I could never have imagined that firing 67 people on national television would actually make me more popular, especially with the younger generation.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If you can think psychographically and not demographically, you can really target a lot more audiences.
Even when I started in 1970, I knew that television was having a negative effect on our society.
My audience has lots of people between 20 and 35, but there are always a few 60-year-olds, and it makes me happier than if everyone was 22.
I think television often has dismissed younger people. They figure, well, they're not really watching news, that's not our audience.
The whole tone now of TV is under 35 and directed toward males.
I'm part of that generation that grew up watching TV, and being an actor was all about being on TV or being in films.
As I got older, I never considered that tons of people were watching me on television every week. I give a nod to my parents for keeping me as normal as I could be in an un-normal adult world.
You might be surprised by how interested young people are in older people.
I haven't had television since 1991, and it definitely influences me. As a child of the 1970s, I couldn't hold a narrative in my head; I was lucky if I could hold a joke in my head, because every time you turn on television or radio, it wipes the slate clean - at least in my case.
But it's true, when you see some television, you carry it with you. It's like 90210. Tell me what young shows were being done then... We were thrilled about the ratings around the world.