Ray Romano is Joe, a father of two teenagers and the owner of a party-supply shop. He's separated from his wife, Sonia (Penelope Ann Miller), and it's still fresh, because he's living in a hotel and is unsure of what their deal is. He seems to have a gambling problem that may have been part of the reason he and his wife separated, and has recently noticed a sexy woman when he goes walking for exercise. Apparently, he once tried to go pro as a golfer.

Andre Braugher is Owen, a married father of two young boys who works as a car salesman at his father's dealership. His house is being renovated, and he has health problems that often leave him tired, which causes him problems at work and forces his father (Richard Gant) to pass him over for the head of sales job. They may be more serious, however, as they cause him to pass out while exercising.

Scott Bakula is Terry, an actor who supplements his income by temping in offices, and is still handsome and charming enough to bed much younger women, including his barista (Carla Gallo) at the coffee shop. His boss (Michael Hitchcock of Glee) and young co-worker at the office both look up to him because he's so cool, but he still gets uncomfortable as an older man going to auditions.

Obviously, the guys all have their own individual issues to deal with in their lives, and they each face tense situations at the end of the pilot. Joe meets with a bookie so he can continue to bet on sports, and although he's scared of the guy, he seems to expect a beating, and acts like he really wants one, as if he's ashamed of what he's doing and wants a reason to stop. (He doesn't get one -- the bookie works with his mom, and is a big softie.) Owen passes out while doing his daily hike up a hill with his friends, and ends up in the hospital, but resolves to get better at being a salesman, mostly to show his dad he's serious about the company. And Terry resists going to an audition for a Lifetime movie, but then does, although it's unclear if he gets it or not.

In between, they hang out in a diner, go hiking and go to a coffee shop. It's like Sex and the City, if they were working-class, lived in L.A. and were all dudes. Or Entourage, if only one of the characters was an actor, and they were all 15 years older. Being a fan of any of the three actors probably helps a lot, but Bakula plays his character as a little phony, Braugher plays Owen as a little incompetent, and Romano plays his character as a little broken. It's well-written, and it actually seems to be a fairly grounded, realistic show, for the most part. (For instance, next episode the big plot lines are that Joe awkwardly meets the woman he saw on his hike, Terry gets mad at a careless driver and Owen has to swap his company car for a smaller one because his sales are slipping. These are not Earth-shaking events.)

There was some kind of metaphor going on at the beginning and the end where Joe runs over a possum, and thinks he killed it, running it over again to make sure, but then watches it limp into the forest. He later goes back with his bookie to find it. Maybe it's saying something about how these guys aren't dead yet? Maybe not, but that certainly works for me. I hope the show lasts for a while -- longer than Raising the Bar did, anyway.

Did you see Men of a Certain Age? Let us know what you thought below.