Last week Forever Young made its debut on TV Land and tonight at 10p, the best reality show on television in a really long time, is back with its second episode. On tonight’s show the 10 roommates are broken up into two teams of five to see how they work together as team while they run a business. One team runs a Taco Truck, and the other one is making hot dogs. The winning team is determined by who made more money and mistake will be make things interesting. Then you must must must watch the ending to see how they divvy up the prize money. The rationale for how they do it will really change your perspective on how both generations see the value of money. It is a true eye opener.
I recently spoke with Christian Taboada, who is the heart of the show, and he told me what it was like to be on Forever Young. Christian was out of work at the time when he saw a posting that read “Do you want to represent your generation?” So he responded to the ad and had several meetings with the show’s producers. As soon as he met with them, he feel in love with the idea. He just didn’t know what to expect when they told him he was selected to be on it.
The first thing he saw was the place where he was going to live for the next few weeks. He said, “I have never been in a house that big in my life. So walking up, I was like I’m staying here? OK! That’s a big window. That’s a big tree. Then you walk in and there is a swimming pool, pillows and a big old dining room table that is the size of my house now. It was beautiful.” Then he added, “I didn’t care about anything else, I don’t know who you people are, but I am going to stay right here. I don’t care.”
Eventually he left the luxury of the inside of the house and ventured out. That is when he saw his roommates were not the same age as him. When he saw the old timers he was like, ‘Oh snap! OK, roomies. What’s up?'” He knew he was representing his generation, but he was not expecting such a huge gap in their ages. But then as he thought about it, it all made sense.
He then explained that when they had their first meeting together it was a little tough for the younger generation to be listened to. But he was able to get their side heard. He explained to me “Accepting is a big thing in my life. So hey, you know, don’t judge. Come on in. I’ll see what you can do. If you can dance, then we will dance together sometime.”
And dancing is what an 85 year old Shirley will do in an upcoming episode. She will work a pole like a stripper a 1/4th of her age can. Was it shocking for him to see that. He said, “Shocking isn’t the right word. Just exclamation point, is all I can say.”
So was that his most memorable moment from the show? He shared with me that he loved their chats at the fire pit. After a few of their get togethers there, it really started to feel like a family to him. And even though the show ended a while ago, he finds himself thinking of some of his roommates that way. He still talks with the over 70s all these months after they moved out of the house. He speaks with Shirley at least twice a week, Emileen and him email all the time and AA sends a postcard whenever he goes away. After the show ended he went to NY on a trip and he saw AA and Emileen while he was there. How many other reality shows can you say the people have a bonded like that?
So now that experiment is over, what did he learn from it. He said, “I feel like I learned that I have a lot more in common with the older generation than I ever knew.” He appreciates that they didn’t care that he was gay from the get go. In fact he tell his friends, who are struggling to come out, to tell their grandparents first. This is something he learned after the experience he had by being on Forever Young.
So what would he say to get you to watch? Here’s his pitch, “If you are tired of watching the same thing, tune into watch Forever Young and we will show you why it is so good to be forever young. The surprises, the family, the love that you wouldn’t expect. If you actually sit and listen to the genuineness and the honesty of it all. It is so, like holy sh!t am I crying. It’s real.” It’s real and it is real important for everyone of every generation to watch.
So tune into the show tonight and every Wednesday at 10p on TV Land with your grandparents. And when it is done you should discuss what you have just learned with them and see what they took away from it. Forever Young might be the first show to bridge the generation gap!
