August 2025
By Richard Fleming
Photo courtesy of Afif Nur Fahmi
Today’s post addresses one of the more minor irritants of aging. Considering the myriad challenges we old folks face, television watching must rank close to last in importance. But since we’re in the midst of the summer slow season, why not take a quick look at some small annoyances seniors can experience while watching TV.
Television is an enjoyable distraction. It can be relaxing to sit on the couch in the evening and watch the tube. My wife and I typically start with some news programming, but after our blood pressure rises too high, we switch to entertainment shows. Cooking contests, singing competitions, movies, mini-series, all are fun to watch and help bring the blood pressure back down.
But, as with many other activities of daily living – like driving, shopping, sleeping, remembering people’s names, safely stepping down from sidewalk curbs, and others – watching TV presents some unique challenges to older folk. Some stem from biology. Others are generational in nature. The problems for seniors are minor annoyances and of limited import. But they illustrate and echo some of the ways our connections to the larger society evolve as we age.
Biological factors
My hearing is diminishing year by year. Every six months I visit Costco to have the volume on my hearing aids adjusted upwards. Even so, listening to television programs can be challenging. I usually crank the TV’s sound up to a level my wife finds mildly uncomfortable. But at least it is not so loud the neighbors complain. Not yet anyway.
But my hearing difficulties go beyond simply the volume. I also sometimes find it hard to understand the dialogue. It seems my brain’s auditory processing center is aging more quickly than my ears, which still look normal. A number of my friends experience similar auditory challenges. These are not uncommon problems for old folks.
Subtitles are a godsend to help me with both volume and comprehension, and we keep them on screen most of the time. But I notice they are starting to speed by more quickly than a few years ago. I’m not sure if it is because the characters on screen are speaking more rapidly, or is the problem that my reading speed has slowed?
My memory can also create small problems. When watching a series with weekly episodes, I sometimes can’t recall important details from the prior week’s show. Who exactly did Kathy Bates’ “Matlock” character expose as a liar last week? Which cook did Gordon Ramsay boot out of the “MasterChef” kitchen in the prior episode? Thank goodness for recaps, which most shows have.
I often browse recommendation guides to find something to watch. But it can be challenging to remember which shows I’ve already seen. Some of the program synopses seem familiar, but I just can’t recall which ones I’ve already seen.
Generational factors
Most television programming – though not all – focuses on people from younger or middle-aged generations. This is understandable. These folks are more active. They are working in interesting jobs. They are solving crimes. Their inter-relationships are dynamic and often fraught. Certainly programs about these generations are much more interesting than shows dealing with the boomers and the silents. Let’s be blunt. Our lives are less glamorous, less exciting, and often… boring.
While watching shows about young generations, it is fascinating to see how their lives unfold, their relationships evolve, and their families develop. But I must confess I am starting to have trouble understanding some of their language. Not because they are speaking too softly or too fast, but because of the words they speak.
As an example, a few months ago we decided to watch the series “Industry.” It was well-reviewed and was supposed to be similar to “Succession,” an enjoyable show loosely based on the business intrigues of the Rupert Murdoch family. But the folks climbing the corporate ladders in “Industry” are all Gen Z’ers.
Parts of “Industry” were interesting, like the way social media dominates every aspect of Gen Z’s lives, and the different approach Gen Z takes to work-life balance than was true when boomers dominated the workplace.
But I kept getting confused by the jargon the characters used. One person said something along the lines of, “I’m going to crush that guy, no cap.” A young banker said a business plan was “lit.” Another character said a coworker had “serious drip” and her shoes were “fire.” Call me a fuddy duddy, but I got tired of having to pause the show and look up these terms in an online urban dictionary.
After three episodes, we switched to “Elsbeth,” a series about a quirky older-age detective. While it can be cloyingly cute, at least I understood the words being used.
Another generational change which impacts TV watching stems from the fact text messaging has replaced voice mail in much interpersonal communication. In many current TV shows the camera briefly shows a text message exchange on a character’s phone, then switches away. I have no idea what the text messages said or who they were from because they flashed by too fast. I have to pause the show, hit reverse, then press the pause button at just the right instant so I can read the messages. A minor annoyance, I know. But I never had this problem when TV characters left voice mail messages for each other.
* * *
OK, enough bellyaching about small inconveniences brought about by aging. TV is still an enjoyable distraction. And fortunately there are a few entertaining programs dealing with old people. The new iteration of “Matlock” with Kathy Bates is fun. In the first episode, the Bates character was having a hard time figuring out how to tap her credit card at a coffee shop payment terminal (been there, done that). Finally a nearby man helped her out. What made the scene cute was that Matlock fumbled her credit card on purpose as a ruse to gather information from the guy standing nearby. After that scene, I knew the show would be a keeper.
Another good show is “A Man on the Inside,” which tells the story of a retiree (played by Ted Danson) who is hired to move into a nursing home to investigate a robbery. It has a captivating story line and shows that even nursing home residents can live full and interesting lives.
Bottom line, watching TV remains a good vehicle to learn more about the world and an enjoyable way to relax. And now that I have finally learned how TV apps and streaming work, I’m less frustrated with the whole experience.
If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider forwarding it to friends who may be interested or posting a link to your social media feed. Also, if you are not yet a subscriber, it is an easy way to be notified of future posts, which I upload once or twice a month. Just enter your email address below, then check your email for a return message that requires a confirmatory click to complete the process. Subscriptions are free and no advertising will come your way.
Type your email…
Lots of astute observations here, Richard. As a side note, some of them help account for why many of us are content to watch films at home rather than at movie theaters these days. (Though an unrelated factor is how TVs have gotten so much larger and better.)
Richard
Thanks so much for your recent “Watching TV” essay. It’s certainly comforting to know that I’m not the only one experiencing difficulty hearing speech on tv. I recently purchased a streaming device with a small 9”dedicated speaker that has greatly improved my ability to hear and understand dialogue. It has been an inexpensive solution that limits my need to frequently ask “What was just said ….?”
Thank you, Richard, for the usual thoughtful analysis of this perplexing modern world. Your column reminds me why I don’t watch much tv outside of the NPR Newshour. But maybe I should try a few programs suited to my demographic.
One thing that resonated with me was about the CC (Closed Captions) going by too fast. The trouble I often see is that the text comes in bursts. So if a character says something and I’m not sure what it was, I wait for the text. But often that text comes 4 or 5 seconds later in one or two bursts. It’s as if the closed captions machine had been busy, but is now quickly trying to catch up. Words may be there for only fractions of a second. I suppose this is still an evolving technology, so I hope it will soon improve.
Thank you! I certainly agree with you. I have an additional TV annoyance: many of the programs have background music which often is so loud that one can’t hear what is being said by the characters. It is so frustrating!
Good observations, Richard! I too especially like “Man on the inside”. Guess I need to watch some more “Matlock”.
I also recommend watching the 8-episode mini-series “The Residence”. It’s a fictional “mystery-comedy-drama” that takes place in the White House. It stars Uzo Aduba as Detective Codelia Cupp. You’ll find it on Netflix.