No fools at TNT

To commemorate April Fools Day, we’re going to present stories that sound like they should end with a cry of “April Fools!” but instead are absolutely true. That sounds like just about every other day on this blog, you grumble, but hey – on other days, I actually do make stuff up. Just play along.

First: Ray Romano will produce and star in a drama for TNT, and not just any drama, but one a TNT spokesman calls “a very special project for TNT.”

It’s called “Men of a Certain Age.” It’s about middle-aged guys dealing with middle-aged problems and “the unique bonds of male friendship.” Ray plays a neurotic divorced father (I always knew Deborah would leave him). His pals also would not fall under the rubric of “winner.”

Romano provided the requisite quote including a bit of a joke and the standard boilerplate press-release-ese: “(Series co-creator) Mike (Royce) and I have always had success writing what we know. What we know now is that we’re middle aged, neurotic and fat. We’re excited to be working with Michael Wright and TNT, who have been incredibly enthusiastic and supportive.”

TNT has also greenlit a show that can only be described as a “Mad Men” rip-off, “Truth in Advertising,” starring Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) and Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”). They play two pals only one is promoted and one is not and that’s going to be a little tricky for them to get along after that.

But, hey. TNT is really ramping up its production; they currently have 20 shows in development. At this rate, it’ll have more decent scripted dramas than NBC by 2010, if not 2009.