For the last three years I have bestowed my own version of the Emmy Awards – something I call the CARE-Y Awards™ that acknowledges the TV programming that showcases caregivers and caregiving situations. I also have bestowed honors on those TV personalities and talent who are real-life (as opposed to reel-life) caregivers.
Here are my top picks for 2011 Third Annual CARE-Y Awards from the Caregiving Club:
“Reel Life” CARE-Y Awards – Playing a Caregiver on TV
Best Spousal Caregiver: Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) who is the hospital chief of surgery on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy plays the loving husband of wife Adele (played by Loretta Devine) who has early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Best Caregiver of a Parent: Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo) plays the caregiver of a mother (Kate Burton) with Alzheimer’s disease on ABC-TV’s Grey’s Anatomy. Burton also happens to be an Alzheimer’s Association Champion in real life.
Best Long Distance Caregiver – Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) on AMC’s Mad Men cared very deeply for Anna, the woman who really knew him and kept his secrets. While he lived in New York City and Anna was in San Pedro, California, he took care of her bills and when he discovered she had cancer, he kept up the illusion her sister created that everything would be fine so as not to upset her (this is a 1960s era show – when no one talked about cancer.)
Best Circle of Care – The big C on Showtime with its zany cast and great writing is all about the “caregivers” around Cathy (played by Laura Linney) – who is doing most of the caring as she battles stage 4 cancer. The care team is led by her husband Paul (played by Oliver Platt) and includes her son, her brother, her new gay “cancer” friend and her new live-in friend who helps Cathy out mentally and physically.
Best Caregiving Special or Documentary: Taking Care with Joan Lunden is a four-part series produced by RLTV, showcasing the real life stories and experts on the millions of Americans who care for aging loved ones. (I was thrilled to be one of the experts on this program with the wonderful Joan Lunden – see more on her below).
“Real Life” CARE-Y Awards – Caregivers on TV
Best Caregiver Morning Show Host – Meredith Viera of NBC’s Today Show, who became (for me) the poster heroine for how to balance self-care and caring for a loved one. Although her husband, who has multiple sclerosis and had battled colon cancer in the past, does not yet require a lot of care – Meredith discussed openly how she wanted to share these years with her husband before his health declines. Special mention also goes to her fellow morning host Matt Lauer, who cared for his father and talked eloquently about hospice care in his father’s final months and days, and to fellow host Natalie Morales who is an Alzheimer’s Association Champion.
Best Caregiver Talk Show Host – Holly Robinson Peete, who is one of the hosts of The Talk and who has a son living with autism. While 44 million Americans care for a loved one over age 50, there are almost 12 million Americans caring for a child under age 18 who is suffering from a chronic illness or physical disability.
Best Caregiver Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Peter Gallagher, who plays Arthur Campbell, head of the CIA on Covert Affairs on USA Network. Peter was a caregiver for his mother who suffered with Alzheimer’s disease for 20 years. Peter is an Alzheimer’s Association Champion – a disease which impacts more than 5 million Americans today. In fact, every 69 seconds someone develops the disease.
Best Caregiver Actress in a TV Movie – Tracy Pollan, who played Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway who disappeared in Aruba, in Justice for Natalee on Lifetime TV. Tracy is the wife of actor and advocate Michael J. Fox who has been living with Parkinson’s disease for 20 years. While Michael’s medication and surgeries have kept him mostly independent, Tracy is still a wonderful caregiver for her husband and example of the “Sandwich Generation” as she also has cared for four children since his diagnosis.
Best Caregiver Supporting Actor in a Comedy – Rob Lowe who plays Chris on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, is a big advocate for breast cancer early detection and research. This disease has taken its toll on the women in Lowe’s family – his great-grandmother, grandmother and mom (who passed away in 2003) suffered with breast cancer.
Best Caregiver Home Shopping Show Star – the aforementioned and wonderful Joan Lunden is the epitome of the Sandwich Generation caregiver – she has two (yes – two!) sets of young twins and cares long-distance for her 91-year old mother who suffers from dementia. Joan recently launched her Joan Lunden Home on QVC.
Best Young Caregiver Lead Actor in a Comedy – Ashton Kutcher, the king of Twitter and highly anticipated new addition to CBS’s Two and a Half Men, was a young caregiver. His twin brother, Michael, who was born with cerebral palsy underwent a heart transplant at age 13. He said “Ashton never left my side when I was in the hospital.” Today, there are more than one million children under age 18 who care for ailing parents or grandparents.
Best Caregiver Supporting Actress in a Comedy – another Two and a Half Men guest star, Jenny McCarthy is the loving caregiver to her autistic son, Evan, and has also been a passionate advocate for education around autism in children.
Best Caregiver Actress in a Comedy – The beautiful Sofia Vergara who stars on ABC’s Modern Family, cared for her boyfriend who was in a terrible auto accident breaking his leg and fracturing his pelvis. When he was released from the hospital, he faced months of rehabilitation and credits Sofia for his care and recovery.
Best Caregiver Lead Actress in a Dramedy – Marcia Cross who plays the uptight Bree on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, is caregiver to her husband, Tom, who is battling throat cancer (same disease that Michael Douglas beat earlier this year). Marcia is no stranger to caregiving, she cared for her long-time partner, Richard Jordan, before he passed away in 1993 from a brain tumor.
Best Caregiver Evening News Anchor – Although she recently left this historic job as the first female news anchor for a nightly news show, Katie Couric, former anchor of CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, cared for her husband who died of colon cancer. Her sister also passed away from pancreatic cancer. Couric has been a tireless advocate for colon cancer screenings and education.
Best Caregiver in a Top-Rated Drama – Marg Helgenberger of the original CSI(CBS) cares for her father who has multiple sclerosis.
My special thanks to the writers, directors and producers who help shed more light on caregiving in their programming. And, special thanks to those real-life caregivers who help the 65 million caregivers across the country know they are not alone when these high-profile celebrities talk of their own caregiving experiences.
If you have a nomination for a reel or real life caregiver, send me your suggestions at info@caregivingclub.com. See below for the 2010 and 2009 CARE-Y Award winners.
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks