And she did. She was fired when her true identity was revealed. For being dishonest, her bosses said with a straight face. NBC, the lead defendant in the new lawsuit, has denied discriminating against its writers on the basis of age. In their more candid moments, though, television executives will tell you that their genuflection at the altar of youth grows out of a simple economic equation.
Advertisers prefer shows that bring in the younguns.
It's the kids who buy things. Young people may spend more, but old people have more. Old and dead are not synonymous. So from where I sit, economics is part of it, but only part. The truth of this runs deeper than money and further than Hollywood, runs to every industry where they start easing you out the door, not because you can no longer do the work, but because the first snows of winter have arrived in your hair.