Things sure looked over when TNT canceled the critically-acclaimed, low-rated “Men of a Certain Age.” Yet hopeful fans maintained faith that the show would find a new home.
Unfortunately, that door looks to be closed, and co-creator Mike Royce effectively announced the show’s end in an open letter to fans.
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” [the Facebook] 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.