AARP’s New Program to Recognize Lear and Features TV Shows for Age 50 Plus Viewers
The Washington, DC-based AARP announces the debut of its TV for Grownups® Honors on July 24, 3028, at the Sunset Hotel. This show follows on the footsteps of AARP’s wildly successful Movies for Grownups® Awards.
Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Rita Moreno will present the award to Lear. Tomorrow’s event will be hosted by actress Wendie Malick, with notable guests including Dick Van Dyke, Frances Fisher, Marla Gibbs, Bob Saget, Adrienne Barbeau, Chuck Lorre and more.
The upcoming program celebrates the career achievement of iconic television pioneer Norman Lear who produced such sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Maude. A four-time Emmy winner, Lear shaped the trajectory of television, spearheading a new kind of socially relevant programming that forever changed the medium.
Throughout his long-distinguished career, he has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, recognized as a Kennedy Center Honoree, and presented with the National Medal of Arts and the Peabody Lifetime Achievement Award. Lear continues to innovate with his latest comedy series, a multi-generational reboot hit on Netflix, One Day at a Time, starring Moreno. As a political activist, he founded the advocacy organization People for the American Way in 1981 and has supported First Amendment rights and progressive causes.
“AARP’s mission is to empower people to choose how they live as they age, and nobody does it better than Norman Lear,” said Myrna Blyth, SVP and Editorial Director of AARP Media, announcing the debut of TV for Grownups® and Lear’s special recognition.
A Celebration of Older Actors, Industry Leaders
“Our new initiative, AARP TV for Grownups, connects the 50-plus viewer with the best in programming and also celebrates the work of older actors and industry leaders,” says Blyth.
Modeled after AARP’s highly successful Movies for Grownups franchise, TV for Grownups was created to celebrate the 50-plus audience and their television viewing habits. The 50-plus population outpaces younger viewers: according to a GfK MRI Fall 2017 study, the 50-plus watch a median of 34 hours per week, about 15 hours more than viewers age 18-49.
In addition, AARP’s TV for Grownups will bring audiences closer to their favorite TV content with news, interviews, weekly online reviews and previews, and other special events year-round. TV for Grownups will help filter and inform the choices for more than 38 million AARP members and other 50-plus viewers. The initiative will encompass all platforms of television content, including broadcast, cable and streaming (for which the 50-plus are the fastest-growing demographic). TV for Grownups will also help viewers make savvy choices when choosing TV-related devices and apps, service providers and subscription-based platforms.
Too many choices…AARP’s goal is to filter the choices and help connect you to the smartest, most relevant, most entertaining shows for viewers over 50. The program will feature news, reviews and interviews in each issue of AARP The Magazine and online every week.
To learn more about TV for Grownups go to www.aarp.org/TVforGrownups.