only 6 years older than Hoffman, but her character was the mother of girl he went to high school with. Katherine Ross who played her daughter was 27, although the character was 19.

Despite their age discrepancies Hoffman, Bancroft, and Ross were nominated for Oscars for their work in the film.

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[–] leader-7 10 years ago

eggZACKly!

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[–] elgrinlaw 10 years ago

In the movie Blow, Johnny Depp plays Rachel Griffiths son. Even though Griffiths is 5 years younger than Depp in real life.

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[–] FlushingCaps 10 years ago

Thank you leader-7 for complimenting me.

It is sad that some people on these message boards, and more so on my local newspaper boards, seem to put up a message only to put down other people.

It brightens my day to know that someone liked reading something I put up on one of these boards, so...thanks again for brightening my day.

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[–] FaithHH02 10 years ago

Reading all of these replies makes me think most people writing here are pretty young. I'm 43 and I have an 18 year old son. So I had my first child at 25 and still felt when I got to a certain age like I had missed some things. I'm well over it now. But she wasn't that young. She is just feeling her age.

And as for the age difference...my parents were three years apart and their marriage lasted about a minute. His second marriage to someone 11 years younger lasted the 32 years until his death. It wasn't creepy. It worked great.

Grow up.

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[–] FangsMcWolf 10 years ago

More like some of the people. There are some that find it creepy that they met and started dating when they were (Joyce at 18, Mel at any age) despite her being legal at that point.

Others find it unlikely that things would have happened and "worked out" for that long with the age difference. I believe that in the show, despite appearances, they are probably real close in age and she was likely not even an adult yet when they first met and started dating. At worst, based on the dialog, she was 17 when they started dating then turned 18 (and got married) before Katie was born. Any younger and the parents would likely have needed to sign off on their getting married.

Mel doesn't look like he's in his late 30's/early 40's, so I believe that if the writers somehow explain things, then it will settle it all out. For me, it's more about believability based on the facts supplied by the show along with appearance.

To put it into a different perspective, let's say that Mel said he was 25 when he started dating Joyce. Going based on his age by appearance, at youngest he is 50 and based on the story, she is about 36. That's a 14 year difference and that would make her 11 at the time they met and started dating. However, if their ages are mentioned along with why he appears to be older, then that should square things away.

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