Comedians should never play sad clowns. Think Jerry Lewis. Worse, Robin Williams. There’s a good reason for this — or several, really.
For one thing, when comedians play tragic figures, they always seem to over-do it and end up with Sad Clown Career Pox. And, for another, comedians, especially the ones we’ve come to love on TV, become part of our families. You just don’t want your funny uncle to suddenly develop some horrible form of cancer or become the guy who cries at Thanksgiving.
Sorry, but that’s just the way it is — unless, I just found out, you happen to be Ray Romano. Yes, you read that right. He may be the one to pass for serious.
I just finished watching screener episodes of Romano’s new show, “Men Of A Certain Age,” which he created with “Everybody Loves Raymond” writer Mike Royce, and I’m blown away. Not only can Romano make the leap from beloved funny TV husband to morose, unsure of himself newly-separated TV husband but do it with such vulnerability that I may like Joe even better than Raymond.
The new show is a drama about three childhood friends in their late forties, Joe (Romano), Owen (Andre Braugher) and Terry (Scott Bakula) who are middle aged and middle of the road.
Joe, who is newly separated from his wife (Penelope Ann Miller), owns a party store and has a gambling habit bad enough to have broken up his marriage. Owen is a married guy with three kids who works for his father in his father’s successful car dealership, where he is neither his father’s favorite salesman nor his most successful. Terry is a single, out-of-work actor who is a ladies man and works a permanent temp job crunching numbers.
None of them will ever set the world on fire, and, like most people, their lives are made up of small failures and middling wins that seem great in the overall scheme of things.
Every actor in the show is perfection — including Miller and Lisa Gay Hamilton, who plays Owen’s wife. Thank God! For once, a middle-aged African-American woman who isn’t reduced to the stereotypical finger-waving “sassy black gal.”
Even the sideliners are cast brilliantly especially Jon Manfrellotti, who plays Joe’s bookie (why haven’t I seen this guy before?), and Lil’ JJ who plays Sean, a guy who works in the party shop and who can’t bear Joe’s music piping out of his jukebox. “Who is this lady singing right there,” Sean whines. To which Joes responds, “Neil Sedaka.”
I can’t imagine who the audience is for this show, but, then again, maybe if you like Mamet’s men, you’ll love Romano’s regular Joes. I sure do.