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Hulu’s gay new series tackles loneliness among queer elders
April 03 2025, 08:15

LGBTQ+ older adults are twice as likely to live alone than their straight peers, according to elder advocacy group SAGE, and they’re three to four times less likely than other Americans to have kids.

That’s the scenario the creators of Will & Grace are addressing in their new show Mid-Century Modern on Hulu, which Max Mutchnick and David Kohan produced along with American Horror Story’s Ryan Murphy.

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Think The Golden Girls with boys, swapping Miami for gay oasis Palm Springs.

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TikTok’s “Old Gays” would feel right at home.

“I think he’s a lonely guy,” said Nathan Lane of his character, wealthy businessman Bunny Schneiderman, who hops on the idea of creating a chosen family with co-stars Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham.

“Getting together with these two friends is very meaningful,” Lane told Yahoo! Entertainment. “He very quickly makes this suggestion that they all live together … without thinking about the consequences.”  

The 10-episode comedy, which bowed last week on the streamer, takes aim at a loneliness disparity that finds LGBTQ+ people in midlife and older more likely to feel isolated than other Americans, 49% to 35%. The population of LGBTQ+ Americans 50 and older is on track to reach about 7 million by 2030.

Bomer, 47, falls into the “midlife” demo with his character Jerry Frank, a former Mormon navigating a midlife crisis — or renaissance, depending on how you look at it. He said joy was the foundation of his Mid-Century Modern family.

“We wanted to bring joy to the world, and celebrate queer joy and laughter and good times,” Bomer shared. “That’s what we wanted to offer.”

Graham, who plays refined older roommate Arthur Broussard, said, “I cannot wait for people to see how brilliant these gentlemen are.”

Like Bea Arthur’s Dorothy on The Golden Girls, Bunny brings his mom into the mix, played by a garrulous Linda Lavin. Eight episodes into filming, Lavin, 87, died.

“In some strange way, with the tragedy of losing Linda, it only reinforces how important this chosen family is,” Lane told Vanity Fair.

“The themes of getting older with this character — he wears his heart on his sleeve. As he talks about, he hasn’t had some great romance in his life. He’s lonely,” Lane said of Bunny. “It’s very moving that this is his chosen family.”

One update Mid-Century Modern doesn’t share with its all-girl predecessor: the apps.

“I mean, they always seem to be on Grindr,” Lane said, laughing. “I said, ‘Hell, these people are having much more sex than I’ve had.’ They’re out there living their lives in Palm Springs.”

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