Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen in Two and a Half Men

[JJJ's Ulcer]

It has been addressed.

 

[mclay18]

I missed the first ten minutes. How did Charlie die, and why doesnt Alan have Charlie's money?

Here's how it goes:

Spoiler

At the funeral, Rose says that the day after she saw Charlie in the shower with another woman (this is after they get married and go to France), she says that Charlie "slipped and fell headfirst into an oncoming train" and exploded "like a bag of meat." (It's heavily implied she killed him and got away with it.) Why Alan doesn't have Charlie's money is explained in that he doesn't have any assets left, and they do mention that Alan did inherit Charlie's home. It's just that the property taxes and upkeep that forces Alan and his mom to sell the home.

 

[Matt]

Touche. I looked that up on Wikipedia right now because I couldn't believe it and I'm shocked. But there are exceptions to every rule I suppose. To save my argument, which one is fondly remembered and showed in syndication and which one is utterly forgotten?

Yeah, that is a fair point. The New Class lasted longer because it was a cheap to produce, Saturday morning teen show that had a revolving door of cast members.

Actually he was different in that unlike most of those others there was really nothing good about Charlie Harper at all. Charlie Harper was a terrible person in virtually every way and there was never any attempt by the writers to make him more likable like you see in so many other sitcoms (e.g. HIMYM).

Jefferson Darcy would be an exception because his show Married with Children had a very similar tone as Two and Half Men in that it reveled in immoral, crass and obnoxious behavior from its main characters.

Ok, Dennis Reynolds, Jerry Seinfeld (the character), Bill McNeal, Stewart from Spin City....there are characters like that too. It isn't anything new or revolutionary, is the point that I'm making.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I noticed at Charlie's funeral there was a black chick there.

When did he date a black chick?

 

[superion]

Ok, Dennis Reynolds, Jerry Seinfeld (the character), Bill McNeal, Stewart from Spin City....there are characters like that too. It isn't anything new or revolutionary, is the point that I'm making.

OK that is true.

 

[Sawyer]

Let me try to get through this as inoffensively as possible....

The funeral scene *swallows bile* wasn't half bad. Nor was John Stamos' cameo or the ashes thing. But a Dharma and Greg reunion? Really?

 

[chaseter]

My dad loves this show and he made me watch it...a little bit of me died tonight.

 

[Marvolo]

Hell must have frozen over. Lol sawyer had something semi good to say about the show.

 

[Sawyer]

My dad loves this show and he made me watch it...a little bit of me died tonight.

Morbid curiousity lead me here, but I feel your pain nonetheless. Though, honestly, of what I've seen of the series, this was hardly as bad as it can get.

Hell must have frozen over. Lol sawyer had something semi good to say about the show.

It was begrudging, but I got a chuckle or two out of it. But for the most part, I still despise Chuck Lorre as a writer and know that it will only get worse from here on in. I had to see how they would handle Charlie's departure, but I'm not sticking around to see how bad this thing can get.

 

[Prison Mike]

Just saw the episode. It wasn't bad. I thought Kutcher did a good job playing a depressed guy who can still the girl or two. The world ****ting on Alan is always funny so I laughed when he came in with the drinks only to find Kutcher upstairs with the two women. I loved that they managed to get all of Charlie's past women back for the funeral scene. The Dharma and Greg scene took me by surprise. I had no idea that Chuck Lorre was involved with that show. I'll be watching next week's episode to see how Alan and Jake are allowed to stay at the beach house.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

I loved the episode, i think, and hope they're now able to take it into a new direction. While Charlie was great, i think his schtick was indeed getting old on the show. hopefully we get to see more of Ashton's character, and who exactly he is.

I also loved the Dharma and Greg cameo!

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Ashton was very...meh

Charlie caried the show. i really doubt this show will get another season

 

[Frodo]

I didn't see the episode myself , but it seems to be getting negative reviews from the viewers anyway. It's early yet, but if things go down hill they can always pull the Dallas "Dream season" trick and have Alan wake up to Charlie hanging out in the kitchen and having him realizing that the last season was all a dream..

 

[Matt]

I don't think that they can. Doing so would mean firing Chuck Lorre who is the producer and creator of basically every CBS sitcom except HIMYM. CBS isn't willing to lose him.

 

[Ultra Lantern]

Ashton was very...meh

Charlie caried the show. i really doubt this show will get another season

I agree.

 

[Sawyer]

You guys aren't going to start scapegoating Ashton, are you?

 

[Prison Mike]

I liked Ashton, but I'm not fond of his long hair and beard.

 

[jonathancrane]

Actually, I was surprised to find that the premiere actually drew a few chuckles from myself. My primary complaint is how the first half of the episode was nothing but a series of inter-connecting shots at Sheen: yes, Mr. Lorre, we know you don't like him, can we please move on? Thus far, Sheen has shown himself to be the bigger man in this case, as evidenced in his speech at the Emmy's.
Returning to the premiere: Kutcher gave a good performance, the only complaint I have is not with him, but with the creative team: there's some potential for the character and Kutcher's resultant performances to really take the show to new heights (and I say heights, as of the past few seasons, the show - figuratively speaking - hasn't left the basement yet,) but this will happen only if they create some viable material. Last night, the characterization was 50/50: the jokes that worked worked really well, and the ones that did not, fell in front of a Parisian underground train.
The naked hug gag worked well, as I have a friend who has a bad habit of doing that or some variation of it.

 

[superion]

Over 27 million viewers on Monday. They still would have been better off bringing back Sheen both creatively and for the ratings. Sheen's return to the show would have brought in 30 million viewers.

Kutcher sucks. He can't act and has absolutely no personality. I still would have loved if they could have gotten Russel Brand as a replacement. He has the right attitude to replace Sheen as a drunken womanizer but he actually has a movie career.

 

[steintym]

I'm a big fan of the show, so I was real curious to see how they would get this thing going. Now, after watching the show, I'm not sure how I really feel. I guess it was just "meh" ... wasn't bad, but it didn't really pull me in either. I'll stick with it for now and see where they go with Ashton's character. I thought he would be more of a playboy type and all I kept seeing and hearing was Kelso.

 

[mclay18]

Returning to the premiere: Kutcher gave a good performance, the only complaint I have is not with him, but with the creative team: there's some potential for the character and Kutcher's resultant performances to really take the show to new heights (and I say heights, as of the past few seasons, the show - figuratively speaking - hasn't left the basement yet,) but this will happen only if they create some viable material.

Yeah. I do think the second episode will be the clincher -- whether Ashton has good chemistry with the rest of the cast members like Conchata Ferrell (Berta), Angus Jones (Jake), Marin Hinkle (Judith) and Holland Taylor (Evelyn). If it doesn't, the series will be over with this season.

And the writing needs to get better. There's a lot of comedic potential with Ashton's socially-awkward dunce and Alan's neurotic obsessive-compulsive loser, but hardly any of that surfaced here. But Ashton's entrance and Cryer's reaction was pure gold.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

Let's wait till the 3rd and 4th episodes this season till we label this a legit winner.

 

[Matt]

Yeah, the numbers were always going to be huge for the premiere. You have people like me who have never watched the show, watching out of curiousity. I won't stick around past next episode (which is still part of the premiere) and I am guessing that a good portion of that 27 million won't either. The question was never about if they could pull in big numbers for the premiere. That was always going to happen. The question is if they can keep the show's regular viewers without Charlie after the premiere.

 

[steintym]

Exactly, these first two shows (one premiere) won't be the gauge. It will be interesting to see the response once a couple of shows are out there.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I dont think Sheens return would have made the premire any higher. All the drama and seeing how they would play without him is what intrigued people. But it will be interesting to see how many stick around.