# They're not making TV meemaws like they used to. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493 "2018-02-09T03:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/21 "2018-02-09T16:31:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Have you noticed how Spiderman’s Aunt May gets progressively younger (and hotter) with each incarnation? True. But her original age doesn’t exactly fit with a typical aunt of a teenager. In old comic books, parents are often _old_. I mean, even parents of people in their 20s have white hair. Though I do think that had faded a bit even by the late '60s, and definitely by the '80s (though legacy characters may still be older-looking). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/22 "2018-02-09T16:37:40Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > Yes, alot of it is our perspective, and that so many people stay stuck in a fashion rut from their younger days. > > In the 1930s, finger waves and bobbed hairstyles were considered the young fresh look, and many women kept that style for too many decades out of high school, so by the 50s and 60s, finger waves were for grannies. > > I can look at my mother’s yearbooks from the 60s and all those teased and beehive 'dos make those girls appear so old to me, too. But to them it was young and radical. But a woman still wearing a beehive even by the late 70s and certainly into the 80s (and there were indeed some! :eek:) looked all completely geriatric. > > Just as ridiculous as somebody today who still wears a crispy 80s perm with too much gel. I think you have something there. I like to think that I don’t look so old here in my mid-fifties but I am certain that some things show my age to the younger generation. I have no tattoos. I have only one earring (that was radical as all hell in the 70s). I’m sure the length of shorts I choose show me to be an old man. I probably use my cell phone like some type of barely trained ape (Oh, isn’t it cute how he thinks he’s Snapchatting!) The signs of age have changed since we were the young ones. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/23 "2018-02-09T16:51:05Z")
Not a mee-maw, but from the 1960s. . . [my 49-year-old uncle](https://imgur.com/8jhWnqf) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/24 "2018-02-09T16:55:02Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > Right! But they certainly didn’t look like most people in their mid-50s look now. Most of us make more of a conscious effort to stay fashionable and fight the frump. Define staying fashionable and fighting the frump. I’m serious. I don’t dress like my grandmother did at 55 ( which was like Edith Bunker) or like my mother did at 55 (sweatpants, polyester pants and jeans with elastic waists). I don’t wear my hair the same way they did at 55 either. But I also don’t dress like my 28 year old daughter- and the 55 year old women who try to do that usually look ridiculous ( I remember describing one as “mutton dressed as lamb” because she looked that ridiculous.) ``` But in the same way that I don't dress differently from other currently 55 year old women, my mother and grandmother didn't dress differently from their peers. And neither did Archie and Edith- they looked like most people in their mid-fifties did in the seventies. ``` ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/25 "2018-02-09T17:24:22Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > True. But her original age doesn’t exactly fit with a typical aunt of a teenager. In old comic books, parents are often _old_. I mean, even parents of people in their 20s have white hair. Though I do think that had faded a bit even by the late '60s, and definitely by the '80s (though legacy characters may still be older-looking). If people today had to wear their non dyed non tinted hair there would be as many greyhaired folk as ever. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/26 "2018-02-09T17:24:23Z")
Don’t forget that in the 60s and 70s middle aged people had grown up in the depression and World War II. Working in a factory or on a farm or the hedgerows of Normandy is pretty hard on your body. So Carroll O’Connor was born in 1924, which would make him 10 in 1934 in the middle of the depression, 20 in 1944 in the middle of WWII, 30 in 1954 in the middle of the post-war economic boom, and 50 in 1974 in the middle of All in the Family. Going through those decades as a child and young adult is going to age you prematurely. It also explains the “cranky old man” attitudes of middle aged people in the 60s and 70s and the generation gap. They went through the depression and WWII, and then came home to peace and prosperity, and the kids today do nothing but complain, they never had real hardship like we did. ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/27 "2018-02-09T17:25:57Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Define staying fashionable and fighting the frump. I’m serious. I agree with you about people dressing too young for their age, especially women who shop in the Junior department. It is very unattractive on many levels. I just mean wearing modestly classic clothes in modern colors and prints that fit you well. Taking good care of your skin and hair and keeping that make up and hairstyle up to date goes a long way, too. I also find that wearing less make up looks better on me as I age. Older women who really pile it on look clownish. Just things like that…your energy and attitude about yourself accounts for most of it at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/28 "2018-02-09T20:13:45Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Not a mee-maw, but from the 1960s. . . [my 49-year-old uncle](https://imgur.com/8jhWnqf) Damn, Earl, was he hurt in the war? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/29 "2018-02-09T20:22:59Z")
A lot better nutrition makes a huge difference too. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/30 "2018-02-09T22:53:03Z")
Raquel Welch is 77 on Date My Dad, as a “meemaw”. Her character is also supposed to be … sexually very active so she dresses flashily. [![](https://uptv.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/date-my-dad-series-preview-jw.jpg) ](https://uptv.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/date-my-dad-series-preview-jw.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/31 "2018-02-09T23:45:20Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Annie Potts is 65 years old. Her real-life kid? Older than the 33-year-old playing her daughter on that show. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/32 "2018-02-10T00:04:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But they weren’t that old. Carroll O’Connor was 55 and Jean Stapleton was 56 in the final season of the series. Robert Downey, Jr. is 52 and Jodie Foster is 54. Oh, how times have changed. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/33 "2018-02-10T00:07:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ummm, we’re just getting old. > > I see teenage girls at the beach and I look around to see if they have a cute mom. Oops, still too young for me… “Hey, sweetie, ya got a hot meemaw?” > > (A nickname I’d never heard before… Yiddish? Serbo-Croat?) digs, MeeMaw is Sheldon’s nickname for his grandmother on Big Bang Theory. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/34 "2018-02-10T00:16:30Z")
I think part of it is also that Young Sheldon’s main character is so young. With him 9, that takes his mom and grandma both having kids at 25 or younger. Meemaw, if she were to be on Big Bang Theory, would be in her 80’s, closer to what we think of as a grandmother, I think. Also, her character takes care of herself and is concerned about her looks. Golden Girls is a good example, Rose and Dorothy look like ‘grandmothers’, but Blanche, who has 6 kids certainly doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/35 "2018-02-10T00:58:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s not just TV. > > Have you noticed how Spiderman’s Aunt May gets progressively younger (and hotter) with each incarnation? > > Here she is as Steve Ditko originally drew her: > > [spider man aunt may steve ditko - Search](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=OiGjHtjp&id=4433B95DEB79614132A4F60EDB6BFA585D5821A4&thid=OIP.OiGjHtjpHFdibDaJK9BZuQHaHP&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2f736x%2fc7%2f76%2f8a%2fc7768a9889cae7a6707f17dbf351b2ff.jpg&exph=484&expw=495&q=spider+man+aunt+may+steve+ditko&simid=608048370581703435&selectedIndex=5&qpvt=spider+man+aunt+may+steve+ditko&ajaxhist=0) > > Here she is as portrayed by Rosemary Harris in the Sam Raimi films: > > [Spiderman Aunt May Rosemary Harris - Search](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Nd5FulUz&id=C928FBD3B04EA2578513A44E19C2B4CCEBA32DC1&thid=OIP.Nd5FulUz8JollTMqRhsKUQHaKd&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2f564x%2ff5%2fc0%2fab%2ff5c0ab7082373d9527bb203cb2eb6f8c.jpg&exph=797&expw=564&q=Spiderman+Aunt+May+Rosemary+Harris&simid=607997732893558888&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0) > > Here she is as portrayed by Sally Field in Mark Webb’s films (It hurts me to even write this – Sally Field as Aunt May? Gidget? The Flying Nun?) > > [Aunt May (Sally Field) | Spider-Man Films Wiki | Fandom](http://spiderman-films.wikia.com/wiki/Aunt_May_(Sally_Field)) > > And here’s Marisa Tomei. THIS is Aunt May? I think Tony Stark sees her as an AILF > > [Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) | Spider-Man Films Wiki | Fandom](http://spiderman-films.wikia.com/wiki/Aunt_May_(Marisa_Tomei)) > Rosemary Harris was 75 when she first played the role. Sally Field was 66 Marisa Tome was 53 when she first played the part in _Captain America: Civil Wart_. Peter Parker is a teenager. 53 is a realistic age for his aunt. She could even be younger. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/36 "2018-02-10T01:06:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Meemaw, if she were to be on Big Bang Theory, would be in her 80’s, closer to what we think of as a grandmother, I think. And here’s [Sheldon’s Meemaw as she appeared on TBBT.](http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/June_Squibb) Note that the actress playing her is actually 88 years old. Fun Fact: She played a stripper in the original Broadway production of _Gypsy_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/37 "2018-02-10T11:39:27Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > Robert Downey, Jr. is 52 and Jodie Foster is 54. > > Oh, how times have changed. Tom Cruise is 55, will be 56 when the next MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE comes out. There’s a decent chance that he’s doing sit-ups as I write this. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/38 "2018-02-10T13:48:25Z")
Annie Potts was born October 28, 1952. June Squibb was born November 6, 1929. So the actress playing Meemaw on _The Big Bang Theory_ is almost 23 years older than the actress playing that character on _Young Sheldon_. That’s actually not quite enough of a difference in age to fit the story of the two shows. When _Young Sheldon_ came on the air in 2017, we were told it was set in 1989. So to get the age difference perfectly, the difference in ages between the two actresses should be 28 years. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s nitpicking. I don’t think anyone notices. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/39 "2018-02-10T13:50:59Z")
I blame Mad magazine. Even though I don’t remember specifics, they had an article about the future (many of them, but this is a particular one) where the old fashioned granny (Aunt Bea from “Andy Griffith”) would be replaced by [a swingin’ grandma](http://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/R/14367-3564.jpg). Meemaw, Mamaw, Papaw, and all the other southern terms can go to hell. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493/40 "2018-02-10T14:20:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Annie Potts was born October 28, 1952. June Squibb was born November 6, 1929. So the actress playing Meemaw on _The Big Bang Theory_ is almost 23 years older than the actress playing that character on _Young Sheldon_. That’s actually not quite enough of a difference in age to fit the story of the two shows. When _Young Sheldon_ came on the air in 2017, we were told it was set in 1989. So to get the age difference perfectly, the difference in ages between the two actresses should be 28 years. I guess that means sixtysomething [Sela Ward](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.memphisflyer.com/WeSawYou/archives/2018/01/23/sela-ward-enchants%3fmedia=AMP+HTML) would be missing it closer? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-not-making-tv-meemaws-like-they-used-to/808493.md?page=3)