Not every TV show features older characters that a specific audience can relate to, but there are many cases in which these characters prove age doesn’t matter, and they do it in different ways. While the main purpose of TV shows is to entertain, not all of them feature relatable characters for viewers of all ages, often forgetting either children or elderly people. In the case of the latter, TV shows more often than not fall into the cliché of mentally unstable or always grumpy characters, but there are many others that have featured some truly cool older characters that don’t care about age.

Although they don’t happen often, there have been a couple of TV shows in which their main focus is elderly characters, while in most TV shows they are often recurring characters. Elderly characters don’t need to be grumpy and boring, and many TV shows have proven that these characters can have interesting stories, character development, and even go on fun adventures either by themselves, with friends, or with their families, proving that anyone can be cool at any age. Here are 10 examples of cool elderly TV characters that show age is just a number.

10Elroy – Community

Community is a sitcom created by Dan Harmon and set at a community college in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. Community follows the many students who attend this college, and among them is Elroy Patashnik (Keith David). Elroy is a failed inventor and software programmer who developed a virtual reality company and lives in an RV. Elroy enrolls at Greendale in Community season 6 to reinvent his life as he was tired of living off of his past accomplishments. Although it takes him some time, Elroy eventually bonds with his classmates and truly manages to reinvent his life, proving that age is no obstacle to making new connections, friends, having fun, and starting a new chapter in your life.

9Malory – Archer

Archer is an adult animated sitcom created by Adam Reed. Archer follows the adventures of eight dysfunctional secret agents and supporting staff of the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a fictional intelligence agency based in New York. Malory (voiced by Jessica Walter) is a retired agent and ISIS director, as well as the mother of the series’ protagonist, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin). Although Malory is far from perfect, as she’s manipulative, cold, greedy, racist, and more, she breaks the stereotype of the weak, elderly character who depends on others. Malory is independent, self-sufficient, strong, and mentally capable, and she also breaks another stereotype by being incredibly sex-driven, so much so that she was involved in various sex tape scandals.

8Elka Ostrovosky – Hot In Cleveland

Hot in Cleveland is a sitcom created by Suzanne Martin, and it centers on three aging industry veterans from Los Angeles – Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli), Joy (Jane Leeves), and Victoria (Wendie Malick) – who find a much more welcoming community in Cleveland, Ohio, after their Paris-bound plane makes an emergency landing there. They decide to stay and lease a home where caretaker Elka Ostrovosky (Betty White) lives in the guest house. Elka is a widow in her late 80s, but that doesn’t stop her from living a fascinating life. Elka goes back into the dating game after Melanie, Joy, and Victoria move in, she attracts men better than Joy does, is elected to a Cleveland City Council seat, gets married, and is even arrested as her death husband actually faked his death as he was linked to the mob.

7Grammy – Drake & Josh

Drake & Josh is a teen sitcom that aired on Nickelodeon for four seasons. Drake & Josh followed two teenage stepbrothers – Drake Parker (Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (Josh Peck) – as they adapt to living together despite their opposite personalities. In season 1, the audience meets Grammy Nichols (Randee Heller), Josh’s grandmother, when she arrives to look after Drake and Josh after their parents (and Megan, Drake’s sister) leave town for the weekend. Grammy has a strong personality that clashes with Drake’s, and she’s also quite youthful. Grammy is also a great basketball player, defeating Drake at the end of the episode. Grammy is all about having fun with her grandchildren, even if she has to give tough love to some of them.

6Lydia – One Day At a Time

One Day At a Time is a sitcom based on the 1975 TV series of the same name. This version follows a Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles and focuses on Penélope (Justina Machado), a single mother and Army veteran dealing with PTSD, her kids Elena and Alex, and her mother, Lydia (Rita Moreno). Lydia not only brings a big part of the heart and humor in One Day At a Time, but she’s also a great example of an elderly character not being limited by age. Lydia is a dance teacher, does yoga, is open-minded even though she’s very religious, and is very sensual, the latter being thanks to Rita Moreno who asked for the character to be sexual (via USA Today).

5Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie is a comedy TV series created by Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris. It follows Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin), whose lives take a turn when their husbands, Robert and Sol, reveal they are in love with each other and leaving their wives. Although Grace and Frankie didn’t like each other, they are forced to live together and they develop a strong and heartwarming friendship. Grace and Frankie show two different ways in which elderly characters can be cool and not defined by age.

Grace is determined, strong, business-savvy, quick-witted, and sassy, but thanks to Frankie’s influence, she learned to be more caring and understanding. Frankie, on the other hand, is an artist who “rides her own wave”, is spiritual and creative, but often finds herself in situations that require Grace to help her. Their best adventure together is, arguably, starting a business selling sex toys for older women. Grace and Frankie shows that age is not an obstacle to making new friends, and connections, finding love again, and growing as a person.

4Suga Mama – The Proud Family

The Proud Family is an animated TV series created by Bruce W. Smith. It follows Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Pratt), a 14-year-old girl as she tries to gain her independence while facing all the ups and downs that come with being a teenager. Luckily, Penny has the unconditional support of her family, among them her grandmother, Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton). Suga Mama loves wrestling, is nice and sweet but also very sassy and straightforward, she’s hip, and practices Tae Bo. Suga Mama is in love with her neighbor, Papi Boulevardez, who often makes rude remarks about her in Spanish that she thinks are compliments. Suga Mama also has her own fashion sense, wearing afro puffs and pink dresses, and considers herself to be in her youthful prime.

3Yetta – The Nanny

The Nanny is a sitcom created by Peter Marc Jacobson and Fran Drescher. It follows Fran Fine (Drescher), who after being dumped by her boyfriend and fired from his bridal shop, starts selling cosmetics from door to door until she’s hired by Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) as the new nanny for his three children. The Sheffields, along with the audience, end up meeting Fran’s family, among them Fran’s grandmother, Yetta (Ann Morgan Guilbert). Although Yetta is forgetful due to senility, that doesn’t stop her from living her life. Yetta is a widow, but she falls in love with Sammy (Ray Charles) and marries him, but before that, she has a couple of affairs with other men from the retirement home. Yetta has limited mobility, but that doesn’t stop her from going everywhere and even dancing on stage when no one is watching.

2The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls is a sitcom created by Susan Harris. It centers on four older single women – Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Rose Nylund (Betty White), Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) – sharing a house in Miami. The Golden Girls follows its four characters through many ups and downs, some more serious than others, such as their financial struggles in a system that tends to forget about elderly people. The Golden Girls is a beautiful example of friendships at an older age, as well as romantic and sexual relationships and fears about aging.

1Gertie “Pookie” – Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold! is an animated TV show created by Craig Bartlett. Hey Arnold! follows the daily adventures of the title character, a young boy who lives with his grandparents, Phil and Gerie “Pookie”, in an inner-city tenement owned by them. Pookie is a grandmother unlike any other, as she’s a black belt, a former police officer, and is always very active and ready to help Arnold and Phil, such as when she rushed to the subway station to repair the train where Arnold and his friends were trapped. As the series progressed, Pookie was portrayed as more senile, but she was still very active, loving, and was always dressing up as different historical characters.