Forever Young, a much-awaited new reality series from Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, premieres tonight on TV Land. The show takes The Real World equation of "strangers living together in a house" and adds one major element: The five young spring break-esque cast mates are sharing the house with five people who are all over the age of 70. The two groups are forced to live under the same roof and presumably teach each other about their respective generations while chaos and hilarity ensue.
One housemate that was especially concerned with the group pairing was 25-year-old Christian Taboada. "I definitely was terrified that I would experience some nasty homophobia," says Taboada, who admits he was pleasantly surprised. "They wanted to get to know me, not judge me based on preconceived notions."
Taboada, like many of the other housemates, spent the weeks during filming growing close to the older cast members and relating to them more than he thought he would. "There is a huge misconception in regards to the older generation and their connection to us. They have lived a life and are now being told where to go, how to go, when to go, who to go there with -- by their children. Those same children have constantly bossed us around. We are equally as annoyed by our parents as they are with their children, the same people and generation!"
He says living with people of his grandparents' generation helped him expand his views. "The older generation has this attitude of can do. Accept someone for what they can bring to the table, not which dish they take from. Very similar to our mentality when it comes to outsiders. Living with these people let me believe and fall in love with the fact that xenophobia can be deleted. We need not fear or hate on the foreigners, the people that stand out, we need to listen and learn from them to grow as a community. Think X-Men, think Xavier, now add a cane and you'll be right there with me."
Forever Young premieres tonight at 10 on TV Land.
