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Those who subscribe to the familiar adage "Dying is easy, comedy is hard" have not been hanging around lately with Ray Romano. The star and inspiration behind the hit family comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond" has discovered something far more difficult than comedy or sustaining a hit network sitcom. It's developing his Act 2. Romano is grappling with the demands of being the creative force behind TNT's "Men of a Certain Age," his first TV venture since 2005, when "Raymond" ended its nine-year run on CBS. Toning down his familiar everyman comic persona, he is leaping from the plush neon flashiness of network TV to the less glossy and more frugal regions of cable, and with a risky concept.

The stilettos are high, the barbs are sharp and the hair is massive. Women weighed down in jewels call each other "honey" and "sweetheart" before diving in for the verbal kill, and men at cowboy-themed barbecues sport belt buckles that cost more than single-family houses. ABC's upcoming dramedy, "GCB," takes a soapy snapshot of some affluent Texans who are sugary on the outside and steely on the inside. It also draws heavily on its setting, a God-fearing red state environment that breeds larger-than-life personalities and charter members of the George Bush fan club.

Most actors have jobs on their resumes they'd love to disown, but it's rare for one to criticize the biggest role of his career. But that's exactly what "Franklin & Bash" star Mark-Paul Gosselaardid in an interview with Yahoo TV this week. The 38-year-old actor, who got famous in the early '90s for playing Zack Morris on the teen sitcom "Saved by the Bell," had some unkind words to say about the series that gave him a career. "It's not a great show," he told the site.

'Falling Skies' Where: TNT When: 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-14-LV (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14 with advisories for coarse language and violence)

'Scott Turow's Innocent' Where: TNT When: 9 p.m. Tuesday Rating: TV-14-LS (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14 with advisories for coarse language and sex)