TNT is getting ready to bring you Ray Romano as you apparently always wanted to see him, although you weren’t quite aware of it until now—as a drama-series lead. Details after the jump:
TNT Orders Pilot for Drama Series MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE,
Starring Emmy® Winner Ray RomanoRomano to Star in New Series Exploring Male Friendship
Romano and Mike Royce Wrote Pilot
TNT has ordered a one-hour pilot of MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE, a new character-based drama from Everybody Loves Raymond Emmy® winners Ray Romano and Mike Royce. Romano will star in the project that takes a wry look at what it means to be a guy approaching mid-life while also exploring the unique bonds of male friendship. Romano wrote the pilot script with Royce and will executive-produce with Royce (who will serve as show runner), Rory Rosegarten and Cary Hoffman.
“MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE is about the highs and lows of being a guy in the modern era. It’s about three best friends, each hoping to fulfill his dreams before the clock starts running out,” said Michael Wright, senior vice president in charge of the content creation group for TNT and its sister networks, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. “It’s an honest, emotional, funny and very personal take on the subject. MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE is a very special project for TNT, and we’re proud to be doing it with Ray and Mike. When we read the script we knew right away this is a series we want to bring to our audience.”
“Mike and I have always had success writing what we know. What we know now is that we’re middle aged, neurotic and fat,” said Romano.
Con: I can’t say I’m extremely familiar with Romano’s oeuvre beyond Everybody Loves Raymond (not, admittedly, a favorite of mine), The Knights of Prosperity and his voice work in Ice Age, but he doesn’t strike me as an actor with tremendous range. (Perhaps a screening of Welcome to Mooseport would change my mind?) Pro: He did cowrite the pilot, so presumably he wrote with that in mind. Con: Much will depend on that script, since we’ve seen awful things come of similar premises in Big Shots and The Mind of the Married Man. Pro: Give Romano credit for trying to stretch and, unlike post-sitcom Seinfeld, actually making another show.
Con: Last pro only remains a pro until we actually see the show.