Previewing Men of a Certain Age

A warning to men younger than a certain age, watching Men of a Certain Age can feel like getting a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future. The three lead characters pushing fifty act as worst case scenarios for those of us in the twenty or thirties. There is Ray Romano (Ice Age), recently separated, living in a hotel and has resigned to a life of gambling additions. Andre Braugher (The Mist) manages to have a loving marriage, but that barely makes up for his expanding gut, receding hairline, and the lack of respect that comes along with working at his dad’s dealership. Scott Backula (Quantum Leap) is the playboy of the bunch that has to come to terms with his dream of being a successful actor just isn’t going to happen.

The three college buddies routinely get together to hike, eat and talk about things I fear will happen to me, the copious amounts of creams and pills that need to be taken, working in a dead end job, the prospects of dating in your fifties (granted Ray’s first date is the best episode of the early batch), basically everything I do not want to happen to me, these guys are going through, and it is extremely depressing to watch.

Oddly enough, the most entertaining characters on Men of a Certain Age are the background characters, not the three man one. Another of the better episodes include when Ray spends the night hanging out with his bookie that is always good for some comic relief throughout the early episode. Same goes for his employees at his party supply store and the token white guy who works with Braugher. But they are still not enough of a distraction for men of a younger age who fear of turning into Men of a Certain Age.

Men of a Certain Age airs Mondays at 10:00 on TNT and is preceded by new episodes of The Closer at 9:00.