STAGED AGES

In a recent episode of 'My Boys', Mike Callahan wanted the others to throw him a surprise 35th birthday party, but when they balked at the idea, he had to reveal that he was turning forty. By the end of the episode, we learned the truth - Mike was actually 43.

The actor who plays Mike - Jamie Kaler - is also 43, the oldest in the bunch.

But it was nice to see a character as the same age as the actor who plays him. Sure, there have to be certain exceptions - Dracula and other vampires, Duncan MacLeod and other Immortals, - but far too often the character turns out to be younger than the actor playing the part... and it's never convincing.

Other examples that I've mentioned in the past have included characters played by James DAly and Gig Young on 'The Twilight Zone', Adrian 'Monk', and John Locke of 'Lost'. Maybe they don't shave off too many years, but I often use myself as a yardstick and there's no way I'm older than John Locke.

While hanging out with my buddies Mark & Michael recently (I like to think of them as Mark&Michael), we watched "Suitable For Framing", an episode of 'Columbo' starring Ross Martin as the killer. Hoping to find proof that Martin's character had been seen in a certain location, the Lieutenant asked a witness if a man had been there who was 40 years old.
That was awfully generus of Columbo. Ross Martin was 51 at the time and he looked it. But he certainly didn't look 40.

Just sayin', is all.....
BCnU!