Two and a Half Train Wrecks

Stars of the show - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

It’s the start of 2014 and I’m still nursing after effects of a cold, coughing like a maniac. Throw in seasonal allergies and you have a great look. Anyhow, it’s a beautiful 73 degree day in January and I’m still enjoying it. Just came from Trader Joe’s where I bought exotic coffees from Viet Nam. Enough chit-chat though -- on to our TV review.

TWO AND A HALF MEN

There’s a whole category of TV sitcom, where I don’t think it excels but nevertheless will watch it. Such shows can be engaging, fun, guilty pleasures on an afternoon of house cleaning. I’m thinking of shows like Coach, Wings, The Millers, and even Charles in Charge. One such show is Two and a Half Men which has been on (execpt for one 8th-season hiccup) since 2003. The show gave us the wealthy, alcoholic jingle writer Charlie Harper living in Malibu. His long-suffering divorced brother Alan becomes his roommate, with chubby, cute son in tow. Holland Taylor is the self-centered Mother who pops in occasionally and Conchata Ferrell gives us Berta, the wise-cracking housekeeper.

This show at its best was never really Emmy caliber; the jokes and situations were a bit formulaic and there wasn't a lot of depth. Nevertheless, there was humor to be had. The jokes frequently had fun double-entendres and the sibling rivalry reminded me a little bit of my own brother and me. A steady diet of this show would be like having Oreos and beer all the time. But for a periodic viewing, what the hey.

SO LONG CHARLIE

Alas, in Season 8 (@ 2011), Charlie Sheen took to the airwaves saying cryptic weird things. He said he had “tiger blood” and there were further remarks about “winning” and “warlocks”. To some mental health professionals his remarks seemed like evidence of a bipolar episode or drug psychosis. Unfortunately, Sheen also went after the show’s creator Chuck Lorre and said things that were hard to retract. He suggested that the show was tired and lame -- Lorre was a no-talent hack. After some protracted back-and-forth dialog Sheen was then booted from the show and the 8th season was curtailed. But this created a new decision point -- Two and a Half Men was a top-rated CBS show at this time.. what was a producer to do?

TRAIN WRECK

For season 9, Charlie Harper was killed off in a train “mishap”. The super popular Ashton Kutcher was brought in as Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt, buying Harper’s house and keeping Alan and Jake as roommates. This contrivance would have been OK if the show hadn’t otherwise taken a bizarre left turn into inexplicable weirdness. Alan’s character was morphed into a sycophantic buffoon, where he previously had a shred of adult credibility. The young Angus Jones made impolitic remarks about the show and was quickly replaced with an adult, lesbian niece. The previous cast (Berta, Evelyn) were faded to gray as the show became a strange mash-up of Walden sex encounters. All sense of continuity went down the tubes, and the show has come to resemble some kind of remedial comedy workshop.

Eddie Murphy (I think) was quoted as saying you can break any rule in comedy as long as the end result is funny. You don't sacrifice character for a punch line. Relationships previously established are kept intact or the dissolution is explained in the story line. Little things like that ..Two and a Half Men has broken every rule, thus making it clear why we have rules. I have to say -- I watch it now to see what ridiculous turn it will take. Maybe it's my own sort of comedy workshop. We can all learn from a train wreck.

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