These are flawed, likable men. It is refreshing to watch three-dimensional characters on television without having to resort to "reality" shows. Drama is not a bad word - no really it isn't. There is drama in every life, and placed into perspective it can be compelling entertainment. Well scripted drama, as opposed to the emotional breakdown of a spoiled 25 year-old heiress, makes watching television a good use of time. The comedic aspect of the show is the touch that makes this show so rich. If you're expecting to see Ray Romano rehashing Everybody Loves Raymond, you'll be surprised. Braugher and Bakula turn in creditable performances as well with outstanding support from Lisa Gay Hamilton, Richard Gant, and Jon Manfrellotti. If there were anything negative, I'd say that they are overusing the cable advantage (the ability to swear) just a little. There are times when it seems that the word "shit" is in the script just because it can be. In a show about middle-aged, middle-class men, a little profanity is authentic. But, the term "mother-shit" is not authentic by any means. Men of a Certain Age validates the humanity of men nearing 50. It paints them as real people who have passions, fears, faults, desires, and a sense of humor to cope with it all.
Reviews
2 Reviews
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
(2008–2013)
One Note Symphony
1 February 2010
If you remember 7th Heaven, you probably noticed how the Camdens always suffered the same maladies at the same time. Mom's addicted to coffee, dad is taking too many Advil, son is smoking pot, other son is taking no-doz ... etc. You felt like you were getting hit over the head with the message every week, but at least it was a different message each week. Secret Life runs over you with a steamroller. Then, they back up over you and do it again, and again, and again, and OH Dear yet again. Aside from the flat, stereotypical, unlikable characters (yes, they even made a kid with Downs Syndrome a sex-obsessed total jerk too), they drone on and on about the only thing that is on any of their narrow minds. For fun, I counted the number of times they use the word "sex". It was 17 times just in the scenes from previous shows. For the show itself, the total was around 40 - including references to oral and anal sex as well as a mother recommending masturbation to her daughter. Of course, one must suspend disbelief while watching a fictional program, but how much can you hold back the urge to scream BULLS**T when a teenage boy tells his girlfriend that he wants to "have sex" for the fourteenth time in one episode. No teenage boy EVER got what he wanted by whining "I wanna have sex", yet this clown is climbing off of her in the very next scene. People DO NOT live this way. Although my daughter will not miss this show, I can see how one with no life experience might overlook the bizarre departure from reality. What I can't understand is why she devotes an hour of each week to something so bereft of entertainment value.
Tell Your Friends