Top 5 Reasons Men of a Certain Age should’ve NEVER been cancelled.
Back in December 7th 2009 there was a new dramedy that premiered that popular cable network TNT, home of such hits as The Closer, Leverage and eventually The Librarians called Men of a Certain Age starring three legendary television stars: Ray Romano(Everybody Loves Raymond) Andre Braugher(Homicide: Life on The Street, Thief) and Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Enterprise) starred as three middle age friends trying to make their way through the trials and tribulations of family issues, career issues, relationship\sexual issues and just being men over 50. The premise sounds simple but watching the show is like watching all the complex and interesting aspects of real people in real life, almost as if we’re eavesdropping on these three guys and we as an audience fall in love with them and laugh at and with them. The series also had an amazing cast of actors across the board. Outside of the main three you had such talent as Lisa Gay Hamilton, Richard E. Gant, Lil’ JJ, Robert Loggia and Penelope Ann Miller providing amazing support for the three main stars and we are as much invested in their individual stories as we are in Joe(Ray), Owen(Andre) and Terry(Scott).
Unfortunately TNT cancelled the series and the last episode of season 2 aired on July 6th 2011. It won a Peabody award also garnering two Emmy nominations in 2010 and 2011 for Andre Braugher for outstanding supporting actor.
Here are five reasons why the series should’ve NEVER been cancelled.
5. The chemistry is off the charts between the three main stars.
This is even a couple years after the show was over and yet the chemistry amongst these three guys was still evident. If you’re gonna do a series called “Men” of a Certain Age then you better make sure you have three stars that all click together and make us believe that they’re best pals and by God this show did that in spades.
4. Great Opening Credits.
The intro is perfect for establishing the nostalgic tone and feel of three middle aged guys who are still youthful at heart. It’s also just really fun to listen to over and over, especially the last hook. Extra points for casting three small children who actually look like they could’ve been Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher.
3. It was a great dramedy.
Men of a Certain Age was a comedy\drama and blended both elements fluidly. With this you got both witty\relatable humor mixed with thoughtful poignancy:
2. It had Andre Braugher, Ray Romano and Scott Bakula on the same show.
‘Nuff said.
- It represented two groups horribly overlooked on television: 1. Men and 2. People over 50.
When MOA premiered there weren’t very many shows starring an ensemble of men and there certainly weren’t any television show starring men over fifty…or even forty for that matter. This show was the first of its kind, a somewhat “Male Golden Girls” as a comparison. This show was charting uncharted territory which was both a great help as well as something that could’ve hindered them completely. It might not seem all that risky for a show to star three middle aged men and literally be all about the fact that they were middle aged but it certainly was then and it still is. I’m certainly not over 50 or even 30 yet but the show was a great glimpse into a unique perspective that I could appreciate even at my age and at the same time was like a mirror for men of that age, like my father who could relate wholeheartedly with the stories of Joe, Owen and Terry directly, and even provided curious women who wonder what their husbands are really thinking and feeling the type of glimpse they’ve been wondering.
For my money TNT made a huge mistake cancelling this incredibly smart, poignant, sharp, touching, thoughtful and hilariously funny television series that had a crazy talented ensemble of actors and a great, fresh premise. I’m begging somebody, anybody to reunite these three guys and give us the pleasure of catching up with Joe, Terry and Owen once again. Netflix? HBO Max? Hulu? Anybody?