Mike Royce, the co-creator of cancelled Men of a Certain Age, says that he and co-creator/star Ray Romano are throwing in the towel. The pair have been working behind the scenes in an effort to find a new home for their TNT series.
On his blog, Royce posted a letter to fans titled “Hold Your Head Up“:
Hi folks,
Sorry I haven’t been in touch. Unfortunately there’s been nothing to report. And at this point, since we want to be straight with you guys, I have to tell you that we’ve kind of reached the end of the road. Hard to admit, but it’s true.
If you can think of a network, we called them. Of course, “Men of a Certain Age” doesn’t really belong on certain networks. But we called them too. We called everybody. We tried online, satellite, alternate content providers, corporate sponsorship, Taxi TV, filmstrips… everything. We’ve exhausted every possibility and then some.
I was certainly hoping – actually, naively expecting a different outcome. I thought somebody would pick us up. Ray and I feel strongly that there are places where MOACA would not only be an excellent fit, but a home run. But we couldn’t persuade others to see it that way. And at a certain point, you gotta move on.
Sure, a miracle could still happen somehow. So please don’t “unlike” this page or unsign the petition. It’s still good to be able to show the world how much you guys care about the show.
We can’t thank all you enough. So many of you have worked your asses off to help us find the show a home. To see the support continue to pour in now weeks and weeks later is really incredible.
It’s also hard to express how grateful we are to the awesomely talented 200+ people who made the show. The cast and the crew were not only the best but made it a joy to come to work each day.
And we also want to thank TNT. I know it’s natural to look at it like “they’re the ones who cancelled it,” but a more accurate viewpoint is “they’re the ones who put it on.” Honestly, the notion that a show about the lives of three 50 year olds was on television at all in this day and age is a miracle. It shouldn’t be, but it is. On top of that TNT gave us the rare opportunity to do the show the way we wanted.
The end result is, we’re proud of the work, proud of the critical response and mostly proud that the show seems to have secured a deep place in people’s hearts that isn’t always reached. Like some of you, we feel a little like we’ve lost a friend. But the good news is, the 22 episodes live on. They even end in a good place (if too soon).
So think of us as not as a cancelled show but a “mini-series by accident.”
Because really that’s our biggest hope: if you are a fan, turn other people on to it. We want it to live on. Hey, for better or for worse, the ratings tell us there are plenty of people out there who haven’t seen “Men of a Certain Age.” We hope they check it out.
Thanks, and see you on the hill.
—Mike Royce & Ray Romano
Men of a Certain Age ran for two seasons on TNT, beginning in December of 2009. The first season of Men attracted a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 3.2 million total viewers. The season started off strong but viewership dwindled as the season went on.
Year two kicked off part one of season two in December 2010 and essentially matched the lowest-rated episode of season one. The later episodes did even worse and averaged a poor 0.5 demo rating with 2.16 million viewers. In the spring, the second half of the season did worse with an average of a 0.4 demo and 1.59 million.
TNT cancelled the series in mid-July, a week or so after the defacto series finale aired.
What do you think? Did you like the TV series? Why do you think it didn’t catch on? Why did so many who started watching, stop?
Image courtesy TNT.
I do not watch ANY TV series except this one. Unfortunately, the audience for this show which is the over 50 crowd does not appeal to sponsors. Therefore, unless it has violence or sex it will not get on. They call what they put on TV reality TV. However for us men of a certain age, this was reality. Dealing with life events such as family, jobs, and middle age crisis in a very professionaland entertaining manner way was unique. It is a tremondous loss for those of use that wish TV would allow itself to appeal to the older… Read more »
I thought the show was great and I’m only 19, I dont know why it wouldn’t take off bc I would think it would of attracted a pretty wide range demographic
I think that I watched 2 episodes on TNT in the regularly scheduled time slot. The rest, I watched on DVR or on TNT’s website. The reason is simple – those of us over 40 are busy. We have kids, jobs, hobbies, families and responsibilities. We don’t always have the option of sitting in front of the TV at a specified day and time, but I’m not sure that we are taken into account when the beans are being counted. As for the folks who WERE able to watch at the same time every week, cutting the season into two,… Read more »
This show was great and I’m only 19, I have no idea why this show didn’t take off bc I would think it would of attracted a pretty wide range demographic.
Loved the show,Well acted,well written.Too many dumbass shows on ,good thing hockey starts soon.Who makes these decisions anyway?
I loved MOACA and watched every episode w/ anticipation of the next. I had told a friend about the show, and she just started watching it & loved it, but only got to see the last show. She was disappointed she was able to watch only one episode. It’s difficult to find shows worth watching, but MOACA had it all, good acting, a great storyline, humor and a unique subject matter. I know the majority of Americans are now 50 and older, and I cannot believe marketers are unwilling to cater to such a large group of people. I have… Read more »
It was a very good show, and I will miss it. Unfortunately, it was also a show that you had to watch a few episodes to get into. It took a little time to get to know the characters and build a relationship with the show. I think that it was very hard for many people to get into the show because by the time a new viewer started to understand the characters, the show was off the air. When TNT was only running 5-6 episodes, followed by a several month break, many viewers didn’t have time to build relationships… Read more »
I loved the show. It had excellent scripts and actors. However, while I appreciate the fact that TNT did air it, they didn’t do the show justice. I never even heard about the show until the last few episodes of the first season. Season 1 ended at the end of February 2010 and season 2 didn’t start until 9 months later in December, and it was put on Monday nights up against Monday Night Football! I had to beg my man of a certain age to let me watch it! Then, they went and split the season and didn’t air… Read more »
I was channel surfing back in late 2009 and just happened to stumble on Powerless, while Ray was talking to Terry and Owen about the fills gaps from Rocky. After 30 seconds this show totally had me. The most well written and acted show I have ever seen! But it was just luck that I happened to find it, otherwise I would be like 10’s of millions who would love this show if they only knew of it’s existence. Was watching the season 1 dvd a couple weeks ago, and in the extras part Mike Royce and Ray Romano were… Read more »
This was a fabulous show – great writing and acting. So real – much more than a reality show is real! Loved the characters and plots. Always anticipated each week for a new story. Please find a network worthy of producing such a great show. I will hate it if it is dead in the water.
Thanks for the quality entertainment Mr. Romano. Come over and I’ll fix you a bowl of pasta.
I absolutely loved the series and have watched each episode at least a couple of times. I think the initial promotion didn’t catch on because I only started watching in the second season but then couldn’t get enough of the trio. Please help bring it back. I was witty and well written.
I am a 32 year old female and thought MOCA was one of the best shows on TV. I do not believe it had the network support and marketing it should have had. Perhaps it was on the wrong network from the beginning as Beth indicated, but given TNT decided to run it, they should have committed to it a bit more. In my opinion it was not promoted the way it should have been, and having such a long gap between season one and season two and then breaking season 2 up into two mini seasons was a killer.… Read more »
LOVED IT! Watch the episode “A League of Their Owen” aired 6/15/2011. The build up in the episode, towards the last 15 minutes with the music choice (Argent “Hold Your Head Up”) was genious – we laughed, cried, and shouted for joy! I have watched it multiple times……. This show was contemporary and spoke to issues of multiple generations with amazing writing and acting – what’s not to like? The Big Networks should pick it up and dust some of the reality crap.
I really liked the show, it gave an insite to men and the problems they have rreaching 50, I think it was well writen but also needed not to have a break in the middle of the season. I hope it get picked up because there are not a lot of good shows on
maybe they did it on purpose to save money for the new Dallas show that has got to be costing money
TNT did not sufficiently promote Men of a Certain Age on their own channel nor outside their own medium. A show like this, with quiet power and subtle pacing, belonged on a channel like HBO, known for quality content; not on TNT where the audience is looking for explosions and aliens. I would compare this to Six Feet Under – if that remarkable show had been on TNT it would have only lasted one season.