Diabetic characters on TV: Men of a Certain Age
I saw the pilot of this new show on TNT last night – Men of a Certain Age. Within the first two minutes of the show, one of the characters (Andre Braugher) gives himself an insulin shot in the car, right before going on a strenuous hike. That made me sit up and take notice.
All through the show, his friends keep making jokes about how much and how badly he eats, and how out of shape he is. Later, he gets yelled at by his boss (who is also his father) for being an embarrassment, in part for "shooting up at his desk" at work.
The climax of the episode came during another hike, when he runs out ahead of his friends who find him a few minutes later lying face down in the middle of the trail. "Must be a diabetic thing," his friend says. They carry him back to the car and get him to the hospital, where the doctors says he's had a diabetic seizure. "Your blood sugar was under 40," his wife tells him.
I thought it was interesting to see diabetes front and center in a new TV series that is being promoted heavily, at least with our cable service. Just wondering if anyone else saw it, and what you thought. I can't find anyplace to watch the whole episode online but there are some clips on YouTube right now (search Men of a Certain Age).
All through the show, his friends keep making jokes about how much and how badly he eats, and how out of shape he is. Later, he gets yelled at by his boss (who is also his father) for being an embarrassment, in part for "shooting up at his desk" at work.
The climax of the episode came during another hike, when he runs out ahead of his friends who find him a few minutes later lying face down in the middle of the trail. "Must be a diabetic thing," his friend says. They carry him back to the car and get him to the hospital, where the doctors says he's had a diabetic seizure. "Your blood sugar was under 40," his wife tells him.
I thought it was interesting to see diabetes front and center in a new TV series that is being promoted heavily, at least with our cable service. Just wondering if anyone else saw it, and what you thought. I can't find anyplace to watch the whole episode online but there are some clips on YouTube right now (search Men of a Certain Age).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe_h on
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I wanted to watch this. now i'm not sure as TV is entertainment and an escape. If that character loses a foot I'm going to end up kicking in my tv screen ;)
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Permalink Reply by Shannon on -
Thanks for the heads-up. I just set my DVR (via the iPhone app - I LOVE that!) to record it. For anyone interested, it'll be on TBS tonight at 10pm.
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Permalink Reply by Cara on -
I missed and I wanted to see it, I love Andre Braugher. Interesting how they're treating the diabetes portion. I hope they portray it correctly and actually do some good for the disease.
Thanks for alerting us!
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on -
I would like to see it, being a man of a certain age, but two things tweak me already:
1. I would never take insulin BEFORE a hike, unless I'd eaten a big meal. I'd check my BG, certainly. Insulin? Unlikely.
2. "Must be a diabetic thing." WTF? Aren't these guys old pals? Wouldn't these other two jokers know what's going on?
Still, I'm curious to see how they treat this during the rest of the season. Just having a major character with diabetes is a step up.
Terry
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Permalink Reply by sweetpotater on -
That was what I thought too – why is he taking his shot right before going on this big hike? Are the writers making the point that this character doesn't know how to use insulin? Or is it the writers who are clueless about that? I also thought the language was weird – when he was in the hospital nobody ever used the word "low" and it seems like his wife would've told him an actual number for his blood sugar, not just "under 40." Wonder what that was about?
Judging from this first episode I'm guessing they're planning to make diabetes a focal point for this character. I'll be interested to see how they deal with it as the show goes on.
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on
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I'd blame it on clueless writers. I think a letter-writing campaign is in order. I started a comment on the show's forum. (You have to sign up as a member to add your own comment.)
http://www.tnt.tv/series/menofacertainage/
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Permalink Reply by Jen on
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At least they got it right in the sense that insulin + exercise = low = seizure. Rather than some other movies/TV shows where the writers can't even get hyper- and hypoglycemia right.
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Permalink Reply by AngelaC on -
Terry,
Did you happen to catch the pilot episode after writing this? My impression was that the Ray Romano and Scott Bakula characters knew about Andre Baugher's character's diabetes. In an early scene in the first episode, Romano drives to Baugher's house to pick him up and while they are sitting in the truck (SUV, whatever) together, Baugher takes out a vial of insulin (either a mix or straight NPH, since it is cloudy), loads up a syringe and then injects. The camera gets a close up of Baugher pinching up some skin on his belly and of the needle going in, all while Romano sits in silence, apparently tactfully ignoring the injection, but fully aware of it going on (how can he not be, since he is only a couple of feet away?). Given that these people knew of Baugher's condition, and that these are good friends, you'd think that when the group goes on the hike, they'd all be aware of Baugher's need for glucose and would have something with them -- some jelly beans, glucose tablets, WHATEVER, to ensure that Baugher didn't end up on the ground, unconscious.
I only saw part of the second episode, but I did not see any diabetes-related issues in it. The third episode will air on Monday at 10:00 PM Eastern.
Angela
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Permalink Reply by Tanny Ahmad on -
I have a feeling that diabetes is not going to be portrayed in a good light... I'm just saying. I will DVR this program though and give it a watch.
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on
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Write to them. Tell them if they get it wrong, but be encouraging.
TNT
1010 Techwood Dr. NW
Atlanta GA 30318
tnt@turner.com
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Permalink Reply by dejahthoris on -
I havent seen this show yet. Is it still on? I would like to see it. Are they writing more sensible plots in regards to the Type 1 diabetic character ?
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