Web Series Wednesday – Old Guy

By: Spring Marie Cullen

WHAT? Old Guy

BY: Five Sisters Productions

WHY SHOULD I WATCH?

Old Guy is a six-episode web series dealing with one of Hollywood’s lesser discussed issues – ageism. When Harry (Roger Burton) tries to get back into the acting game after a decade’s long hiatus he is immediately typecast as an old guy and nothing more. The industry sees him as one thing and one thing only and whatever life experience and talent he brings to the table is pushed to the backburner.

Harry’s agent, Winnie (“Frasier” star Peri Gilpin), cares less about his career aspirations and more about simply getting him out there. If there’s a part for an old man she sends him on the audition, whether he likes it or not. The back and forth between Burton and Gilpin is one of the shining stars of the series. From their first interaction I knew it’d be a highlight. They play off one another so easily. Every scene together more natural than the last. The comedy is smart too, never making the cheap and overdone age jokes, but elevating the humor to something that pokes fun without making Harry a constant punchline.

As entertaining as the series is, the story behind it is even more beautiful. The siblings who make up Five Sisters Productions (Ursula, Maria, Gabrielle, Charity and Jennifer Burton) released the series as a tribute to their late parents. It was a true passion project, originally filmed in 2013. Jennifer enlisted the help of Tufts film students to edit the episodes. During the age of quarantine, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, Old Guy is something the world needs. The way seniors have been treated throughout this era of combating illness and the neglect toward the older population as if they’re expendable is unacceptable. It shouldn’t take a series to convince people otherwise, but if any show could do it, it’d be this one.

Old Guy is a series everyone should watch. If you’re an actor, if you love to laugh and if you cherish the older people in your life this show is something for you. It’ll make you smile as often as it makes you think and it will change the way you view the older generation forever.

WHERE CAN I WATCH? Episodes are available on YouTube.

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