Ray Romano Talks To AOL On New TNT Series "Men of a Certain Age"

[JamesG]

Ray, we're not in Queens anymore.

Ray Romano's' Men of a Certain Age debuts 10 Monday, Dec. 7 on TNT and it's a decidely darker, more introspective show then Romano's CBS hit Everybody Loves Raymond.

Yet the dramady -- also featuring Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap and Star Trek: Enterprise) and Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street) -- has tons of warmth and wit as it articulates the desires and fears of the Flomax generation. Men follows the travails of three male friends in Los Angeles as they navigate the fearful '40s.



"I don't know that there are many shows that kind of go to those places with these guys,'' Romano said. "You know, we like to think of the movie "Sideways" as kind of the tone and something that's similar. These guys are just kind of searching for something.''

Romano created Men with long-time writing partner Mike Royce.

"They're at this age where that stuff's happening, you know, and let's talk about it because otherwise we got to go to a shrink,'' Romano said.



Romanao recently participated in a conference call to talk about Men of a Certain Age.



On switching from comedy to a darker role in a dark show:

Well, I had done enough of that other thing, hadn't I? You know, I came off of Raymond, it was very successful and I was proud of it.

And just when I was deciding what next to do I sat with my buddy, Mike Royce. We had done a lot of work together ... and we both knew we weren't going to try to do another sitcom. We didn't want to have to follow ourselves. We were more drawn to this, to something a little more -- I don't want to say dramatic -- but definitely more real.

This was just, you know, the natural thing to do. We still want to do comedy, you know, and we still write comedy but we write it in a much realer universe.




On anticipating the show:

I'm more nervous now because I know the world.

Before I was like just a fish out of water there and if that show didn't make it, well, I don't know why or how it doesn't make it. And here I've kind of got fans. I've got a history. I have expectations.

So it would be more -- and it also will be, you know, my failure now. It might be more newsworthy and bring more attention to it itself.




On his chemistry with Bakula and Braugher:

Well, Scott and Andre are both great guys. They're a little different.

Andre is a Juilliard-trained actor so right away I was intimidated meeting him. Scott's a great actor also; he just has a different style, a different way of connecting with somebody. And Andre seemed to me it was the same with Peter Boyle, where I was scared to death to be in the same scene with him.

Once he started talking to me and we started joking and he opened himself up to me. It was like we were friends for a while and it was very comfortable. So the chemistry there, you know, it wasn't immediate just because of that, because I'm too insecure to have that but it was really quick.




On feeling insecure:

20 years of therapy and you think I'm going to be able to answer that right now? There is no answer; it's just keep going. The search is the answer. Why do you think I'm doing this? If we could go back in time and you can get my father to hug me then maybe we'd have a chance. I don't know. It's all different levels of insecurity.

I said this joke once on Letterman, I said, before I thought my cab driver hated me and now I just think my limo driver hates me. It's all the same; it's just moved up.




On stretching his acting chops:

Well I mean as much as Ray Barone was an extension of myself; it was still acting. I mean, it was a sitcom, it was a different dynamic maybe, but it was still acting. And I've done a couple films.

I did a somewhat dramatic role in a film before this in between Raymond and it was called the Last Word. It unfortunately went right to video but I thought it was a pretty good film. So I've dipped my toe in that area.

Now, while Raymond was an extension of myself to some degree this guy is also. So I'm just doing what hopefully I'm doing it organically and well. I'm just taking what I've learned up to now and doing it.




On his most memorable moment while filming the show:

It was just me and Andre and Andre's character, Owen, and I we're in my hotel room and he's telling me that he found out my wife was with this guy having an affair while we were married. And he got this information and he feels like he needs to tell me.

It was a pretty dramatic scene with this great actor, Andre. And that kind of stays with me ... We got somewhere where I never thought I could get as an actor.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/12/04/r...a-certain-age/

[Schmoopie]

I'm not a fan of Ray Romano, but this show looks pretty good!

[Chocolate Moose]

I saw the first show. I wasn’t crazy about it, but anythingnew takes time to develop.