'Men of a Certain Age' - 'Same as the Old Boss': Snooze, you lose
Frustration is the word of the day for Joe, Terry and Owen in another satisfying episode
Andre Braugher in "Men of a Certain Age."
My quick review of tonight's "Men of a Certain Age" coming up just as soon as I use my disease as an excuse...
Frustration is an overarching theme of "Men of a Certain Age"(*), and "Same as the Old Boss" started off as a particularly frustrating week for our three heroes. Joe has no time for the training he needs to do if he wants to make the senior tour. Terry's not selling any cars, and now his new co-workers are ribbing him mercilessly about some of his embarrassing old commercials they found on YouTube. And though Owen's technically in charge of the dealership, head mechanic Jesse doesn't respect him, and it's clear that everyone still views him as Daddy's not-so-little boy.
(*) A season-plus in, how should we be abbreviating that long title? Do we call it "Men," even though that's also some people's shorthand for Charlie Sheen's CBS sitcom? Do we call it "MoCA," which I guess would sound like the coffee drink? Is there a third option?
But what the show does well is finding ways to modulate that frustration so that it's not just an 50 minutes of the guys banging their heads against a wall followed by five minutes of them getting small moral victories. Terry's nightmare is played largely for laughs(**), where the Owen plot is a chance for Andre Braugher to play bottled-up rage, a particular type of emotion he played so well in his "Homicide" days.
(**) My inner 12-year-old laughed mightily at Bruce's "Or my name's not Moses Cockmonkey" reveal, not only because the name is itself funny, but because actor Albert Hall mostly plays distinguished, erudite judge types, so hearing him say "Moses Cockmonkey" was extra-amusing.
And Joe's story turns into something else entirely when Albert goes to the party and actually has a good time - maybe a little too good a time, in that he pukes(***), but even when he was standing on the roof of the house, I never worried that he was going to fall off or that it was in any way going to turn into A Very Special "MoaCA." The show doesn't work that way, and Joe gets to enjoy the notion that Albert went to a party (even as he has to pretend that he's mad at both his kids), just as Terry gets his little victory over the other salesmen when he kisses Melinda McGraw in front of them, just as Owen at least briefly gets to put Jesse in his place.
(***) Also, I'm assuming the shot of Albert running behind Joe's truck was the show's little homage to this section of the final chase scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," right?
The stories are still small, but that allows for even smaller, interesting moments within them, like Terry giving himself direction ("Indicate more, asshole") after another failure, or "Crimson and Clover" being on Joe's car stereo after he mentioned it earlier.
What did everybody else think?
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December 14, 2010 at 12:23AM EST Reply to CommentWhen Albert was running I said to my wife "This is just like Ferris Bueller". And then Albert appeared in the shot in back of the truck. Classic!
Roberto
December 14, 2010 at 1:01AM EST Reply to CommentI love that they actually showed the salesmen looking at the real YouTube and not "MyView" or "OurLook" or some other fake website like shows seem to do. It's like the 555 of the digital age.
pamelajaye
December 14, 2010 at 3:31AM EST Reply to CommentSince I have to type it so often (truly) I call it MOCA. Some of my friends throw in the other A but that's a pain.
When Scott was in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, I called it M&Ms. Do I have a chocolate fixation?
MOCA is just easier.
pamelajaye and those giant standees of Terry reminded me: I have a 6 foot tall cardboard Captain Archer on my porch. A friend got it at a party and decided to send it to me. It was so realistic that eeryone in the house would get freaked out turning a corner and coming face to neck with it. We had to put it in the spare room, face to the wall.
December 14, 2010 at 3:34AM ESTLast I heard, my roomie was Freecycling it...
pamelajaye
December 14, 2010 at 3:37AM EST Reply to Commentspeaking of those old commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4AL5sEhFeU
Hautie
December 14, 2010 at 5:31AM EST Reply to CommentAs a female that worked at a dealership for too many years... the antics of the salesmen are on point.
They really are that mean to one another. And you should never let them get the upper hand. All that matters is sales and who got laid is correct.
It would also explain why you should never marry a car guy too.
j.norris
December 14, 2010 at 10:32AM EST Reply to CommentMoCa? Nuh-uh. MoaCA. Ick.
KISS: MCA.
DeeTV
December 14, 2010 at 11:07AM EST Reply to CommentHow about "menca", 'certain age' abbreviated and a play on mensa b/c it's a smart show... Probably too cheesy, but that's all I got.
I love this show. It's a small, smart show. All the leads are great. It's funny and touching at the same time. I like watching a show where I can care about the characters.
Charles
December 14, 2010 at 11:56AM EST Reply to CommentMofaCA?
Or is that a bit too raw?
DeeTV LOL
December 14, 2010 at 12:47PM ESTPlayed Small
December 14, 2010 at 12:54PM EST Reply to CommentThere were numerous small surprises. Here are 4 I can think of:
- You do worry at least a bit if Albert will fall off the roof. But as Alan says, show doesn't go that way
- The pacing of Albert running while Joe is gunning the car anxiously made me worry Albert would be hit by a car, or Joe would be in an accident, or, worst of all, Joe would hit his own son. And then nothing of the sort happened. (I wasn't aware of the homage aspect of this so to me the scene was just what we were seeing.)
- I figured the triple espresso would lead to Spaghetti Tranelli eventually having an anxiety attack. Nope.
- They then set it up that Joe's lateness made it likely to appear to Joe that Albert was having an anxiety attack when he was panting while getting into the car, and even that he threw up from the anxiety. And I figured that could lead to a conventional misunderstand - Joe thinks "I guess Albert is still having terrible anxiety attacks" while Albert thinks "I'm not, but I can't tell my dad I was out drinking so I'll have to stay silent and play along." Nope, didn't happen. I guess Joe smelled the alcohol on his son.
In every case I guess I was expecting something more conventional or predictable and they fooled me.
On the other hand - I wasn't fooled when Terry walked into the bar with Melinda McGraw. Were we supposed to be surprised it was an act?
Doubting Melissa
December 14, 2010 at 1:01PM EST Reply to CommentI wonder if they are trying to portray Owen's wife as insensitive (or worse)? It is clearly not the best time for the family for her to make a major change and be less involved with the household. Owen simply and objectively has less time and energy at the moment and is under a lot of stress, yet she appears to be oblivious or not care. It's obvious from his stress level, from all the phone calls, and even should be logically evident.
That's not to say she should stay at home indefinitely! Just that of all possible times to make a big move, this is not it.
And, if, as she admits, Owen was right about her failure to get the kids ready for football, how come she was never the one to apologize? She messed up, yet he apologizes; she unilaterally decides to go back to work without even discussing it with Owen, which is a really bad way to behave in a marriage and almost stretches plausibility (unless we are to think she's thoughtless or very selfish); and in the end he's comforting her!
I find her character losing my sympathy, whether that is the show's intention or not. I don't recall her portrayed as selfish last year, but as kind of wise and stabilizing. But perhaps I missed some signs; or the show is deliberately injecting some tension into the marriage.
Dave Melissa did apologize.
December 14, 2010 at 5:10PM ESTDoubting Melissa I'll rewatch that scene tonight when it's reshown on TNT at 1AM, as I've already deleted the show from my DVR. What I remember is Owen apologizing, Melissa saying he was right but also something like she was angry that he was right. And this led into her saying she was bored and wanted to go back to work, which immediately gave Owen at least two more things to be upset about (just the idea of her going back to work right now, and the way she had already set up the lunch date without any discussion with him), and he showed a flash of anger in his reaction, which I was afraid was going to be a repeat of the original anger. Perhaps I've forgotten an actual apology buried in all that - it's very plausible that I have.
December 14, 2010 at 6:45PM ESTDoubting Melissa You are right, she did apologize right after the initial incident. Kind of hurried, blamed it on her lunch and party shopping, and then reacted angrily when Owen was still annoyed. She didn't seem to be taking full responsibility or entirely understanding quite how wrong she was.
December 15, 2010 at 6:13AM ESTShe later admitted, only after he told her he thought his reaction was wrong, that she eventually realized she had gotten mad that he was actually right.
It was all undercut though - first because he brought it up, not her, though she was in the wrong, and second because she immediately launched into wanting to go back to work. So with both "apologies" she was very quick to either make an excuse or even worsen the situation. It's not just that she might forget responsibilities once in a while, but now her desire to go back to work means she's willing to increase the challenges of running the family and increase overall strain at a particularly bad time.
It will be interesting to see if Melissa's dissatisfaction is a continuing plot point this season, or if she slips back into a supportive contented housewife role.
pamelajaye Melissa was wrong to forget, Owen was wrong to yell.
December 15, 2010 at 4:57PM ESTForgetting is benign, unless you make a habit of it.
Taking your bad day out on someone... I feel that is more worthy of apologizing for. I'm glad he saw what he was doing.
Yup, it's a bad time, but...
When Owen yelled at her for forgetting due to planning parties and going to luncheons (while he was working hard) I can see two things. It was as if he was accusing her of eating bonbons and watching soaps while he slaved away.
She felt she should do... more/something worthwhile.
Raising kids is worthwhile, but apparently it involves going to luncheons and buying party favors and getting reamed by your husband for indulging in such triva.
So either she was embarassed at her "frivolity" or
She decided she needed to be doing something "meaningful" or "lucrative."
In any case, I don't feel she's being unsupportive. I think she found his accusations to be a wakeup call.
The only issue I had with her was her planning lunch with her ex-coworker without discussing it with Owen, and even then, only if it was to the end of getting a job. If it was "just lunch" then that wasn't an apologizable offense either. (unless Owen is one of those extremely controlling husbands, and he does not seem to be.)
magnarama
December 14, 2010 at 1:08PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
magnarama
December 14, 2010 at 1:09PM EST Reply to CommentHow about "Menage"? After all, it *is* kind of a three-way.
madaboutmen
December 14, 2010 at 4:27PM EST Reply to CommentI love the pace of this show; it's not so choppy or quick to move on like so many shows. I love the writing and actors; great show to watch.
December 15, 2010 at 2:05PM EST Reply to CommentKnew the kid would barf in Dad's car - saw that one coming immediately. Didn't make Bueller connection, but worried for split second that kid would get hit by Dad's car. Didn't think he would fall off roof but could have gotten stuck on it.
Good show. Didn't stay with it first season. Finding more to like now.