Last week, I obsessed over representations of women – and female friendships in particular – on TV. I heard from a couple of readers offering their consensus with what I wrote. But no one had any suggestions of current depictions of healthy female friendships on the small screen. I'm still hopeful, still looking, and still open to suggestions, strangely enough because of a new series I screened starring Ray Romano.
Yes, that Ray Romano, the star and producer of Everybody Loves Raymond. It's in syndication now but ran in prime time for nine years on CBS, despite the fact that Romano's Ray Barone was by far one of the most annoying TV husbands on the small screen. His nasally whine alone was enough to make me wonder why his wife (played by Patricia Heaton) didn't smother him in his sleep. However, Romano is pleasantly surprising in the new TNT series Men of a Certain Age. The nasally whine is still there, the Seventies-era haircut, the slumped shoulders, but strangely enough, in this new series, all those attributes combine for the opposite effect. Romano is actually endearing.
Romano plays Joe, a recently separated father of two who owns a party supply store. Joe is closely flanked by his buddies Terry (Scott Bakula) and Owen (the always amazing Andre Braugher). Friends since college, the men have reached middle age with that realization that life did not turn out as they expected. Joe had wanted to be a pro golfer. He still struggles with online gambling (which broke his marriage apart), thinking the next time he places a bet, win or lose, is the last time. Terry is an actor still going to cattle-call auditions, just beginning to wonder if he'll ever get his big break. Owen is the family man with two precocious boys, a loving wife, and a brand-new baby at home. He works for his family's car dealership, where his imperious father is constantly leaning on him. Overweight, diabetic, and underperforming in sales, Owen is desperate to get out from under his father's harsh glare.
Bakula and Braugher are clearly the stronger actors in the trio, and Romano is lucky to find himself in their company. While they each have their moments, it's when they share screen time that the real beauty of the series begins to reveal itself. Here is a series with real guys, doing their guy things with just enough talk to spur things forward, yet with all those familiar silences that speak louder than words. Since his separation from his wife, Joe has been living in a hotel, putting off finding an apartment. When his wife appears indifferent to the idea of him seeing other women, Joe's response is to punch an Incredible Hulk blow-up doll (the favorite toy of Owen's sons) till it deflates. Owen and Terry watch him sullenly but know this is what he needs to do. But it's Braugher who, as always, shines through. Trying to pull himself out of bed every morning, sitting in his tighty-whities, his ample belly and man-breasts in full view, would be considered shocking were it not done so plainly. Would you ever see a full-figured woman displayed so honestly and without hostile commentary? It's doubtful.
Unlike previous series that tried to bring together guy pals, Men of a Certain Age is not trying to be a male version of Sex and in the City. Their lives are not glamorous; their jobs are not high-powered. The show depicts everyday guys but without resorting to sleeveless plaid shirts and baseball caps, which always seems to be the alternative to the TV man in a suit and tie (or scrubs and a white lab coat). Joe, Terry, and Owen are friends who know one another better than they know themselves. They don't always agree, but they always have the others' backs. How and why they come out for each other, week after week, seems like something well worth watching.
Men of a Certain Age premieres Monday, Dec. 7, at 9pm on TNT.
Note: Last week I wrote that Carrie Prejean was Miss California and a Miss America runner-up. TV Eye reader Jon Delfin wrote in to correct me. "That's Miss California USA and Miss USA runner-up." Thanks for the catch, Jon.
As always, stay tuned.
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