''Men of a Certain Age'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series created by

Ray Romano Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Ray Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', for which he received an Emmy Award, and as t ...

and Mike Royce, that ran on TNT from December 7, 2009, to July 6, 2011. The hour-long program stars Romano,

Andre Braugher Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...

, and

Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in two science-fiction television series: as Sam Beckett on '' Quantum Leap'' and as Captain Jonathan Archer on '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. For ''Quantu ...

as three best friends in their late forties dealing with the realities of being

middle age In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

d. It won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 2010. On July 15, 2011, TNT cancelled the series after two seasons spanning 22 episodes.

Plot

The series follows the adventures of Joe, Owen, and Terry, three men in their late 40s who have been friends since college. Joe (

) is a timid, separated (later divorced) father of two ( Brittany Curran as Lucy, and Braeden Lemasters as Albert) who had dreamed of becoming a pro golfer but now owns a party supply store, and has a

gambling addiction Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...

. Owen (

) is an anxiety-stricken,

diabetic Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

husband and father, who works at a job he hates, selling cars at a dealership owned and managed by his father, former NBA player Owen Thoreau, Sr. ( Richard Gant). Terry (

) is an apartment building manager and semi-retired actor desperate to relive his past glory. He has never married, and usually dates much younger women. In the second season, Owen's father has retired and left Owen in charge of the dealership, where Owen hires Terry as a salesman. Joe, now officially

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

d, turns 50 and attempts to qualify for the PGA Senior Tour.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Joe Tranelli, the protagonist. An aspiring golfer who never reached the professional level, Joe now owns a party store. He is separated from his wife and has two children. *

as Terry Elliot, an apartment building manager and former actor struggling to relive his glory days. He has never married. *

as Owen Thoreau, Jr., an anxiety-suffering, diabetic car salesman working for his father. He is married and has three children. *

LisaGay Hamilton LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama ''The Practice'' (1997–2003). ...

as Melissa Thoreau, Owen's wife. * Richard Gant as Owen Thoreau, Sr, Owen's father, the owner of a

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

car dealership and former NBA player. *

Brian J. White Brian Joseph White (born April 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as ''The Family Stone'' (2005), '' The Game Plan'' (2007), '' 12 Rounds'' (2009), '' I Can Do Bad All by Myself'' (2009), '' Good Deeds'' ...

as Marcus, a car salesman who works with Owen. * Melinda McGraw as Erin Riley (season 2 only) *

Lil' JJ James Charles Lewis, III (born October 31, 1990), known professionally as Lil' JJ and Big JJ, is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his role as Jordan on the Nickelodeon television series ''Just Jordan'' and doing Vital Infor ...

as Dashaun (season 1 only, recurring season 2), a party store employee * Kwesi Boakye as Jamie Thoreau * Brittany Curran as Lucy Tranelli * Braeden Lemasters as Albert Tranelli * Isaiah Montgomery as Michael Thoreau

Recurring cast

* Emily Rios as Maria *

Eddie Shin Edward Andrew Yoon Beom Shin (born July 17, 1976) is an American actor. He played Dave Mendoza in the Netflix series '' Alexa & Katie'', and portrays characters named Agent Mike Li in the 2015 first season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) ...

as Carl * Carla Gallo as Annie * Matt Price as Lawrence * Michael Hitchcock as Dave *

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

as Bruce * Patricia de Leon as Joe's Fantasy Woman *

Jon Manfrellotti Jon Manfrellotti (born 1953) is an American actor who has appeared in several sitcoms. He is perhaps best known for his role as Gianni in ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. Career Manfrellotti got his first role in '' Flodder in Amerika!'' in 199 ...

as Manfro, Joe's bookmaker * Penelope Ann Miller as Joe's ex-wife, Sonia Tranelli *

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

as Joe's father, Artie

Development

In March 2008, TNT announced that it had ordered a pilot based on a script written by

and Mike Royce. Both men had previously worked together on ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch an ...

''.

and

were announced in June and July, respectively, to also star in the series with Romano. In January 2009, TNT ordered 10 episodes of ''Men of a Certain Age''. It is Bakula's first series as a regular cast member since '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', Braugher's first regular role since '' Thief'' ended in 2006, and Romano's first series since ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' wrapped in May 2005. ''Men of a Certain Age'' premiered on TNT on December 7, 2009. It was given a TV-MA-L rating because of strong language. On January 14, 2010 TNT renewed the show for a second season, which premiered on December 6, 2010. The second season was aired in two batches of six episodes each. On July 15, 2011, TNT announced that they would not be renewing ''Men of a Certain Age'' for a third season.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2009–10)

Season 2 (2010–11)

Critical reception

The cast and crew of Men of a Certain Age at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

Season one was met with positive reviews. According to aggregate review site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, it holds an 89% approval rating based on 18 reviews. The sites consensus reads: "Witty, insightful, and poignant, ''Men of a Certain Age'' is a second-act triumph for stars Scott Bakula, Andre Braugher, and Ray Romano." It holds a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

score of 78 out of 100, based on 24 collected reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Season two was met with equally positive reviews. It holds a 100% approval rating on

based on 14 reviews. The sites consensus reads: "Sharply written and deftly acted, ''Men of a Certain Age'' continues to be an observational sitcom of rare insight and depth." It holds a

score of 86 out of 100, based on 15 collected reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."

Home media

Awards and nominations

Broadcasting

International

In Canada, ''Men of a Certain Age'' can be seen on Super Channel. In Latin America, ''Men of a Certain Age'' premiered on July 13, 2010 on the prime time block of Warner Channel.

Streaming

''Men of a Certain Age'' is available to stream for two seasons on WarnerMedia's

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...

, which launched on May 27, 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Men Of A Certain Age 2009 American television series debuts 2000s American comedy-drama television series 2011 American television series endings 2010s American comedy-drama television series English-language television shows Peabody Award-winning television programs TNT (American TV network) original programming Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series about old age Television Academy Honors winners