Elders star in 'reality' TV show

But the four Wayland senior citizens sitting in front of a blue backdrop and behind a sprawling green houseplant -- so at ease you wouldn't know multiple cameras were trained on them -- are definitely ready for prime time. In fact, that's where they've been for a couple of months now, on Wednesday nights at 7 on Channel 9.

That's Channel 9 in Wayland, the local cable-access station, which since late September has been the flagship network for "Healthy Eating & Weight Management," an hourlong show hosted by Jane Polley, a registered dietitian at the Longfellow Club in Wayland.

The brainchild of Kris Kiesel, codirector of the Wayland Council on Aging, the show, whose final episode airs Wednesday night, chronicles the ongoing struggles and successes of four Wayland seniors as they try to follow Polley's nutrition strategy. While there are no roving cameras in kitchens -- the show is chiefly a panel discussion shot in studio -- the local broadcast is loosely modeled after the hot television genre of "reality TV."

"I think that's the way we conceived of it -- it's `reality TV,' but it's not sensational reality trash," Kiesel said.

And while being on television has taken some getting used to, the four participants seemed spontaneous and natural during a taping earlier this month, betraying no sign that they were even aware of the camera.

"I watched it last night and we don't look like four lost sheep anymore," said 82-year-old Maurice Rockett before a recent taping session.

Polley runs the show without a script or even notes, segueing from one nutrition topic to another. Her nutrition plan, which emphasizes a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in sensible proportions, assumes that people will stray from healthful foods, and her philosophy includes such forgiving sentiments as: "My progress is measured by how quickly I rebound from my setbacks and not how quickly they occur."

The show aims to help viewers stay healthy and trim.

During the show, Polley compares her tips on healthy eating with how well the participants actually followed them the previous week. During the ninth episode, which aired last Wednesday, Polley asks one of the four participants, Mary Chapin, how she deals with excess candy from Halloween.

"I put it near where my husband watches TV, and if he wants to eat it that's his problem," said Chapin, 62.

True to life, not all find joy in eating healthfully. In an off-camera interview, Maurice Rockett's wife, Grace Rockett, 78, said that during family gatherings one of her three sons routinely asks, "All right, what kind of pretend-food are we eating today?"

"They don't appreciate our efforts to live long," she said.

The Rocketts signed up not to lose weight but to learn more about nutrition. They said they hope that the show might have an influence on the eating habits of others.

"You go to the grocery store and see what's in the market basket; half of it is junk food," Grace Rockett said. "You can see that people really are not watching what they eat, when you see all these overweight people."

Maurice Rockett noted that while many people talk about making changes in their lives, seeing others actually doing it might have a stronger effect.

Yet while the participants hope that other people get something out of their show, they aren't convinced that they have many viewers. Ratings for local cable-access stations are notoriously hard to ascertain, and Kiesel noted that "Healthy Eating & Weight Management" has encountered some stiff competition, notably Red Sox playoff games.

Grace Rockett recalled two women telling her that they'd seen the program during the two months or so it has been on -- a neighbor and a woman from church.

Participant Fran Reynolds, 74, admitted that even she has watched the show only once, and only a portion of that one, with her husband.

"He was patient during the first half-hour, but he got a little impatient toward the end, so we tuned in something else. I don't know, the ubiquitous `Law & Order' probably," Reynolds said.

As the show winds down, participants are looking forward to getting back their Thursday afternoons, when the show is taped.

When taping concluded for episode 9 earlier this month, the producer of the show, Arnold Kahn, went into the studio to congratulate everyone.

"We were going to have a wrap-up party next week," Kahn said, "but after listening to you talk, we don't know what to serve."