"Men of a certain age" - cancelled.

[JoeZhang]

I know this show has some fans here:

There will be no third season of TNT's buddy dramedy Men of a Certain Age after the cable network decided to pull the plug on the critically praised but low-rated series. “TNT has been proud to be a part of Men of a Certain Age for two seasons," the network said in a statement. "While the show has featured great storytelling and impeccable performances, the audience simply hasn’t built to the point where we can continue the series. This was an extremely difficult decision for us. We wish (co-creators) Ray Romano & Mike Royce and the terrific cast and crew the very best and look forward to exploring new programming possibilities in the future.”

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/tnt-cancels-men-of-a-certain-age/


Why do you think it failed to capture an audience?

 

[david g]

Im actually heartbroken over this. It was a great show with wonderful acting and characters and writing. It was great to see Bakula's acting chops again after his struggle through ENT. What a pity that TNT couldnt have given it more chances to grow.

 

[PsychoPere]

Very disappointed, but not at all surprised. What did surprise me is that TNT aired this show in the first place. Based on their shows before MOACA, I wouldn't have expected such quality on that network.

There are two issues that I can think of that contributed to the show's ratings failure.

1. I don't think MOACA really fit TNT as a network all that well, based on their other shows. TNT seems to be more interested in procedurals than in stories like MOACA, which I can't fault the network for since those types of shows have an easier time winning ratings.
2. Splitting season two into two sets of six episodes, with four months between the sets.

For anyone who is interested, Alan Sepinwall has an interview with co-creator Mike Royce here, and Maureen Ryan has one here. Also, TNT has all of the episodes online - until August 8th, according to Royce via Twitter.

 

[Timby]

[*]Splitting season two into two sets of six episodes, with four months between the sets.

It works for The Closer, though.

I'm really bummed out by this. Just an absolutely brilliant show, and it's not like TNT didn't promote the hell out of it -- there were commercials everywhere, both on cable and broadcast. It was just not a good fit for TNT, though I'm hard-pressed to think of where it would have been a good fit.

At least we'll always have the two seasons.

 

[Kestra]

I saw ads for it everywhere and always thought it looked like a good show, just not for me. Maybe other people felt the same way.

 

[the G-man]

Damn.

Why wasn't it a bigger hit? I can only guess that TV audiences didn't want to see "Ray Barone" as a divorced dad with gambling issues and "Sam Beckett" as an immature ladies' man who is really a loser.

In other words, both Romano and Bakula were excellent in the show, but unfortunately, sometimes TV audiences want their actors playing the "type" they're used to and I don't think people were ready for a show as dark as this one at times.

 

[Amaris]

I saw ads for it everywhere and always thought it looked like a good show, just not for me. Maybe other people felt the same way.

Yep. It looked interesting, but not enough for me to actually watch it on TNT.

 

[Saxman1]

My favorite cable show of recent years. I'm heartsick over this. My wife and I loved the series. oh well. I just don't get The Closer or Sedgewick with the grating, phony Southern accent. Yuck.

 

[auntiehill]

DAMN IT!!

I thought it was doing well. I was rather surprised, though, at the way they split up the very few episodes they had.


Well, at least there was a little bit of resolution to what is now apparently the finale:

Spoiler: final episode

Joe made the tour, Terry seemed ready to grow the hell up (somewhat) and Owen and his father made peace about the dealership

I will miss this show, however. I was really starting to get invested, especially with the characters at the dealership.

 

[Starbreaker]

I never got into the show, but its cancellation does come as a shock.

 

[Count Zero]

Damn! It's such a great show. But I think they killed it by splitting the season. Mmh, the finale was really open-ended and there were many interesting plot lines left to develop/resolve. But yeah, I was worried about the low ratings and feared something like this might happen.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

[*]Splitting season two into two sets of six episodes, with four months between the sets.

It works for The Closer, though.

I'm really bummed out by this. Just an absolutely brilliant show, and it's not like TNT didn't promote the hell out of it -- there were commercials everywhere, both on cable and broadcast. It was just not a good fit for TNT, though I'm hard-pressed to think of where it would have been a good fit.

At least we'll always have the two seasons.

Do you think those breaks "work" for shows like The Closer & BSG, more action oriented shows, than MOACA and the like?

I don't know myself, maybe this has nothing to do with the breaks and more to do with other factors like others mentioned.

 

[od0_ital]

While my love for watchin' Scott Bakula & Andre Braugher in almost anything they will do got me to tune in, I cannot stand Ray Romano outside of Ice Age, and I understand his character would be the focus of the three since he co-created the series, I just couldn't stand watchin' him.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

There are two issues that I can think of that contributed to the show's ratings failure.

1. I don't think MOACA really fit TNT as a network all that well, based on their other shows. TNT seems to be more interested in procedurals than in stories like MOACA, which I can't fault the network for since those types of shows have an easier time winning ratings.
2. Splitting season two into two sets of six episodes, with four months between the sets.

I agree with both of these reasons. Tough to build up buzz & momentum when you're just airing 6 episodes at a time. Although British audiences are used to that, Americans are not. The show would've disappeared just around when the message that it was on started to permeate.

I'll miss the show. It was one of my favorites, and I always enjoyed it when it was on.

 

[Thestral]

I saw ads for it everywhere and always thought it looked like a good show, just not for me. Maybe other people felt the same way.

Yep. It looked interesting, but not enough for me to actually watch it on TNT.

I was always curious about it, especially whenever I'd catch the early morning Angel reruns, but never thought about it when it was actually on. Too bad for those that loved it, I know how it feels to have a great show just not catch an audience (Friday Night Lights...).

I just don't get The Closer or Sedgewick with the grating, phony Southern accent. Yuck.

Ugh... I'll never watch that show, specifically for that reason.

 

[Saxman1]

I just don't get The Closer or Sedgewick with the grating, phony Southern accent. Yuck.

Ugh... I'll never watch that show, specifically for that reason.

You know what's funny? From what I've read, she has quite the ego and TNT had to throw buckets of $ at her to do another season. I don't get it: not pretty, not much of an actress and was caught in a that ponzi scheme and lost everything at one time. Get over yourself, already.

 

[firehawk12]

Ray Romano seemed to have killed it, since apparently everyone just hates him because of his sitcom.

I'm just not sure if the premise was that exciting I guess. It feels like a cable show that's missing some of the darker comedy/storylines that makes something Breaking Bad a hit. In fact, it's a lot like Terriers in that it was just much more subdued and realistic in tone, which probably made it also more forgettable to the audience that might have watched a show like this.

It's too bad, but at least it mostly ended conclusively. At the very least Royce suggested that S3 would have had Joe playing in the senior tour, so presumably the other characters would have had things going on for them as well.

 

[the G-man]

Ray Romano seemed to have killed it, since apparently everyone just hates him because of his sitcom.

If true, that would be ironic, insofar as Romano created this show in the first place.

I don't think people hate him. In fact, I think it's the opposite. Too many people see him as the "lovable" goofy suburban dad from the prior sitcom and can't accept him in a different role.

 

[firehawk12]

Well, you have od0 up thread saying he can't stand Romano. And a lot of the comments on news about the cancellation were of the "Good, I hate Raymond!" variety.

 

[the G-man]

If people stating "I hate [fill in blank]" on message boards doomed TV shows, nothing would be on the air whatsoever.