“Men of a Certain Age” returns with winning combination of superb acting, writing

"MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE" "If I Could I surely Would" /Ep201" TNT Ph: Danny Feld

The two most important qualities of a good TV show are obviously solid writing and genuine acting.

“Men of a Certain Age” aces both of these categories with its story line of three longtime friends navigating the journey of mid-life along with the entirely relatable performances of Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.

As the second season begins, divorced and slightly neurotic Joe Tranelli (Romano) has stopped gambling and is still running a party store, but has decided to work on reviving his dream of becoming a professional golfer.

He is also getting a little more comfortable in the dating scene and is still doing his best to be there for his two children.

Owen Thoreau Jr. (Braugher) is becoming more assertive since his father (Richard Gant) has put him in charge of the family car dealership, though Owen Sr. seems to be having a little trouble completely turning over control of the dealership to his son. This is not surprising since he was domineering to Owen for so long before this.

At home, Owen’s wife Melissa (Lisa Gay Hamilton) is contemplating a return to the work world, which would put a little more stress on Owen in his needing to pitch in and help with the raising of their three young children even further.

Laid-back ladies’ man Terry Elliott (Bakula) is trying out the 9-to-5 routine working for Owen at the car dealership and it’s not starting out in a very successful manner so far, but we’ll have to see if Terry is able get the hang of car salesmanship or if he’ll go back to acting auditions and finding whatever work he can when he can.