I don't know how I got the impression that "Men of a Certain Age" (9 p.m. Central Monday, TNT; two stars) was a half-hour show.

It's not. But that's part of the problem with this intermittently interesting and frequently frustrating show.

There's a certain slackness to the story lines on "Men," which concerns the lives of three good friends in their late 40s. If I weren't above such things, I'd pun that the plots spread out like a middle-aged gut.

Even after I read the show's press materials and realized "Men" was an hourlong drama, as I watched each episode, I kept looking over at the clock before the 30-minute mark arrived, waiting for "Men" to wrap it up. I can't say that reaction surprised me, given that "Men's" premise recalls half-hour "Are we really grown-ups now?" comedy-dramas such as "My Boys," "The League" and "Californication."

(Actually, here's the shorthand for "Men": It's "Californication" with less fornication, "The League" with less raunchiness and "My Boys" with only three boys, who meet frequently at a local diner instead of a neighborhood bar.)

My mixed-to-meh reaction pained me a little, given that I'd watch Andre Braugher read the phone book.

Braugher, who plays Owen, a father of three working for his taskmaster father as a car salesman, occasionally gets interesting things to do, but I couldn't escape the feeling that "Men" taps into only about 30 percent of his range. Casting this magnetic, subtle and precise "Homicide" vet in a slight dramedy about men facing their insecurities is like bringing a Howitzer to a water-gun battle. Braugher could supply a lot of firepower — he effortlessly nails both the comedy and the drama — but the show doesn't quite know how to use his many gifts.

As does Braugher, Scott Bakula excels at playing the kind of character we've all seen before. Terry is the Peter Pan of the group; he's still pursuing a "cool" career as an actor (but in reality, paying the bills by working as a temp). The adept, versatile Bakula demonstrates a light touch with Terry's rogueishness and pathos. The aging playboy does love wooing the ladies, but he has enough self-awareness to know that his rootless lifestyle is getting more pathetic by the year (and at some point, he'll figure out that the highlights in his hair are not a good idea). 

"Men," which was created by "Everybody Loves Raymond's" Ray Romano and Mike Royce, gives Romano the potentially most interesting character to play. Joe is a middle-aged party store owner who's living in a hotel as his marriage disintegrates. In this role, Romano attempts to do more than he ever did on "Raymond," with some success, but I can't escape the feeling that a more skilled actor would have been able to give Joe's self-pity, fear and frustration more nuances.

The best "Men" moments come when the three guys eat breakfast after going on one of their "Let's get in shape" hikes. These diner dialogues play to all three actors' strengths, and there's a certain rueful honesty lurking behind the trio's casual joshing.

For me, however, there isn't a huge reason to tune in to "Men" again, now that I've watched the episodes TNT sent. There are a few confrontations or comedic moments that catch fire, but mostly "Men" just ambles along, sometimes perceptively and sometimes lazily observing the lives of these guys, who have stumbled into middle age and its grinding routines and hard-won but significant satisfactions. These observations don't add up to much and the show's pace frankly becomes tedious at times.

If these appealing actors anchored a better-constructed half-hour show, "Men's" low-key charms would be a lot more effective. But I guess middle age isn't necessarily about getting what you want.

Visit Source