# I'm older than Archie Bunker and other gut punches of pop culture **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902 "2025-09-10T02:38:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/21 "2025-09-10T15:44:10Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But to find Stewart was so young at the time! I guess he was born old. Being mostly bald by the time one’s in one’s mid 40s plays a big part. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/22 "2025-09-10T15:53:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now, I’m not sure it was ever explicitly stated, but I used to figure Picard was between 60-80, because of the extended lifespans of The Future. You aren’t entirely wrong. Though I don’t think that they ever stated his age in the series, Memory Alpha (the Star Trek wiki, which is usually very well-sourced and documented with canon information) indicates that [Picard](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard) is born in July of 2305, while _[Star Trek: The Next Generation](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)_ occurs during the years 2364-2370 (with each season mapping to a calendar year, roughly). So, canonically, Picard was 58 or 59 at the premiere of the series, which also made him over a decade older than Patrick Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/23 "2025-09-10T16:07:07Z")
Most likely close, if not more - I remember when I started working in 1980, my father was shocked that a part-time job would pay me close to $100/week or $5200 a year. He said it hadn’t been that many years since $100 week was good pay, and it was above the SS tax threshold.(earnings above a certain amount are not subject to SS tax) I looked it up - and that threshold was $4800 in 1965, $9000 in 1972 and $168,600 in 2024. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/24 "2025-09-10T16:11:06Z")
If Back to the Future was set this year (2025) instead of 1985 they could go back thirty years to 1995 instead of 1955. And they could use “Macarena” instead of “Mr Sandman” to set the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/25 "2025-09-10T16:12:07Z")
Not a pop culture one but I think many people don’t realize how young the men who founded the United States were. In 1776, Samuel Adams was 54 George Mason was 51 George Washington was 44 John Adams was 41 Patrick Henry was 40 John Hancock was 39 Thomas Jefferson was 33 John Jay was 31 James Madison was 25 Alexander Hamilton was 21 Benjamin Franklin was the old man of the group at 69 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/26 "2025-09-10T16:14:20Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > But how about this one: more time has passed since the US first shut down for COVID (2004 days) than the span between the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan and their rooftop concert (1817 days). That is INSANE. Wow. Just…wow. It’s partly (maybe _mainly_) because the cultural shift from 1964 to 1969 was so unusual. I thought of this last week when I saw outtakes (unused shots) from the “Woodstock” film. The way those folks talked, dressed, and acted would _not_ be out of place today, 55 years later…and yet _would_ have been out of place just five years prior. (Note that Sha Na Na played Woodstock as a late-50s-early-60s nostalgia act. It would be like if we had a whole nostalgia industry for, say, 2019 – Lil Nas X? Billie Eilish?) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/27 "2025-09-10T16:28:20Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Carrol O’Connor was 46 or 47 when he started playing Archie Bunker. Jean Stapleton was 48 when first playing Edith. Ann B Davis was 43 when she first played Alice on the Brady Bunch. All of these people seemed so old to me growing up, but I’m now I’m 50 and I think “How in the heck were they younger than I am now?” The Bunkers, to me, still seem so much older than me. Danielle Brisebois, who played Edith’s niece (or was it cousin) on the last season of the show is now 56. She was nominated for an Oscar in 2015, for songwriting. I remember watching _The Price is Right_ in the early-'70s. The price of “a brand new car” was always four-digits, and started with a 3. I have to explain to my young co-workers who the “agony of defeat” guy is. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/28 "2025-09-10T16:29:39Z")
I was 22 when I first saw the Rolling Stones live in 1990. They were older than dirt to me, but now I’m 10 years older than Mick and Keith were then. What’s most impressive/depressing is the fact that they are still going strong and touring, while I’m retired for medical reasons. And I never took anything stronger than alcohol or weed… ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/29 "2025-09-10T16:56:38Z")
I am two years older than anime. (Astro Boy premiered in 1963). By 1991 the stars of Sitcoms were younger than me. The rat catcher protagonist of _The Stain_ would be about the same age as my nephew ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/30 "2025-09-10T17:06:24Z")
A few years ago, I did a double take when re-watching an early episode of Frasier where he states his age…and he’s like 38? I was in my early 40s. I am rewatching the Sopranos and am in seasn 5 and he’s definitely showing his age… Tony says he’s 46. I am 46….I don’t claim to look good for my age AT ALL and I definitely look at him and say “shit… that looks right.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/31 "2025-09-10T17:10:22Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I was 22 when I first saw the Rolling Stones live in 1990. Average age of the Rolling Stones = 80.3 Average age of the US Supreme Court = 64.8 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/32 "2025-09-10T17:12:54Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I was 22 when I first saw the Rolling Stones live in 1990. They were older than dirt to me, but now I’m 10 years older than Mick and Keith were then. I was 17 when I saw the Stones in November of 1981. We made jokes even then about what old men the Stones were-- “are they gonna show up on the stage in wheelchairs, har har?”. Mick was _38_. Keith was still _37_ for another month or so. Granted, they were probably already more weathered for their age than most at the time, but I see people in their late 30s today who still look like children to me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/33 "2025-09-10T18:10:27Z")
My father would have been 120 years old this year. That means he was born closer to the writing of the Constitution than to today. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/34 "2025-09-10T18:20:42Z")
In 1987’s **Lethal Weapon** Danny Glover was getting too old for this shit. He was 41 at the time. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/35 "2025-09-10T18:24:27Z")
I was listening to BBC Six Music the go to radio station for old farts who want to listen to some new music but also be comforted by songs from their youth 🙂 They were interviewing some young up and coming musician and one one their standard questions is “who had the #1 single on the day you were born”. It was Atomic Kitten FFS! I could feel myself get older as she said it 😉 6 Music need to understand their listener demographic and can that question, it’s way too traumatic ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/36 "2025-09-10T18:42:29Z")
_Boy the way that Hendrix played Drugs that put him in his grave Geearolla (indecipherable) Those were the days_ ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/37 "2025-09-10T18:57:04Z")
A teenage nephew stayed here for a few days. After a while he said, “don’t you watch anything current”? I thought the show we were watching was fairly new. Then I did the math. What tv shows where that old when I was his age? Then I got it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/38 "2025-09-10T18:59:14Z")
We’re further away from the Moon Landing than the Moon Landing was from the start of WWI. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/39 "2025-09-10T19:03:55Z")
More time has passed since the movie _Apollo 13_ than had passed between the actual Apollo 13 mission and the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902/40 "2025-09-10T19:10:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Boy the way that Hendrix played > Drugs that put him in his grave > Geearolla (indecipherable) > Those were the days _Boy our GTO ran great_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-older-than-archie-bunker-and-other-gut-punches-of-pop-culture/1022902.md?page=3)