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Men of a Certain Age – I hope I don’t need to have seen “Tijuana 1-6″ to follow

Terry runs into some old acting friends and discovers that the dream may not be dead yet. Owen is faced with the reality of his father's health and his own future at the business, while Joe needs some fast cash to buy a house for his kids.

- Season 1, Episode 9 - "How to Be an All-Star"

I don’t know if it was their age, or the manner in which they did it, but I actually wasn’t turned off by the sex talk that Owen, Terry, and Joe had at the beginning of last night’s episode of Men of a Certain Age. I think we’ve all heard enough distasteful boasting and grotesque jokes to not want to have to sit through that type of conversation again, but something about the guys’ talk felt okay.

I suppose it might be because the humor was focused solely on the guys, and not the women who make up the other halves of their pairings. These are three old friends laughing at the point in life that the others’ have arrived at. Nothing more or less. And even Joe’s separation joke landed well — “I find I have more sex when the wife is out of the picture.”

What’s amazing is that they keep that type of quality writing up for sixty minutes.

I definitely find myself having a greater appreciation for the individual story lines that each star has, and I think that as the characters have developed they’ve all better acquired the ability to stand on their own two feet. Nevertheless, I’m surprised that none of the three is going to the others for advice as often as I’d assume they would.

Are Joe and Owen only going to discover that Terry’s in “Tijuana 7″ after it comes out in theaters (if it even does that)? Sorry, that T-Bag is in it. And I’m not sure if that movie is a step up or down for the stars of “Spring Break for Dads 2″ … what do you think they left out of the first one?

I’m trying to figure out why I knew Terry’s friend Bobby (Salvator Xuereb). I can see from his filmography that he’s been in a bunch of stuff that I’ve seen (Leverage, K-Ville, Criminal Minds, 24), but I can’t put my finger on which it was. Does anyone recall what Xuereb most stands out for?

It’s very cool that Terry’s being brought on the movie as a producer — that might be a new path for him to pursue — so at first I couldn’t understand why Annie was not being supportive of him. Then she reminded me by picking up the wetsuit. You know what? She needs to say something to him! She shouldn’t have to, but then again she knows Terry quite well; letting that anger and disappointment fester isn’t going to do anyone any good. She’s never held her tongue before, so I’m not sure why she would have done so now.

It’s amazing that even lying in a hospital bed Owen Sr. could be so oblivious to his own son. Yes he made the announcement already, but reiterating the fact that Owen’s being passed over at the business was just cold, especially after Owen sat there, with concern for his father’s health, telling him to slow down. I was extremely proud of Owen for finally picking himself up and going down the street to look for a new job. Way to go!

Joe, on the other hand, disappointed me. Not because he gambled his future on a basketball game (although the real support group he needs to go to is one for betting on what I presume was the Knicks), but that he won, thus perpetuating this illusion that he’s invincible. I guess the idea is that he has yet to hit rock bottom, but wouldn’t you assume that losing his wife and family was pretty rock bottom as it was? It might have made sense for him to lose the $25,000, be broken, and then spend a while battling back from that. Maybe it would force him to sell his store and leave him with no option but pursuing that PGA Senior Tour thing. But to keep him flying high? I was expecting it, but hoping it would turn out otherwise.

A side note to Dory, though. The fact that Joe won $25,000 doesn’t automatically mean that he stood to lose that much (although in this case it did). Ever hear of odds? He could have bet on something that paid out 25:1, in which case his risk would have been only $1,000. Does that possibility mean you’ll return his calls now?

Photo Credit: TNT

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