TWO AND A HALF MEN

TWO AND A HALF MEN

Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) is dead and Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) is left the house but cannot afford to make the payments, leaving him to sell it for no profit.  The funeral is comic genius with all of Charlie's women showing up for a send off like no other.  His womanizing, alcohol drinking lifestyle caught up with him as one woman would not stand for any of it.  

Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher) is a self-made internet mogul who has made millions.  His wealth has come from a company who purchased his small internet web site for an extraordinary amount then turned around and squashed everything, keeping the market to themselves.  His wife has left him so he turns to the ocean and attempts to kill himself by walking into the water.  He finds the water too cold and washes up on the beach of Charlie's mansion.  

Alan, always willing to help, has even more incentive now as Walden's wealth peaks his interest.  He lets Walden use the phone and the viewers get to see him beg his wife to take him back.  She hears nothing he says and squashes the thought of them getting back together.  Alan intervenes, offering to take him out to a bar and help ease his sorrows.  

Ordering an AppleTini, Alan turnsto Walden to see what he wants to drink only to find he does not like the taste of alcohol.  Having never drank before, Walden pounds down drink after drink with Alan, weakening their inhibitions.  Two girls approach the bar and with alcohol soaring through their veins, they pick them up and take them back to the mansion.  Alan, as before, finds himself alone while Walden takes both girls upstairs.  

Upon the light of the next day Walden decides to buy the mansion, but where will that leave Alan?

Jake Harper (Angus T Jones) is the underachieving son of Alan and ex-wife Judith.  He clearly follows in Uncle Charlie's footsteps, so how will he fit in with Walden is unclear.  He had very few lines in the premier episode so only time will tell.

Berta (Conchata Ferrell) is Charlie's spice-lipped housekeeper who never lets Charlie off the hook for any of his shenanigans and will continue that role with Walden.  Will she stay on as the housekeeper to the mansion? Probably, as Walden does not seem to have the brain capacity to stand up to her and let her go.  

Evelyn Harper (Holland Taylor) is Charlie and Alan's mother. Her wealth is clear in her tone and her actions, as she has little tolerance for the little people.  

Will we ever get to see Walden's wife, or will she be the "Carlton the Doorman" or “Charlie Townsend" of the show?  Taking this to an even higher level and never even being heard could keep the audience wondering when this character will appear.

Ashton Kutcher has taken the hardest job in Hollywood on the small screen for the 2011 fall season.  If the writers give his character the dip-wit of Kelso in "That 70's Show" and expand it into a more up to date character, then the show will not only keep most of its following but will turn on new viewers.  Charlie Sheen did not have to act when playing Charlie Harper because he was the same person off camera.  So he got paid millions to just sit on a couch with pre-written rehearsed lines and basically be himself.  Not really a stretch or work, it was the lines and not the delivery that got the laughs.

Chuck Lorre has been on our radar since he created "Grace under Fire" in 1993.  Since then, he has created shows such as "Dharma & Greg", "The Big Bang Theory" and "Mike & Molly", and each one was done with humor at the forefront.  "Cybill" did not last long, but then again the star of the show, Cybill Sheppard, has been known to be hard to work with.  I guess Lorre is now well schooled in the female and male acting temperament so that when the stars think they are bigger than the show, it is only a matter of time before it collapses around them.