My 90-Year-Old Roommate and the humour in Elder Tech

My 90-Year-Old Roommate is a buddy comedy featuring an unlikely pair — Joe, a 90 year old widower, and his aimless 31-year-old grandson Ethan — as they navigate their new dynamic of living under the same roof. Throughout the series, the theme of technology is ever present, as Ethan introduces Joe and his friends to a new world of convenience and online accessibility.

The late Aron Tager played Harry, one of Joe's friends, who embraces new VR technology in one of his several standout moments in the series. Tager's role in the second season was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award this year in the category of Best Supporting Performance, Web Program or Series.

•  Watch the Canadian Screen Awards Gala Honouring Digital Storytelling this Thursday, March 28th streaming live on CBC Gem.

To celebrate Tager's nomination, we've rounded up five of our favourite elder tech situations from the series.

Vaping weed — (High Holidays: Season 1, Episode 5)

On Yom Kippur, a traditional day of fasting, Ethan introduces his grandfather Joe and two of Joe's friends to the wonders of vaping.

After getting kicked out of the synagogue for their distracting giggling, the munchies hit. The gang struggle with the desire to eat weighed against a 77 year streak of observing the high holy day through fasting.

Uber — (Drive: Season 1, Episode 9)

In order to settle an argument over who is the better driver, Ethan and Joe agree to become Uber drivers for one week and let the customer's ratings decide the answer.

Although things go well initially, when Joe falls asleep at the wheel and Ethan hooks up with one of his customers both of their ratings plummet.

Funeral livestream— (Live Streaming: Season 2, Episode 1)

In the second season, Ethan and his girlfriend share a livestream of an adorable toddler with Joe, who is completely wowed by the real time technology.

When Ethan explains how easy it is to livestream from a phone, Joe pays him to livestream funerals so he can watch them from home instead of leaving the house. When Ethan shows up to livestream an event that turns out to be a little more sensitive, he questions what his services are actually worth.

Virtual Reality — (Racist Wi-Fi: Season 2, Episode 3)

Virtual Reality headsets let Joe and Harry pretend they're on a tropical beach from the comfort of their own homes. Ethan is charmed by how much fun they're having until discovering Harry's racist WiFi password. After embarrassing Joe in front of his friends, and struggling to find new friend replacements, Ethan buys them all their own VR headsets

Online Medical Sites — (Dr. Joe: Season 2, Episode 4)

When Joe has an alarming medical concern, Ethan shows Joe how easy it is to search your symptoms online. As Joe discovers the world of medical symptom sites he is enthralled with the wealth of information at his fingertips and finds out the cause of his concern is either cancer or beet juice.

He decides to open up an unlicensed shop out of his apartment offering medical diagnoses based on typing his friend's symptoms into a medical search engine. His little side hustle starts off strong but after misdiagnosing PTSD and having a "patient" collapsed in front of him, Ethan takes away his internet privileges.

Stream it now on CBC Gem

Both seasons of My 90-Year-Old Roommate are available to stream now on CBC Gem. 

Haven't seen an episode yet? Watch the trailer for My 90-Year-Old-Roommate below.