Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Aging of America Has Transforming Effect on TV and Ratings/Hunky Warren Christie Enjoys Foray into Family-Friendly Fare

For decades, TV executives and advertisers have based decisions about what you watch on the numbers of 18-to-49-year-olds who are looking at various shows. The importance of the 18-to-49 bracket has been unquestioned, unassailable. Until now.

The graying of America in general, and television viewership in particular, has already had a transforming effect on the TV landscape, with more shows fronted by stars in their 50s and up than ever before. Kelsey Grammer is the latest, with his "Boss" dramedy heading into production tomorrow (4/27) for Starz and Lionsgate TV. Gus Van Sant makes his TV directing debut on the project about a Chicago mayor with a dark secret.

There are obvious absurdities in the thinking that's dominated demographic considerations for so long. David Poltrack, chief research officer of CBS Corp. and president of its CBS Vision business unit, points out, "The idea that a 49-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter are of equal potential in buying a product, and then when the mother turns 50, she ceases to be of any value doesn't make any sense."

In fact, "Traditional age-based targets are less and less relevant," according to Poltrack, with whom we spoke for an AARP.org story about current trends in TV as the audience, and stars, age up.

"We now have very large databases and analytical tools that allow us to look at audiences in much more meaningful ways — by lifestyle, family situation, technology orientation."

He explains, "What happens now, with cable television and satellite television connections with set-top boxes that are able to monitor what is being watched in a home, you're able to get information from hundreds of thousands, even millions of households." At the same time, each time consumers use shopper cards at markets and pharmacies, their purchasing data is recorded.

With such a wealth of pertinent data available to mine, making ad-buying decisions based on age ranges seems clunky and outmoded. Poltrack informs that a new CBS study using these cutting-edge means debunked the notion that shows viewed by 18-to-49-year-olds generate more product sales.

Could a paradigm shift in how advertisers view audience demographics be at hand?

"That's what we're hoping," he says.

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Hunky Warren Christie of "October Road" and "Happy Town" fame steps into the realm of family-friendly romantic comedy with "Three Weeks, Three Kids," premiering May 7 on the Hallmark Channel.

He tells us the change-of-pace project not only gave him the opportunity to reunite with Anna Chlumsky — they'd done a pilot together a couple years ago — but to show off his acting chops to his nieces and nephews.

"There's a lot of things that I do that aren't really age-appropriate," Christie admits. "This allows them to see their uncle in something."

"Three Weeks, Three Kids" has Chlumsky as a commitment-phobic, maturity-averse graphic artist who learns some giant life lessons when she volunteers to take care of her nieces and nephew while her sister is in Europe. Christie's the neighbor who gets called upon for help.

"It was a lot of fun to play a nice guy in a lighthearted movie," he says.

The actor recently wrapped McG's 2012 action-comedy "This Means War," with Tom Hardy, Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon.

"Mine is a small, little part. I play Reese Witherspoon's ex-boyfriend. Every time they run into each other, it's awkward — for her. Clearly, he's moved on, and his life is perfect," says Christie, "so it's fun."

Right now, he's getting ready to begin shooting Syfy's July-premiering series, "Alphas," with David Strathairn.

"I actually just relocated to Toronto," notes Christie, who grew up in the area. "I'll be here shooting for the next five months."

"Alphas" is about a group of people "with heightened abilities — we're not saying superheroes — and David Strathairn is the doctor who helps them all to cope. These abilities have drawbacks in their personal lives," he says of the series, created by "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "The Incredible Hulk" writer Zak Penn. "It's cool — a nice blend of action and comedy and all that stuff."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Richard Bates Jr. won lots of attention and awards for his 2008 horror short, "Excision," about a teenage girl who is determined to perform her sister's needed lung surgery herself in order to win their mom's approval. Now it appears Bates is getting ready to make a full-length "Excision" feature — and he's rounded up an amazing cast: Traci Lords, John Waters, Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Sumpter and Matthew Gray Gubler. At least, that's the lineup according to casting notices on the extremely unappetizing production.

Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up" spinoff, "This is Forty" is heading for a late-June production start, with Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd reprising their roles from the first film. Apatow's kept mum on details, but at least part of the storyline will have to do with Mann's character's estranged, emotionally distant father who wants to reconnect with her.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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