Fresh Out Of The Oven: Men Of A Certain Age 1×1
by The Dark Defender on Dec.10, 2009, under Television
Scott Bakula, Andre Braugher, and Ray Romano star in a new TNT dramedy about three long-time friends in their late-40s finally hitting their mid-life crisis. Did the premiere sink or swim? Details after the jump.
The great challenge with any new show is to create a premiere that is good enough to have the audience think, “You know, maybe I should stick around for a while.” Most of these shows rarely get it right, but then you have those special, rare few that hit the nail right on the head. Men is one of those few. At times humorous, and, more often than not, depressing, this show seems to capture something real and human from the actors and it pays off very nicely.
The story involves Joe, played by Romano (also the co-creator of the show), who is a recently seperated, gambling-addicted party store owner that used to dream of being a professional golfer with a gentle heart and spirit. He enjoys hiking and going to a diner with his two best friends; Terry, played by Bakula, is a washed-up part-time actor looking to rekindle what little success he did have in his past while taking any temp jobs he can get; and Owen, played by Braugher, a diabetic married father of three that works under his demanding father at a car dealership.
These three friends are just trying to make it in life, but they’ve all been dealt pretty shitty hands. Owen cannot seem to impress his over-powering father no matter what he does, and is instead being shown up by a rival salesman. His father tells him that he will not be the sales manager because he wants to “make a good image for the company.” Damn. He is willing to disown his own son because he doesn’t believe he will live up to people’s perception of the company, which, by the way, contradicts the motto of “keeping it in the family.” Owen knows that because he is “4-mothershit-8″ then the clock is really starting to tick faster for him to make a name of himself.
Terry, on the other hand, has a pretty great life. He can still bag any girl he wants, has others willing to do his work for him, and he’s in great shape for his age. The problem is that because he has all those things in his life, he feels that he can still turn down auditions because he feels they are beneath him. Even though he wants desperately to get back into the spotlight, he’s willing to throw it all away because his ego is larger than his career ever was.
And then there’s Joe. You get the sense that he in no way wanted a seperation from his wife, but it kills him to know that all they are right now are friends. He is staying a cheap motel, with a repetitive wake-up call every morning that he has nearly memorized and tried to guess the temperature before the automated line does. He is looked down upon at his own store, not because he treats his employees badly, but because he is old and they can tell the sadness he feels, and they almost feel sorry for him. He gambles, which is probably one of the big reasons for the seperation, but he truly seems to want to stop. He desperately tries to connect with his kids, but struggles with it tremendously.
However, beneath all the depression and sadness these friends feel, there is some comedy in this show. After Owen has a diabetic seizure, Terry and Joe have to rush him to the hospital. While arguing over a gorgeous girl, they pull out into the road and almost hit a car. The resulting slamming of the brakes launches Owen forward and he hits his nose on the dash, causing it to break. After he wakes up, the exchange between the three of how his nose got broken is pretty awkward, but very funny. As is a scene at the beginning where Romano accidentally hits a possum in the road, and can’t bring himself to just leave it alone. Despite the urging from Terry and Owen to just keep driving, he feels a duty to the animal to actually do something and not leave it. The whole scene, while touching, is humorous, especially after Joe backs over it, and then drives forward over it again to end the suffering, and the damn thing is still alive and walks away.
Clearly, this show is meant for a very specific demographic. The target audience would be people like the three stars: over the hill, mid-life crisis suffering people that don’t really know what to do next. However, as a 19-year-old college student, I found this to be a very easily relatable show because I am also at a time where I am wondering what to do. I think it goes for people of all ages. At some point every year, people stop and asks themselves where they should go now and what sould they do. Everyone’s felt this way, and the show captures it quite nicely.
By the end of the premiere, every one at least tries to make an effort to improve their situations. Terry goes for an audition he has no desire to do, but it would mean work. Owen literally shoves over his competition at work to prove to his dad that he’s not out yet. And Joe makes an attempt to stop gambling, which fails, but he is trying. For right now, that’s ultimately all these guys can do, is try. And I will definitely enjoy watching them try a little harder each week this show is on.
