This man of a certain age likes to watch TNT's Men of a Certain Age, which wrapped its tenth and final episode of its rookie season Monday night. Men was created by and stars Ray Romano, who made his fame and fortune (he became the highest paid actor in TV history in 2004) with Everybody Loves Raymond. I was always a fan of the comedic Romano. I became intrigued when I watched his interview with Oprah last November promoting Men. Maybe it was just me, but I sensed an uncomfortableness on Romano's part as the interview seemed to steer in the direction of his comedy, rather than the dramatic role he envisioned for Men.
Men of a Certain Age centers around the lives of three middle-aged friends: Joe, Owen and Terry. Joe, played by Romano, is a divorced man, with two teenage children, a party-store business, and a gambling addiction. Owen, played by Andre Braugher, is the married family man struggling to make ends meet by working as a salesman at his father's car dealership. Terry, played by Scott Bakula, is the single, never-quite-made-it actor, who often looks for love in all the wrong places.
If you're looking for escapism television, don't come to Men. It defies easy pigeon-holing. Most would call it drama, but it's not really drama like you typically find in today's television choices. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes:
What makes "Men of a Certain Age" so surprising is that it steadfastly refuses to bend to the cliches of the premise. There are more melancholy and plaintive moments than humor - acerbic or otherwise. When you think it will leaven or undercut the tough emotions and veer somewhere safe or familiar, it doesn't. The series has more of an interior, existential aspect than anyone had a right to expect, and one that TNT doesn't usually dabble in.
The episodes are not wrapped up each week with a nice, happy ribbon. The good guy is not always good. The bad guy doesn't always do the wrong thing. There is enough raw humanity (and I really do mean raw at times... it has the MA rating for a reason) here to make watching it sometimes difficult to do. Sometimes I have found myself in great angst wondering why I'm doing this to myself, while wondering why Joe, Owen, or Terry are about to do something not so good to themselves.
For example, in the season finale, Romano's Joe bets $25,000 - an insane amount of money for Joe, an amount that would wipe him out if he lost - on a professional sports game. It's been well established that Joe has a gambling problem. He has lost his former wife because of the gambling. It has been suggested that Joe's teenage son struggles with anxiety attacks because of Joe's gambling. Yet, when faced with the possibility of getting the down payment on a house, which will enable him to share custody of his children, Joe truly risks everything on a sports bet.
Joe's gamble made me so angry, I couldn't sit still in my chair. I had to get up and move around. It pained me to see someone make such a foolish decision. Typical of Men of a Certain Age, even though Joe won the bet and got the house, he once again lost his current girlfriend and further estranged the relationship with his former wife. The decisions made by Joe, for better or for worse, continue to haunt him.
The acting by Andre Braucher is especially worth watching. He finds himself in the role of many middle-aged men, doing a job that he'd rather not do, but sacrificing his druthers to take care of his family. The scenes he plays opposite his father are moving. Less impressive is Scott Bakula, who for most of the season played the easy-go-lucky playboy. However, the writing and the acting surrounding Bakula's character also rose several notches in the final episode as Terry, the out-of-work actor, found himself knee deep in raw sewage. The moment was so much more than just metaphor!
If you're looking for a television show that allows you to escape the reality of being a man or woman of a certain age, then TNT's Men may not be right for you. But if you like something that will occasionally reach out and remind you of just how flawed we humans can be - and yet just how much there is still to love - then you might want to tune in. While the first season is now officially in the can, TNT has decided to give Joe and company another chance for season two. We'll have to wait until next year to see if Joe's girlfriend will do the same.
