I imagine that, when TNT looks at its typical demographics and who it's hoping to target with its programming, I don't fit the profile for watching Men of a Certain Age. One could argue, very easily, that the dramedy, having just finished its second season (the sophomore season was split into two halves, with six episodes each), isn't really a good fit for TNT or really any network. It doesn't fit the common themes expressed by the more popular TNT shows, or the shows on USA, FX, AMC, Showtime, or HBO. The show doesn't have a high concept--it's about the trials and tribulations of three middle-aged best friends approaching or passing the age of 50--and it's not outrageously salacious or profane.
That doesn't, of course, mean that Men of a Certain Age isn't entertaining, intelligent, funny, and surprisingly moving. The show--created by one of its stars, Ray Romano, and one of the writers from Romano's successful CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Mike Royce--is possibly the most realistic show on TV, now that Friday Night Lights has gone gracefully into the night. While it's never as dark or bleak as that show, it's had its moments in the past season and none come as a shock. Though the writing has always been a strong suit, to the point that when the show ever hits a false note (it's rare, but the finale had one minor character whose appearance was uncharacteristic for the show and unwelcome), I cringe. I know that Men of a Certain Age, easily the most underrated show on TV, is better than these few moments.
One of the reasons why Men of a Certain Age is such a strong show, one of the best of the year, is its three leads. Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher, week after week, knock their material out of the park. The writing is so equally compelling for each performer; there's never been a dull moment or storyline, no matter who's the main player on screen. I could easily have seen this kind of show, with either weaker writing or weaker actors, being two-thirds or one-thirds as satisfying. However, Romano, Bakula, and Braugher bring unique qualities to their characters to make them all contenders, in a perfect world, for Emmys when the nominations are announced this coming Thursday.
Romano plays Joe, a divorced father of two who owns a party store. The two things that have defined him (or that he's let define himself) over the series are his gambling addiction and his passion for playing golf. As the show has progressed, Joe's managed to mostly curb his addiction, though his closer-than-he'd-like relationship with his bookie, Manfro, has gotten him in a lot of trouble. One of the final moments of this past half-season, a truly chilling scene in a show that usually has none, was when Manfro confronted Joe, who had been pretending to take bets for his bookie while just vicariously gambling through these unknowing bettors. Joe's friendship with Manfro has always been tenuous; the latter has wanted to be friends, while Joe wants nothing of the sort so he can make a clean break from his addiction. Their face-off was both unexpected and exactly what should have happened. It'd be unrealistic to assume the season would've ended without us getting something final from this skewered relationship, but the way that it panned out (with Manfro destroying one of Joe's teeth, mixing his fury with a bit of concern) was true in its disquieting nature. Joe's love for golf has kept him afloat in the last few episodes, as he barely makes it through to the PGA senior tour. His talent is there, but his determination has faltered in the past. I only hope that, should the show return for a third season, Joe will get more opportunities to excel in the sport.
Scott Bakula plays Terry, a man who seems only passionate to a point, unable to focus on one thing, on one area of his life. As soon as he finds one tangible commitment, he moves onto something else, while trying to make it sound like he's not dropping out of his prior job or romance. He's now entangled with Erin, a schoolteacher who initially saw her time with Terry as some sort of fling. Whatever the case, Terry is firmly with Erin; it was with her that he first felt heartache, clearly. When it comes to his job, though, he's chosen to switch professions at exactly the wrong time. He began this half-season as arguably the best salesman at Thoreau Chevrolet, currently run by his and Joe's other best friend, Owen. By the end of the finale, Terry has decided to give up selling cars to become a commercial director based on his daylong experience as something of the helmer of an uber-cheesy Thoreau Chevrolet ad that is as obnoxious, memorable and likely ubiquitous as a real TV commercial for a local car salesman. Though Erin agrees to give him a year at this new job, she's clearly concerned that as she's moving in with Terry, she's thrown her lot in with someone who's bound to disappoint her.
As mentioned above, Terry's just left a job as a car salesman at Thoreau Chevrolet, run by Owen Thoreau, played by Braugher in a role originally written for Treme star Wendell Pierce. While one can easily see how Pierce would have fit into the role of the passive son of a former pro basketball player who doesn't seem to have the strong will to run a car dealership, Braugher has been his typically excellent self through the series' two seasons. Braugher's frequent head-to-heads with Richard Gant, who plays his father, are emotionally charged and always believable. Their relationship seems to have come to a boiling point in the last minutes of the finale, as Owen's dad sells the dealership, which he'd long ago put into financial ruin, without telling anyone, including his son. When Owen accuses him of doing so and then labels him a "pathetic old man," it's not only true to life but it cuts to the core. Romano, Bakula, and Braugher each have had monumental moments of acting on the series (yes, I'm sure there's at least one skeptic out there who doubts Romano's acting prowess, but believe it, folks).
Getting into a discussion of why no one's watching the damn show (relatively speaking) is fodder for another post entirely. Suffice to say, the ratings for the show aren't nearly as impressive as they are for other TNT series like Falling Skies, Franklin and Bash, or Memphis Beat. That said, one would hope that the executives at TNT have been watching Men of a Certain Age and taking note of its creative growth over the last couple of years. I would also hope that, should the show return, the TNT execs rightly don't split it up into two half-seasons like this past year, with 12 episodes spread out over nearly 9 months. Some shows can tell their stories like that, but they have to be far more serialized, I'd argue. While Men of a Certain Age certainly isn't a series chock full of standalone episodes, its storytelling isn't as feverishly serialized as some other cable dramas. In many ways, Men of a Certain Age is on its own island, probably unable to be compatible with most other series. I only hope that TNT realizes what a diamond in the rough this show is and how foolish it would be to let it go to waste.
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