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Two and a Half Men
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Everything about Two And A Half Men totally explainedTwo and a Half Men is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American television sitcom, which premiered CBS on Monday, September 22, 2003, at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT. The series centers around a freewheeling bachelor, Charlie, whose carefree lifestyle is interrupted when his newly separated brother Alan moves in, along with Alan's son Jake. The show was co-created by executive producers Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. In its third season, starting September 2005, it moved to Mondays at 9:00 p.m. (taking Everybody Loves Raymond's time slot). 'Two and a Half Men debuted in local syndication in September 2007, also soon to be syndicated on the FX cable network in 2010. Production on the show was halted on November 6, 2007 due to the WGA strike. The show returned March 17, 2008 with 9 episodes to come. CBS has also renewed the show for a sixth season.
Cast and characters
- Charlie Sheen, as Charles "Charlie" Francis Harper, a hedonistic ladies man, never married, jingle/children's song writer who tends to pick on his brother Alan but ultimately loves him. He is the exact opposite of his little brother: successful and well-off. He likes and gives advice (much of which isn't age-appropriate) to Jake but the two often trade barbs as well.
- Jon Cryer, as Alan Jerome Harper, Charlie's twice divorced chiropractor brother, who is constantly stricken with bad luck and was teased by Charlie as a kid. After losing his house to Judith after the divorce, he's permanently staying with Charlie. He's a generally nice and polite guy who has never had much luck romantically or financially, and seems to have a weakness for women who treat him badly that stems from the non-nurturing relationship he'd with his and Charlie's mom.
- Angus T. Jones, as Jacob David "Jake" Harper, Alan's lazy, underachieving and sarcastic son. He spends most of his free time playing video games and watching television. Jones doesn't sing the show's catchy theme song, even though it's a popular belief; in fact, neither do Sheen or Cryer. The female voice that Jones is lip-synching is the singer and voice-over artist Elizabeth Daily.
- Marin Hinkle, as Judith, Alan's humorless first ex-wife. She despises Alan and takes every chance she gets to humiliate him. Alan often calls out her hypocrisy towards him but also seems to still have feelings for her. It was no secret that she lived a luxurious life on Alan's alimony, going so far as to get a boob job. She has since remarried to Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles), Jake's pediatrician, a union that brought joy to Alan because it meant he no longer had to pay her alimony.
- Holland Taylor, as Evelyn Harper, Charlie and Alan's aristocratic and self-centered mother, Jake's grandmother. She isn't very fond of her sons or her grandson, and the feeling's mutual because of her cold, careless, sarcastic style of parenting/grand-parenting. Her wide-ranging sex life is a recurring gag throughout the series. Charlie constantly (indirectly) implies that she's the devil. For example, he's her phone number on speed dial: "666. Cute, huh?" And when asked if he knew her favorite perfume, Charlie asked a store clerk if she carried Chanel 666 in a similar joke.
- Melanie Lynskey, as their neighbor Rose, a sometime stalker of Charlie. She has a habit of entering and exiting Charlie's house through the patio. She has stated that she's a Masters Degree in psychology. In seasons 1 and 2 she was a starring character, and is a recurring character thereafter. Rose left town for London in Season 4 but has since returned to the U.S. and found new ways to woo/stalk Charlie.
- Conchata Ferrell, as their sarcastic housekeeper Berta. Throughout the series, hints have been made of her being a lesbian, but nothing has been proven. She has a sister named Daisy, played by Camryn Manheim, whom she doesn't get along with. She also has a number of daughters whom she herself states are "sleazy and easy". In season 1 she's a recurring character; from then on, she's a starring character.
- April Bowlby, as Kandi, Alan's young, deeply dimwitted second ex-wife. She is a starring character from season 4 onward; her previous appearances are recurring. She divorced him and got their condo, but they continued to have regular booty calls. When she got a role on a CSI-spoofing show, she signed divorce papers so that Alan wouldn't be able to claim her newfound fortune, and hasn't been seen on the show since then.
Only Sheen, Cryer and Jones have appeared (and been credited) in every episode. Guest stars so far have included Emmanuelle Vaugier as Mia, Ryan Stiles as Dr. Melnick, Jane Lynch as the therapist Dr. Freeman, Jeri Ryan as Sherri, Martin Sheen as Rose's father, Cloris Leachman as Norma, Denise Richards as Lisa, Richard Lewis as Stan, Teri Hatcher as Liz, Judy Greer as Myra, Heather Locklear as Laura Lang, Megan Fox as Prudence, Robert Wagner as Teddy, Jenny McCarthy as Teddy's daughter, Courtney, Jenna Elfman as Frankie, Camryn Manheim as Daisy, Brooke Shields as Danielle and Enrique Iglesias as a handyman. Sean Penn, Elvis Costello, Harry Dean Stanton and Steven Tyler all appeared as themselves, among other guests.
As part of a crossover from the writers and executive producer of, George Eads made a cameo appearance on the May 5 2008 episode.
Synopsis
Charlie is a successful and affluent 40 year old bachelor who has a career writing advertisement jingles. Charlie resides in a large oceanfront home in Malibu, California, and is portrayed as a chauvinistic, hedonistic womanizer; all he cares about is having sex. The pilot begins when his wimpy brother Alan becomes divorced from his wife, moves out of their house, and has to move in with his brother. Alan has shared custody of his son Jake (10 when the series began), who stays with him part-time. Though some believe the title is in reference to the fact that Jake is only with Charlie and Alan half the time, it's really referring to the fact that Jake isn't an adult yet, and only "1/2 a man".
Rose ( Melanie Lynskey) is Charlie's zany neighbor and female stalker. Rose had a one night stand with Charlie shortly before the show started, which she believed to be more signficant, and tends to enter his house through the patio in the most inopportune moments, expressing her ambition of obtaining Charlie, and often serving as a good, albeit crazy, friend and adviser. Although obviously troubled herself, Rose has stated a few times that she's a Master's degree in psychology, and Alan has referred to her as having two advanced degrees. In various episodes it's insinuated that Rose is very slowly orchestrating a psychological plan to win Charlie back. Early in the series after she's become "Scrabble" friends with Alan as a way to get closer to Charlie, she's heard to say (to herself) "Phase one, complete."
In one episode, Rose's father Harvey ( Martin Sheen) asks Charlie of his intentions with his daughter after an apparent second one-night stand between the two. Harvey then meets Charlie's and Alan's mother and has an affair with her, stalking her and popping in just like his daughter does. We then learn from Harvey's mother that "that's what happens when you marry a first cousin," explaining Rose's family's dementia.
Many of the episodes feature Judith misusing her alimony (before she remarried and Alan no longer had to pay her) and child support (she got a breast enlargement in one episode with her alimony).
Another important recurring character is Berta ( Conchata Ferrell), Charlie's sarcastic and sharp-tongued housekeeper. She trades insults with Charlie and it's clear the household can't function without her. She usually tolerates Alan as long as he doesn't make excessive demands for particular food products and often refers to him as "Zippy." Berta also enjoys occasionally starting trouble between the brothers by needling each one about the other while she sits back and watches the conflict take place.
Alan and Charlie's mother, Evelyn ( Holland Taylor) is a hip, wealthy, early-sixties, many-times-divorced, probably bisexual, promiscuous, controlling mother of the brothers. Both Charlie and Alan attribute their life's problems to the dark manipulative force their mother manages to exert upon them even now, adding to the caustic humor of the show in the situations depicting their vain attempts to escape her. For all of her selfishness and manipulation, Evelyn does love her kids and grandson deep down.
Another recurring theme is the conflict of personalities between the two diametrically opposed siblings, the relaxed, good-life, woman-catching, commitment-phobic Charlie and the uptight self-conscious nerdy Alan. Alan can sometimes appear to be jealous of Charlie's lifestyle, and can sometimes try to stop Charlie's decisions. This also provides opportunities for comedy in the show, with Alan, having admitted defeat, making comments such as 'it's like talking to a horny chimp', or 'it's like trying to talk Shakespeare to a Hershey bar'. However, every season has had at least one episode where Charlie and Alan are seriously fighting with each other, although the conflicts are generally resolved by that show's end.
A great deal of the humor on the show comes from the real-life experiences of creator Chuck Lorre. In a now-famous Entertainment Weekly interview, Holland Taylor said that Lorre was using the memories of his own less-than-great relationship with his mother for the storylines involving Evelyn and Charlie/Alan. Charlie Sheen also said that it was "no accident...that Chuck finally decided to do a show about men. I'll leave it at that."
DVD releases
Season 1 Extras
Two Adults, One Kid, No Grown-Ups: - behind the scenes with Cast and Crew.
Backstage tour with Angus T. Jones/ Jake Harper.
Gag Reel/Outtakes.
Season 2 Extras
2½ Days in the Life of 2½: - Viewers are invited for a behind-the-scenes look at a typical day in the life of cast members Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones.
The Serious Business of Writing Comedy: - A hilarious look at what it really takes to write a comedy show.
Gag Reel.
Season 3 Extras
Gag Reel.
Season 4 Extras
Scene Access.
Two all new Behind the Scenes featurettes.
Deleted Scenes.
Gag Reel.
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Two and a Half Men on CBS.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
Episodes
International broadcasts
| Country |
TV network(s) |
Weekly schedule (local time) |
| Argentina |
Warner Channel |
7:00pm Monday/Friday and 8:30pm Tuesdays New episodes! |
| Australia |
Nine Network |
7:00pm weekdays (repeats) & 7:30pm Wednesdays (new episodes) |
| Austria |
ORF 1 |
5:30pm weekdays |
| Belgium |
2BE |
20:10 from Tuesday to Thursday |
| Brazil |
Warner Channel, Later SBT |
Repeats: 7:00pm - 8:00pm from Monday to Friday and 8:00pm Tuesdays (Warner Channel), Sundays (SBT) |
| Canada |
OMNI.1, Global Television |
7:00pm from Monday to Friday |
| Chile |
TVN 1, Warner Channel |
8:00pm from Monday to Friday |
| Colombia |
Warner Channel |
7:00pm from Monday to Friday (Repeats) & 8:30 PM Tuesday (New Episodes) |
| Costa Rica |
Repretel |
8:00pm from Monday to Friday |
| Egypt |
MBC4 |
|
| Germany |
ProSieben |
1:00pm Saturdays (ProSieben) |
| Hungary |
Viasat 3 |
20:30pm weekdays |
| India |
Star World |
9:00pm Thursday |
| Ireland |
TG4 |
21:00pm Thursday |
| Israel |
yes stars 3 |
new broadcasts yet to be announced |
| Mexico |
Warner Channel |
19:00 to 20:00 Monday/Friday and 20:30 Tuesdays |
| Netherlands |
RTL 5, Veronica |
18:00 (new broadcasts yet to be announced) |
| New Zealand |
TV2 |
7:30pm Wednesdays (7th May Season Premiere double episode) |
| Norway |
TV3 |
6:00pm weekdays |
| Philippines |
Jack TV
Studio 23 |
8:30pm Fridays
9:15 pm Sundays |
| Poland |
TVN Siedem |
7:30pm weekdays |
| Portugal |
RTP2 |
1:20pm weekdays |
| Romania |
PRO TV |
23:15pm Tuedays |
| Spain |
TVE2 |
8:00pm weekdays |
| Sri Lanka |
MTV |
8:30pm Tuesdays (MTV) |
| Sweden |
TV3, TV6 |
Weekdays at 19:00 on TV3. |
| Switzerland |
SF zwei |
3.10pm weekdays - 6.15pm weekdays |
| Thailand |
True Series
STAR World |
currently in repeats
8:30pm Thursdays |
| Turkey |
CNBC-e |
8:30pm Wednesdays |
| United Kingdom |
Paramount Comedy 1 and Five and Sky One |
Official 'Paramount Comedy' Schedule |
| Venezuela |
Warner Channel |
7:00pm from Monday to Friday |
| France |
Canal+, Canal+Family, Canal+Décalé, Comédie!, Canal Jimmy |
Every weekends on Comédie! and Canal Jimmy and every weeks on Canal+ |
Parodies
In the "North by North Quahog" episode of Family Guy, the name of the show is interpreted in a more literal way. Meg and Chris are watching TV when the announcer says "Now back to 'Two and a Half Men'." The commercial then cuts to the show of the Harper brothers standing beside the bisected upper half of a man, and all of them are screaming (probably in fear/shock).
After Homer purchases a TiVo in the "Funeral for a Fiend" episode of the The Simpsons, Marge says that it only took her "two and a half minutes" to watch "Two and a Half Men" after skipping through all the commercials.
In another episode of The Simpsons ("Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife"), Homer's friend Lenny buys a new high definition TV. When Homer is watching a shark on the TV he says, "What a picture. You can see the soulless emptiness in that shark's eyes." The channel changes to "Two and a Half Men" and he says, "Ooh, 'Two and a Half Men.' You can see the soulless emptiness in Charlie Sheen's eyes."
This is Charlie Sheen's second sitcom in which his character is also named Charlie (the first one being Spin City).Further Information
Get more info on 'Two And A Half Men'.
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