Product Description
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Men of a Certain Age: The Complete Second Season
MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE returns for a second season, with all three
men facing a number of roadblocks on their continuing journeys
through midlife. They know they can always rely on their friends
to see them through. Joe (Romano) is a divorced, slightly
neurotic her of two who runs a party store and recently
overcame a gambling problem. He’s now decided to rekindle his
dream of becoming a professional golfer, training for a spot on
the senior tour. Owen (Braugher) the married one of the group, is
finally asserting himself at his family’s car dealership, but is
struggling with being the boss. Terry (Bakula) the relaxed,
handsome actor continues to search for stability after disastrous
attempts at managing an apartment complex and reviving his acting
career.
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It's an overused term, but few words seem more apt than
bittersweet to describe the second and final season of the
critically accled comedy/drama Men of a Certain Age: bitter in
that the show was brought to a close far too soon for fans and
many critics, but also sweet in that the series, created by Ray
Romano and Mike Royce, ended on the same notes of honesty,
poignancy, and sheer creative quality that marked its beginning.
The sopre season of Certain Age also found the show escaping
from the short-edness that painted it as a series about
"guys in midlife crisis" to become a program about the second
chances and minor miracles that were also part of the lives of
its trio of protagonists: party-store owner Joe (Romano) shakes
off the torpor of his divorce to finally pursue his dream of
professional golf, while married man Owen (Andre Braugher) takes
hold of his long-delayed destiny as owner of his her's car
dealership. And while the transition of Terry (Scott Bakula) from
lothario and would-be actor to a man committed to romance and a
realistic future takes the occasional back seat to his friends'
storylines, his struggles never lack for intimacy while also
showcasing some of the show's most cringe-worthy moments as he
attempts to shake off a lifetime of half-steps and fruitless
relationships. In each of their stories, as well as in those of
the people who orbit their lives, from Joe's children (Braeden
Lemasters and Brittany Curran) to Owen's wife (Lisa Gay Hamilton)
and coworkers and Terry's supremely patient girlfriend (Melinda
McGraw), there is not a false note in regard to the operation of
the human heart as how it truly works and not as depicted in
network notes or audience demographic research. The writing in
the second season (by several veterans of Everybody Loves
Raymond, among others) achieves a sort of literary level in its
best moments, a gorgeous opaqueness that reveals such depths of
richness and truth behind the veil of ordinary life. That
high-water mark is met by the direction as well as the
exceptional cast, from Romano, who continues to prove himself a
remarkably subtle dramatic actor, and Braugher and Bakula, down
to supporting players like Hamilton, McGraw, Richard Gant (as
Braugher's prideful her), Alanna Ubach, Sarah Clarke (the
Twilight series), Matt Price, and Brian White. However, the
season is again stolen by Jon Manfrellotti (Mad Men) as Joe's
bookie, Manfro, whose cancer diagnosis peels away his Runyonesque
exterior to reveal a vinegary sagacity in his uncomfortable
dealings with Joe.
The three-disc presentation of Men of a Certain Age's second
season is anchored by commentaries by the show's key players on
all 12 episodes. Romano and Royce are the dominant voices, and
the humor that they and fellow writers Bridget Bedard, Lew
Schneider, and Tucker Cawley provide also allows for glimpses
into the show's production as well as what might have happened in
its third season. Romano, Royce, Bedard, and Schneider
additionally appear on a solid featurette that discusses the tone
and direction of the series in fine detail. There is also a brace
of deleted scenes from both seasons, as well as a frequently
funny gag reel, all of which should appeal to the show's small
but dedicated cadre of fans. But more significantly, what those
viewers can take away from this final season is not just the
excellence of the episodes, but also the fact that Men of a
Certain Age belongs in the ranks of such extraordinary works as
Freaks and Geeks, Deadwood, Sports Night, Arrested Development,
Veronica Mars, and other series that slipped the surly bonds of
the medium and truly defined the phrase too good for television.
--Paul Gaita