Show biz veterans stay in the picture with a TV channel at an industry retirement home (pictured); the head of UCLA's Center for African American Studies weighs in on e-mails from executives that discussed President Obama; and acclaimed photographer Sebastiao Salgado is the subject of a documentary co-directed by his son.
Hollywood retirees produce original shows for their own TV channel
The Motion Picture & Television Fund's Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills isn't your typical retirement home. The residents — retired actors, producers, editors, publicists and other veterans from the entertainment business — have credits dating back to the days of live television. And they're not sitting around with their fading memories of times gone by. Instead, they run their own in-house TV station.
Shows on Channel 22 range from satirical comedies to short films and live talk shows. New residents are introduced to the community via televised interviews. And they're immediately welcome to either help out on existing shows or suggest their own content.
Among the current residents creating original content for Channel 22 are Rocky and Irma Kalish — a husband-and-wife team who wrote scores of episodes for shows such as “F-Troop,” “My Three Sons” and “All in the Family.” Irma says, "It’s like working with a network, except you don’t have to kowtow to the network bigwigs."
For his show, retired commercial director Norman Stevens found inspiration in his loathing for the ubiquitous crime drama, “Law and Order,” by uber-successful producer Dick Wolf. Stevens told The Frame, "He’s on constantly. And I was really annoyed by this. And I said, 'We’ve got to do something to show this guy that we hate his program.'" His response? “Law and Disorder,” a comedy series set at a fictional Precinct 22 where most folks — cops, victims, perps — are over 80.
Station manager Jennifer Clymer says that since 2006, Channel 22 has produced more than 1,000 hours of programming, despite having to work around some unusual production constraints. As she explains, "We've got people who have to make sure they're hitting their meds on time. Or if they need a two o'clock nap, you get a two o'clock nap."
Bob Beitcher of the Motion Picture & Television Fund says there are multiple benefits of having a creative outlet like Channel 22: "Doing media production, or painting, or whatever...for a lot of reasons: social reasons, brain stimulation, heart stimulation, engagement...are all life extenders." Beyond that, it just makes residents' lives more fun.