‘Big Bang Theory’ lawsuit is calling out Hollywood’s history of ageism.
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion over ageism in Hollywood. Apparently, Hollywood is not interested in actors, models, directors, writers or other talent after they reach a certain age. In a lawsuit filed Monday, an assistant director who worked on ‘The Big Bang’ is joining in the fight against Hollywood’s ageism.
Christopher Klausen filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Warner Bros. Television, which produces the CBS sitcom. He argues the studio and the crew reduced his work on the series overall several seasons and ultimately firing him after the eighth.
According to reports, Klausen firmly believes that everything went to hell as soon as he had his 50th birthday. And Klausen should know. Working in several hit shows including ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bell Air,’ Klausen was somehow involved in the filmmaking process. He started working on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ as a second assistant director on the pilot, which aired in 2007.
It wasn’t just the crew, says Klausen. “Mr. Klausen noticed that the stars of the show, which are all considerably younger, began to ostracise [sic.] him after he turned fifty (50) years old,” states the complaint.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
He claims when he asked producer Faye Oshima Belyeu why his duties were assigned to others, she told him they “related to the actors better.” States his complaint, “The only reason that Ms. Lorre and Mr. Brennan ‘relate[d] to the actors better’ are because they are younger than Mr. Klausen.”
Klausen says with the seventh season, he went from second assistant director to the uncredited position of second second assistant director, and his duties were reduced to blocking the actors. Also during the production of the seventh season, Klausen several times was asked to stand in for the first assistant director, which he says demonstrates his alleged lessening of responsibilities was not caused by poor performance on his part.
The Big Bang Theory started off slowly in the ratings. The Big Bang Theory failed to make the top 50 in its first season (ranking 68th), and ranking 44th in its second season.
When the third season premiered on September 21, 2009, however, The Big Bang Theory ranked as CBS’s highest-rated show of that evening in the adults 18–49 demographic (4.6/10) along with a then-series-high 12.83 million viewers.
