"Men of a Certain Age" Review: Sorry I Didn't Tell You Sooner

I try really hard to do right by you, my loyal readers. But I’m afraid I do occasionally do you a disservice…

And today is one of those times as I got busy and completely forgot to watch the screener of tonight’s premiere of “Men of a Certain Age.” And that’s a big shame because with a show like this you deserve much more notice than an hour…

I only hope you all will accept my apology…

“Age” stars Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher as three men in their late 40s. Romano is Joe, the recently separated owner of a party supply store. Bakula is Terry, a single actor and ladies man and Braugher is Owen, the stressed out father of three who has to put up with his critical father in order to support his family.

In the opener, Joe tries to deal with being separated while trying to shake his gambling problem that probably ruined his marriage to begin with. Terry toughs it out in a temp job in order to avoid “cattle call” auditions. And Owen struggles to please his father so he’ll eventually be able to take over his car dealership.

Although the show was co-created by Romano it is not a comedy. But it does serve up plenty of humor along with the drama of Joe fighting his gambling problem or Owen fighting his health issues. Though you might think Braugher and Romano are out of their elements, they both are very strong in their roles. And Terry is a part Bakula was born to play.

I will warn you that there is some cursing in the pilot. But it’s not meant to shock. It honestly just adds to the realism of middle-aged guys talking to each other.

And that is probably this show’s strongest quality. It’s real and that’s refreshing…

“Men of a Certain Age” premieres tonight (Monday) at 10 on TNT…

Photo Credit: Danny Feld/TNT