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After an almost five-year hiatus from the television screen, actor Ray Romano of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame is back with a new show and a new direction on the upcoming “Men of a Certain Age” on TNT. Ray plays Joe, a 40-something separated father who once dreamed big of being a golf star but now runs a party store instead.

Speaking about the switch of going from the light-hearted family sitcom of “Everybody Loves Raymond” to the more darker and heavily crisis-situated role in his new show, Romano says, “I was at a point where I had enough of comedy. ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ was very successful, which I am very proud of, but I didn’t want to do another sitcom. I wanted to try something more real and I was really drawn into this.”

The show, which also co-stars Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher, sees each character struggle with their own mid-life demons, and tackles subjects such as divorce, infidelity, and single-parenting. With their problems though, the three life-long friends do their best to support each other. Romano says there was instant chemistry between the three veteran actors on set. “Scott and Andre are great guys,” he explains. “I’ll admit I was a little intimidated by Andre at first as he’s a Julliard-trained actor, the same way I was scared to work with Peter Boyle. But just like with Peter, when I started talking to him, and we both opened up with each other, we hit it off.”

And what about his own preparation for the show? “In ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ my character Ray Barone was an extension of myself, but I was still acting” he admits. “I’ve done quite a few films since then and have dipped my toes in dramatic acting. Hopefully I’m doing it well with what I’ve learned so far.”