Young Mothers on TV

A little while ago, the Hollywood Reporter put together an interesting look at the CW, and the WB its predecessor, and its tendency to hire young actresses to play parents , like Lauren Graham on Gilmore Girls.

The article suggests that CW goes “unrealistically young in the motherly department” with actresses such as Lauren Graham being hired very young for their roles. Lauren Graham was 33 when she started Gilmore Girls though her character, Lorelai Gilmore, was herself a young mother of 31. I wouldn’t, therefore, call this unrealistic.

The article highlights the latest casting decision on new CW pilot Light Years which will have Shiri Appleby (30) and Kristoffer Polaha (31) as parents for Brittany Robertson’s (19) character, who is 16. The plot, like with Gilmore Girls, centers on a teenage couple who get pregnant in high school. In this show, Brittany’s character became a foster child and the story follows her as she tracks down her biological parents.

So, I don’t think either of these stories make the casting at all “unrealistic”, do you? Shiri is only 2 years younger than the character she’d play on television. I think the question to ask, perhaps, is if television is creating too many shows about teenagers giving birth in high school. What do you think?

Image: TheWB.com