EMerly characters were numerous and rated positively on attributes of leadership, independence, and family functionality on imported TV programs shown in Israel.Hundreds of non-Western television stations broadcast the same programs imported from the U.S. and Europe (4). The characters portrayed on them, moreover, are drawn from one culture but may contribute to how people in other cultures perceive both Westerners and themselves. The process by which foreign media products are selected for importation has not received the attention it warrants, however. The selection of certain foreign programs and the exclusion of others may affect both the quantity and quality of the imagery viewed by the importing culture. We sought to analyze one particular type of imagethat of the elderly-presented on television programs imported to Israel.Portrayal of the elderly in U.S. media has been studied in magazine fiction (5), children's literature (13), jokes (8), television commercials (2), and television drama (1, 6,9, 14). Most studies have found the existence of a "cult of youth" or "cult of competence" accompanied by negative images of aged characters; other studies, however (9, 13), have found more positive images.To provide comparative data on the imported programming, we conducted an analysis of 562 television characters in all of the 46 dramatic programs broadcast for a total of 56 hours over single-channel Israel Television during seven weeks in April and May of 1977. Thirty-seven programs were imported from the United States, seven from England, and two from France. According to the Israel Broadcasting Authority, 55 to 85 percent of the general audience and 40 to 75 percent of the older audience (age 60 and over) watched these programs.