Wednesday, September 16, 2026 | Edition 195 | Item #3

Monday night’s Emmys confirmed a trend of increasing visibility and importance of older women in television (and movies). Once largely invisible, older women dominated the Emmys this year. Jean Smart, age 75, won for Hacks, as she always does (this was her fifth year in a row, a record), but Allison Janney, age 66, surprised many with her triumph in the best supporting actress category. Sally Fields, age 79, won best actress in a limited series and Rhea Seehorn, age 54, finally broke through to win best actress in a drama for her role in Pluribus (we would have given her an Emmy (or two) for her performance in Better Call Saul but alas actual Emmy voters did not agree). In fact, only one actress under the age of 40 won an individual Emmy this week.

Even the host of the night was veteran actress Mariska Hargitay, age 62. The long-time star of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was an unconventional choice for the role, one that typically falls to comedians. And according to some reports (we were on an airplane at the time so have no firsthand knowledge), she flopped, as many younger hosts have done in the past. We suppose that is one form of equality.