Two and a Half Men
This is a great sticom that has gone from popular to even more popular. When Charlie Sheen did his "Winning" thing it ended his reign on the show. Ashton Kutcher is now the king of the show. I believe he's making 40 million an episode.
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Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that was first broadcast on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake. Charlie's free-wheeling life is complicated when his brother gets divorced and moves, along with his son, into Charlie's beach-front Malibu house. The series' premise was revamped in the ninth season, focusing on Alan moving on with his life after the death of Charlie with help from his new best friend and housemate, Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who is also dealing with his own troubles following a bad divorce. Alan, Walden, and Jake eventually bond, becoming close friends, forming a surrogate family unit.
In 2010, CBS and Warner Bros. Television reached a multi-year broadcast agreement for the series, renewing it through at least the 2011-12 season.[1][2] However, on February 24, 2011, CBS and Warner Bros. decided to end production for the rest of the eighth season due to Sheen entering drug rehabilitation and making "disparaging comments" about the show's creator and executive producer, Chuck Lorre.[3] Sheen was officially fired from the show on March 7.[4] The ninth season premiere, "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", killed off Sheen's character and introduced Ashton Kutcheras Walden Schmidt, his replacement.[5]
In 2011, a blog hosted by The New York Times referred to Two and a Half Men as the "biggest hit comedy of the last decade".[6]
On May 12, 2012, CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS) renewed Two and a Half Men for a tenth season, following the announcement that CBS had closed a one-year deal with stars Ashton Kutcher, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones.[7][8]
[edit] Overview
The series revolved initially around the life of the Harper brothers: Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer) and Alan's son, Jake (Angus T. Jones). Charlie is a bachelor who writes commercial jingles for a living while leading a hedonistic lifestyle. When Alan's wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) decides to divorce him, he moves into Charlie's Malibu beach house, with Jake periodically coming to stay. Charlie's housekeeper is Berta (Conchata Ferrell), a sharp-tongued woman who initially resists the change to the household but comes to grudgingly accept it.
The first five seasons find Charlie in casual sexual relationships with numerous women until the sixth season, when he becomes engaged to Chelsea (Jennifer Bini Taylor). However, the relationship does not last when Charlie flies to Paris in the eighth season finale in pursuit of Rose (Melanie Lynskey), who was introduced as his stalker in the pilot episode. In the ninth season premiere, it is revealed that Charlie died when he fell in front of a subway train in Paris; it is strongly hinted that Rose allegedly pushes Charlie in front of the train after learning that Charlie had cheated on her.
Alan's experiences are somewhat different from Charlie's. Throughout the series, Alan continues to deal with the results of his divorce from Judith, Jake growing up, and his generally little success with women. Even his marriage to Kandi (April Bowlby) at the end of the third season was short-lived. In the fourth season, Alan is back at the beach house paying alimony to two women out of his meager earnings as a chiropractor. In the seventh season, he begins a relationship with Lyndsey McElroy (Courtney Thorne-Smith), the mother of one of Jake's friends. Their relationship is temporarily suspended when Alan accidentally burns down her house and cheats on her, but the relationship eventually resumes.
In the ninth season premiere (after Charlie's death) the beach house is sold to Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), an Internet billionaire in the process of being divorced from his wife Bridget (Judy Greer). Alan leaves to live with his conceited mother Evelyn (Holland Taylor) when the house is sold, but Walden wholeheartedly invites both Alan and Jake back to live in the beach house, needing friends to help him deal with his marriage breakdown, therefore forming a tight-knit surrogate family. Meanwhile, Charlie's spirit now lives on in Hell in the form of a woman (Kathy Bates) as eternal punishment for his womanizing ways during his lifetime. He continues to watch over his brother and nephew, still disgruntled by the fact they won't leave his former home.
[edit] Production
![[icon]](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg&page=1){kind=small} | This section requires expansion with: general production information as per MOS:TV#Background/production. (November 2011) |
[edit] Sheen's firing and replacement
Following a February 2010 announcement that Sheen was entering drug rehabilitation, filming of the show was put on hiatus,[9] but resumed the following month.[10] On April 1, 2010, People.comreported that after seven seasons, Sheen announced he was considering leaving the show.[11] According to one source, Sheen quit the show after filming the final episode of season 7, purportedly due to his rejection of CBS's offer of $1 million per episode as too low.[12] Sheen eventually stated that he would be back for two more seasons.[13] On May 18, 2010, the New Zealand website stuff.co.nz reported that a press release issued by Sheen's publicist confirmed that Sheen had signed a new contract for a further two years at $1.78 million per episode. "To put a fitting end on the two and one-half months of whirlwind speculation, I'm looking forward to returning to my CBS home on Monday nights," Sheen was quoted as saying.[14]
On January 28, 2011, Sheen entered a rehabilitation center voluntarily for the third time in 12 months. According to Warner Bros. Television and CBS, the show was put on hiatus for an unknown amount of time.[15] The following month, after Sheen's verbal attacks against Chuck Lorre during a radio interview with Alex Jones and an online interview with TMZ.com, CBS announced that Two and a Half Men would cease production for the rest of its eighth season,[16]affecting an estimated 200 employees,[17] and causing Warner Bros., Lorre, Sheen, and other profit participants not to receive about $10 million from the lost eight remaining episodes.[18] Afterwards, Sheen was interviewed on ABC's 20/20, NBC's Today, and CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, continuing to make hostile comments about Lorre, as well as CBS.[19] On March 7, CBS and Warner Bros. Television jointly announced that Sheen had been fired from Two and a Half Men, citing "moral turpitude" as a main cause of separation.[5] No decision about the future of the show was announced at that time.
Cast members Marin Hinkle and Holland Taylor expressed sadness at Sheen's departure and personal problems.[20] Jon Cryer did not publicly comment on the matter and in response, Sheen called him "a turncoat, a traitor, [and] a troll" in an E! Online interview,[21]although he later issued a "half-apology" to Cryer for the remarks.[22]Sheen sued Lorre and Warner Bros. Television for $100 million, claiming that he had filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and Two and a Half Men's cast and crew; however, only Sheen was named as a plaintiff in court documents.[23]
In April 2011, Sheen mentioned during a radio interview after his tour's stop in Boston that he and CBS were talking about a possible return to the show.[24] Regardless, Lorre announced that same month that he had developed an idea for a Two and a Half Menreboot that would exclude Sheen and have Cryer in a key role alongside a new character.[25] On May 13, CBS announced that Ashton Kutcher would join the cast. Kutcher was quoted as saying, "I can't replace Charlie Sheen but I'm going to work my ass off to entertain the hell out of people!"[26]
On August 2, 2011 it was reported that the season nine premiere would begin with Sheen's character having been killed off and his ex-girlfriends attending his funeral. Afterwards, Charlie's Malibu home would be put up for sale and interested buyers would include celebrities from Lorre's other sitcoms, and John Stamos as well as Kutcher's character, Walden Schmidt, "an Internet billionaire with a broken heart." Critics compared this situation to what happened in 1987 to Valerie Harper, who was also fired from the sitcom, Valerie(later titled Valerie's Family: The Hogans and then The Hogan Family), also had her character killed off-screen, and was also replaced by someone else, Sandy Duncan, the following season.[27][28][29][30]
Rather than grieving over the death of his character, Sheen said he would watch his "fake funeral attended by [his] fake ex-girlfriends, from [his] very, very real movie theater, with [his] very real hotties in tow."[31][32] Sheen's response to the season 9 premiere was very positive.[33] He reportedly felt Charlie Harper's funeral was "eerie but fun". Sheen also felt that the reveal of Kutcher's character in a cloud of his own character's ashes was particularly enjoyable.[34]
The attention Two and a Half Men received from Kutcher's arrival benefited the show's popularity. Average total viewers during the 2011–2012 season rose 13% to 15 million, and the 5.2 rating in the 18–49 demographic rose by 27%.[35] His debut as the character Walden Schmidt, entitled "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", was seen by 28.7 million people on September 19, 2011. The Nielsen ratings company reported that figure was more than any episode in the show's first eight seasons, when Sheen starred in it. At the 2012 Emmys Two and a Half Men was nominated for four awards winning 3 of them, the most Emmys the show has won in a single year since the show began. Kutcher replaced Sheen for the highest US paid actor in 2012 after receiving $700,000 per episode.
[edit] Cast and characters
[edit] Main
 | Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper(starring; seasons 1–8), a hedonisticbachelor, alcoholic, jingle/children's songwriter, Alan's brother and Jake's uncle. Despite his selfish and mean demeanor, he does possess a kind heart though he very rarely shows it. He is written out of the series at the beginning of season 9, after being struck and killed offscreen by a moving train, due to Charlie Sheen being fired from the show. Near the end of the season 9, the character appears in a single episode portrayed by Kathy Bates as a ghost forced to spend eternity in Hell as a woman with a pair of testicles. |
| Jon Cryer as Dr. Alan Harper, Charlie's chiropractor brother, Jake's divorced father, and Walden's best friend, who is conscientious but continually stricken with bad judgement. |
| Angus T. Jones as Jake Harper, the underachieving and lazy son of Alan and Judith. He joins the Army at the end of the 9th season, though he is uncertain if he made the right decision. |
| Conchata Ferrell (recurring season 1; starring seasons 2-present) as Berta, Charlie and Alan's (later Walden's) sharp-tongued housekeeper. |
| Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper, Charlie and Alan's conceited mother and Jake's grandmother. A high powered Los Angeles broker/realtor. |
| Marin Hinkle (starring seasons 1-8; recurring seasons 9-present) as Judith Harper-Melnick, Alan's vindictive, self-absorbed ex-wife and Jake and Millie's mother. |
| Jennifer Bini Taylor (recurring season 6; starring season 7; season 9 guest) as Chelsea,[note 1] Charlie's girlfriend for most of season six, who has moved into his house by the end of the season. She then becomes Charlie's fiancée in season seven. (While credited on-screen among the main cast during the seventh season, CBS press releases billed her as a recurring character.) |
| April Bowlby (recurring season 3; starring season 4) as Kandi,[note 2] Charlie's girlfriend, then girlfriend and wife of Alan, then Alan's second ex-wife, Judith's best friend (for one episode). |
| Melanie Lynskey (starring seasons 1-2; recurring seasons 3-5, 8-present, guest appearances; 6-7) as Rose, the Harpers' strange neighbor and Charlie's stalkerand friend. Initially, Charlie despised Rose and wanted nothing to do with her but eventually they became friends and he later fell in love with her. In the ninth season premiere, Rose claimed that Charlie "slipped" in front of a Paris Métrotrain after she had caught him cheating on her. She was later seen taking Bridget Schmidt under her wing as an apprentice stalker. She'll make two appearances in season 10. |
| Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt(starring; season 9–present), Alan's best friend and housemate. A hopeless romantic, kind, and naive internet tycoon, who purchases the Harper beach house after Charlie's death. He also has formed close relationships with Jake, Evelyn, Judith, Herb, and Berta who initially had a crush on him.[36] |
[edit] Recurring
| Ryan Stiles (seasons 2, 4–present) as pediatrician Dr. Herbert "Herb" Melnick, Judith's goofy, train-hobbyist second husband, father to Judith's daughter, and Jake's stepfather. (In season 2, the character was named "Greg Melnick.") |
| Emmanuelle Vaugier (seasons 3, 5, 6, 7, 9) as Mia, ballet teacher, Charlie's ex-fiance. |
| Jane Lynch (seasons 1, 3–9) as Dr. Linda Freeman, initially Jake's and then Charlie's and Alan's adept, and later Walden's incisive, sarcastic, but money-hungry psychiatrist. |
| J. D. Walsh as Gordon (seasons 1-4; 6-8), a pizza delivery guy who frequently delivered to Charlie, whom he somewhat idolized. At one time, he is Rose's boyfriend, or more correctly her substitute for Charlie. |
| Kelly Stables (seasons 6–8) as Melissa, Alan's receptionist who briefly dated Charlie before starting an intermittent relationship with Alan. |
| Courtney Thorne-Smith (season 7–present) as Lyndsey MacElroy, Alan's on-again/off-again girlfriend and the mother of Jake's best friend, Eldridge. |
| Graham Patrick Martin (season 7–present) as Eldridge MacElroy, Jake's best friend whose mother Lyndsey is dating Alan. |
| Judy Greer (season 9–present) as Bridget Schmidt, Walden's ex-wife who is now dating his friend and business partner, Billy.[37] Greer previously appeared in season 4 as Myra, Herb's sister. |
| Macey Cruthird (seasons 8–9) as Megan, Jake's chemistry tutor and recurring girlfriend; she first appeared in the season 8 episode "Springtime on a Stick". |
| Sophie Winkleman (season 9–present) as Zoey, a British woman with whom Walden falls in love, and dates throughout most of season 9. |
| Talyan Wright (season 9-present) as Ava Pierce, Zoey's young daughter from her marriage to Nigel. Well mannered and intelligent, Ava adores Walden, and is 108th in line to the throne.[38] |
| Mimi Rogers (season 9–present) as Robin Schmidt, Walden's mother, a primatologist who raised Walden with a baby gorilla as his "brother" for the first four years of his life and is a director of Walden's company along with Walden, Bridget and Alan. |
[edit] Guest stars
Guest stars have included:
| Jason Alexander as Dr. Goodman, Alan's doctor (season 9, episode 23) |
| John Amos as Ed, boyfriend of Chelsea's father Tom (season 7) |
| Diora Baird as Wanda, a girl who chases after Charlie when he is engaged to Chelsea (season 6, episode 16) |
| Orson Bean as Norman, an old man who is married to a woman with whom Charlie had sex (season 2) |
| Nadia Bjorlin as Jill, A young woman who sleeps with Russell, and Evelyn's one-time lover (season 8) |
| Susan Blakely as Angie, an author Charlie met at a bookstore (season 5, episodes 18 and 19) |
| Michael Bolton as himself, a friend of Walden's (season 10, episode 1) |
| Paget Brewster as Jamie Eckleberry, Charlie and Alan's high school classmate (season 2, episode 12) |
| Gary Busey as himself, Alan's roommate in a sanitarium (season 9) |
| Julia Campbell as Francine, Jake's teacher (season 3) |
| Jessica Collins as Gloria, one of Charlie's one night stands, who may be his and Alan's sister (season 4, episode 11) |
| Elvis Costello as himself, Charlie's poker and cigar buddy (season 2, episode 1) |
| Miley Cyrus as Missi, an old family friend of Walden's, who becomes Jake's new girlfriend (season 10) |
| Josie Davis as Sandy, a girlfriend of Alan's (season 3) |
| Michael Clarke Duncan as Jerome Burnette, Charlie and Alan's neighbor, and the father of Celeste Burnette (season 6) |
| Steven Eckholdt as Brad, Alan's lawyer, and Chelsea's replacement for Charlie (season 7) |
| Jenna Elfman as Frankie (season 1, episode 15 and 16) and as Dharma (season 9, episode 1) |
| Georgia Engel as Jean, Lyndsey's mother (season 9, episodes 19, 20) |
| Sara Erikson as Jennifer, Jake's one-time, older girlfriend (season 9, episode 17) |
| Emilio Estevez as Andy, Charlie's long-time friend who dies before him (season 6, episode 11) [real-life brother of Charlie Sheen.] |
| Morgan Fairchild as Donna (Charlie's ego) (season 4, episode 16) |
| Meagen Fay as Martha Melini, Chelsea's mother (seasons 6 and 7) |
| Frances Fisher as Priscilla Honeycutt, Alan's patient (season 7, episode 19) |
| Megan Fox as Prudence, Berta's granddaughter (season 1, episode 12) |
| Thomas Gibson as Greg (season 9, episode 1) |
| Judy Greer as Myra Melnick, Herb Melnick's sister, Jake's step-aunt, and Charlie's one-night fling (season 4) |
| Teri Hatcher as Liz, Judith's sister (season 1, episode 19) |
| Erinn Hayes as Gretchen, a one night stand of Alan's (season 8, episode 5) |
| Tricia Helfer as Gail, Chelsea's friend (season 7 and 9) |
| Amy Hill as Mrs. Wiggins, Alan's receptionist after Melissa leaves him (season 7) |
| Enrique Iglesias as Fernando, Charlie's carpenter/handyman (season 4, episode 23) |
| Kris Iyer as Dr. Prajneep (season 1, episode 17; season 4, episode 16; season 5, episode 1)[39] |
| Allison Janney as Alan's online datingpartner (season 4) |
| James Earl Jones as himself (season 6, episode 11) |
| Tinashe Kachingwe as Celeste Burnette, Jake's ex-girlfriend (seasons 6 and 7) |
| Carol Kane as Shelly, Melissa's mother (season 6) |
| Stacy Keach as Tom Melini, Chelsea's father (season 7) |
| Richard Kind as Artie, Charlie's manager (season 5, episode 8) |
| Eric Allan Kramer as Bill (season 1) |
| Katherine LaNasa as Lydia, Charlie's Oedipal girlfriend and Evelyn's doppelgänger (season 4, episodes 6 and 10) |
| Cloris Leachman as Norma, Charlie and Alan's neighbor, Alan's "sugar momma", and Charlie's former "sugar momma" (season 3) |
| Richard Lewis as Stan, Charlie's accountant (season 1, episode 14) |
| Heather Locklear as Laura Lang, Esq., Alan's divorce attorney (season 1, episode 21) |
| Jon Lovitz as Archie Baldwin, Charlie's arch nemesis to win the advertising award (season 3, episode 17) |
| Camryn Manheim as Daisy, Berta's sister (season 2) |
| Jenny McCarthy as Courtney Leopold/Sylvia Fishman, daughter of Nathan Krunk (alias "Teddy Leopold")(Season 5, episode 9,16,17 and season 9, episode 4) |
| Katy Mixon as Betsy, a married woman whom Charlie purports to marry after his break-up with Chelsea (season 7, episodes 7 and 16) |
| Christina Moore as Cynthia Sullivan, Judith's best friend (season 5) |
| Brit Morgan as a girl Walden picks up at a bar (season 10 episode 1) |
| Martin Mull as Russell, Charlie's drug-addicted, unethical pharmacist (seasons 6, 7, 8, and 9) |
| Ming-Na as the Hon. Linda Harris, Superior Court judge, adjunct law professor, and Charlie's girlfriend (season 5, episodes 3, 4, 5, and 6) |
| Judd Nelson (season 8) as Chris McElroy, ex-husband of Alan's love interest, Lyndsey, and Eldridge's father. |
| Chris O'Donnell as Jill/Bill, Charlie's ex-girlfriend who since became a man(season 1, episode 18) |
| Gail O'Grady as Mandi, mother of Kandi, ex-wife of Andy, and brief love interest of Charlie (season 3) |
| Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Isabella (season 3, episode 6) |
| Patton Oswalt as Billy Stanhope, Walden's former business partner |
| Sean Penn as himself, Charlie's poker and cigar buddy (season 2, episode 1) |
| Jack Plotnick as Mike (season 5) |
| Annie Potts as Lenore, mother of Judith & Liz (season 7) |
| Missi Pyle as Delores Pasternak, Jake's teacher (season 2, 7, and 9) |
| Carl Reiner as Marty Pepper (season 7) |
| Denise Richards as Lisa, Charlie's former girlfriend (season 1, episode 10, and season 2, episode 9) [ex-wife of Charlie Sheen] |
| Emily Rose as Janine (season 6, episode 12) |
| Sara Rue as Naomi, Berta's daughter (season 4) |
| Jeri Ryan as Sherri, Charlie's girlfriend (season 2, episodes 5 and 19, season 9, episode 1) |
| Martin Sheen as Harvey, father of Rose, and Evelyn's fling (season 3) [real-life father of Charlie Sheen] |
| Brooke Shields as Danielle, Charlie and Alan's neighbor (season 4) |
| Rena Sofer as Chrissy, the "mother" of Charlie's "son" (season 6, episode 1) |
| Kevin Sorbo as Andy, father of Kandi, ex-husband of Mandi, and brief love interest of Judith (season 3) |
| John Stamos as himself (season 9, episode 1) |
| Harry Dean Stanton as himself, Charlie's poker and cigar buddy (season 2, episode 1) |
| Tony Tripoli as Phillip, Evelyn's hairdresser (season 4) |
| Steven Tyler as himself, Charlie and Alan's neighbor and Berta's one-time employer (season 1, episode 4, and season 4, episode 2) |
| Eddie Van Halen as himself (season 7, episode 1) |
| Emmanuelle Vaugier as Mia, Charlie's ex-fiancée (seasons 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9) |
| Robert Wagner as Nathan Krunk (alias "Teddy Leopold"), Evelyn's fifth husband (later revealed to be a con artist), who died late in season 5 (seasons 4 and 5) |
| Wayne Wilderson as Roger, Evelyn's co-worker (season 4) |
| Alicia Witt (season 6) as Delores Pasternak, Jake's teacher who became a stripper |
| ZZ Top as themselves |
As part of a crossover from the writers and executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, George Eads made a brief cameo appearance on the May 5, 2008 episode.[40]
Charlie Sheen's real-life brother Emilio Estevez has guest-starred as an old friend of Charlie's;[41] his father Martin Sheen has appeared as Rose's father. Sam Sheen, the real-life daughter of Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, has appeared as Lisa's daughter on November 22, 2004.[42]
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