Earlier this month Star Trek: Enterprise’s Scott Bakula finished up the second season for his TNT show Men of a Certain Age. Despite critical success, TNT has just announced they will not be picking up the show for a third season. While you wont be seeing Bakula on TNT, both LeVar Burton and Jeri Ryan will be appearing on TNT shows this year. Details below.
No 3rd Season for Bakula’s Men of a Certain Age
For two seasons Scott Bakula has starred in the critically-acclaimed drama Men of a Certain Age, along with Ray Romano and Andre Braugher. The three play close friends who are dealing with life in middle age. The second season wrapped up on July 6th. Over the last two seasons the show has picked up a WGA nomination and two Emmy nominations for Braugher (including one just this week). However the ratings were not enough for TNT who issued the following statement on Friday (via EW):
TNT has been proud to be a part of Men of a Certain Age for two seasons. 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 Ray Romano, Mike Royce and the terrific cast and crew of Men of a Certain Age the very best and look forward to exploring new programming possibilities in the future.
Here is a preview of the season 2 episode "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"
Here is a video (from a Paley Center event in March) of Scott Bakula talking about the show, including the low ratings.
Scott Bakula is the second Star Trek captain to have his show cancelled this year. In May CBS cancelled $#*! My Dad Says, the sitcom starring William Shatner.
TNT giveth while taking away
While TNT has cancelled Bakula’s show, in May they did give a greenlight to Perception a new drama created by Star Trek: Enterprise producer Mike Sussman and Star Trek Voyager producer Ken Biller. The show about an eccentric and brilliant neuropsychiatry professor who works with the FBI will also feature a recurring role for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Burton. And Star Trek: Voyager’s Jeri Ryan will be returning to play the grifter Tara Cole for one episode in the current season of the TNT heist-show Leverage. The fourth season also features episodes directed by TNG’s Jonathan Frakes. No airdates yet for Perception or Ryan’s episode of Leverage.
LeVar Burton on the set of "Perception" with Ken Biller
have also greenlit Per a new show feauting a Star Trek The Next Generation’s
One of the truly great shows on TV today even for those of us nowhere close to middle age. I hope that TNT will realize their mistake and pick the show up for another season.
congratulations to andre braugher who received an emmy nomination as best supporting actor in a drama series.
Such a shame… MoaCA was a great, heart warming show, and an excellent medium to see Bakula and Romano sort of break out of their shells a bit. Very sad, hope TNT reconsiders.
That sucks. The show was great. Good shows just don’t last. I guess people are just looking for CSI: Oklahoma City and Two and 1/3 Men.
Great actors on a boring show — they couldn’t save it.
Thank God. What a load of whiny immature crap that show was. Are there any shows left where men actually act like grown up MEN, and not a) vain old women, b) horny dumb 13 year old boys, or c) half-drunk sports jocks?
Too bad; it was a clever show with a good cast. Spoke to a niche audience that is often overlooked in today’s adrenaline junkie confections.
Watched the 1st season to give it a chance. No 2nd season for me never mind 3. Sorry Ryan will cloud up Leverage again. oh well…..
This was one of the few shows that I actually turned every thing else off and watched.
But how many shows were there in a season? Four?
I was a big fan of Quantum, Enterprise and I liked Bakula on Chuck.
I’ll miss Men of a Certain Age.
Who’s up for a write-in campaign! (It’s been done before).
#10
I’m with you, Tiberius.
This show is—was—one of the best on TV. I guess we were lucky to get a second season out of TNT, but I’m hoping another network will save it from cancellation before the cast and crew go their separate ways.
AMC, are you listening?
Great actors, great series, I could identify, being a man of a certain age…
Quality is a hard thing to keep on the air these days what with stuff like ‘Falling Eyelids…er Skies” getting all the promotion..
Unfortunately, TV is a somewhat shaky medium these days as too many people take the bit torrent route for viewing instead of being actually part of the ratings system.
Maybe Data was being kind in TNG episde “The Neutral Zone” when he said that television was (and I’m paraphrasing) virtually gone by 2040.
I doubt that george Lucas’s TV version of Star Wars will ever come to pass and I don’t foresee any new Star Trek being developed on television, no matter how the next movie sequel goes!
At least all TV versions of Star Trek are available on dvd so you can still watch good tv programs …….. you just have to press “PLAY” first!
Great show, character-based rather than plot-based, where the “story” was told “between the lines.” I could SO relate to the tough love these guys shared over breakfast! Laughed my head off.
It got a Peabody, too. Oh, well, that means something to us intelligentsia… It didn’t get the same ratings as neanderthel teens getting drunk in a hot tub so it’s gone. :(
Are they replacing it with Kevin and Britney’s latest reality TV show? Oh wait…
Probably another show about the Kardashian sisters or Nick Lachey and his new hot wife.
Man, I hate “reality” tv…it’ all SUCH CRAP. OK, I guess that’s off topic.
The characters spoke like real men at 50 do. This is a great show but it’s not a reality show or a cookie cutter sitcom so of course the suits cancelled it. Pity.
Well that just sucks. I love that show, the characters are very complex & flawed & likeable, like most of us.
I’ve seen chat shows that had both Bakula and Romano on them and on each they would talk up about how great the show was going without a hint of it coming to an end. Maybe they were the last to know?
@16 richpit – I totally agree…I think reality shows are the easy way out for networks. I used to watch them, but after a few seasons, they all became the same thing with a slightly different spin.
I’m almost to a point where I don’t watch new shows because of the fear that once I get into them, they will be cancelled. This has happened to me so many times that I have lost count. I have also seen that a new show was coming out, I missed watching it and by the time I remembered it was on, I found out it was cancelled (Firefly). Come on network TV, stop dumbing down America and stop taking the easy way out by producing more and more reality TV.
Damn, there goes my idea for getting this show on a new cable channel inspired by something our U.S. President just mentioned:
.
AARPTV.
.
Shows like “Men of a Certain Age” and “Shat My Dad Says” would have been perfect for AARPTV. AARPTV has its ‘primetime shows’ from 2 pm to 4 pm, because we all know at 4 pm, you can head out for the early-bird specials. We could run an evening news at 7 pm, and then air old episodes of TOS and 50’s sitcoms.
Their is still time to save this show! They are trying to find another network to pick it up. Their is a facebook page called Save Men Of A Certain Age go to that page like it and sign the petition. Lets keep this show on the airwaves!
Washed up actors of a certain age…