I have always had an obsession with seeing what happens when TV series replace major characters, which is what got myself and millions of others to tune in to the season premiere of Two And A Half Men last year. Series lead Charlie Sheen had a very public meltdown that saw him fired from the show… and now, it was up to Chuck Lorre and the show’s creators to replace him. I tuned in to that premiere, and for better or for worse, ended up watching the entire season, which hits DVD on Tuesday, August 28.
Replacing Sheen as a foil to Jon Cryer’s Alan was Ashton Kutcher as sometimes-clueless billionaire “Walden Schmidt.” The newly-shot opening titles kind of sum up my reaction to Schmidt’s appearance — with a beard and long hair, Ashton Kutcher looks creepy. Eventually – spoiler warning! – he gets rid of the look, which makes me think that maybe it was always planned to go that way, with a character who looks as different from Charlie Sheen as possible. As a character, even a season in, I’m not sure what to think of Walden. Part of what worked most about the older Two And A Half Men — and hush, you people who say “it never worked” — was the dynamic between the brothers. As someone pointed out well before I ever did, the idea of a brother tolerating Alan staying in the house made sense. Alan leeching off of a billionaire he’s not related to is kind of uncomfortable.
The other issue I had with Season 9 is that the writers seemed to not be able to let go of Charlie — even though they were trying to get away from him. One episode sees Alan in a manic episode where he thinks he is Charlie; another has Kathy Bates as Charlie’s ghost. I’m sure the Two And A Half Men writing staff missed writing the character, but the more they bring him up, the more he is missed, and the less likely folks are to warm to Walden. Another thing that makes Walden less cool? His super-annoying British girlfriend Zoey, who annoys me so much that I had to look up the character’s name because I’d just think of her as “that lady.” Alan, at least, is paired with someone interesting in Courtney Thorne-Smith’s Lyndsey, even though I’m still wondering what she’s doing with him.
With that said — the show’s premiere is interesting to see how they pulled it off, and there are episodes in Season 9 that did genuinely make me laugh. Alan, Jake, Berta, and Evelyn are still on, and it’s interesting to see how they carry on without Charlie. I still kind of wish for an “I was just messing with ya” return for Charlie in the inevitable final episode, but I’m pretty sure that whole wound will never be properly bandaged.
As for the DVD… all 24 Season 9 episodes are within, plus three features — a gag reel, a look at the reactions to Ashton’s first taping, and a feature on the remodeling of the show set for the episode “The Billionaire Upgrade.” The taping feature, which also talks about the creation of “The New Two And A Half Men,” is a little too much of a puff piece for my tastes — while I understand it’s meant to make the show sound good, the implication is that the show is funnier than ever and that it was purely a creative decision to kill off Charlie. Audience members are interviewed, and of course they are saying “best episode ever….” I guess that is to be expected, since it’s not as though a DVD will come out where people are like “meh, I miss Charlie.”
The set upgrade feature, however, is fantastic, and the kind of thing I love to see on a DVD set. They talk about what went in to the changes in the set for the new year. A lot of shows do redesign as they get to so many years, and I think the Two And A Half Men crew did a good job in not changing things too much. Anything more would be jarring… remember when Happy Days redid Arnold’s?
If you’re a fan of Two And A Half Men, or were curious how the revamp would go down, you’ll enjoy this set. It hits stores on Tuesday. Order yours from Amazon.com at a discounted price and support this site!
