Do you know that nauseating, aching feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when someone is blatantly embarrassing themselves in front of your eyes and you're entirely powerless to do anything about it? That's approximately how it feels to sit through an episode of Two and a Half Men; twenty minutes of gut-wrenching humiliation by association.
If you've never seen this show, you have to understand the three character archetypes, the interactions of which the show is hinging on: Alan (Jon Cryer) is an effeminate single father, Charlie (Charlie Sheen), his brother, is a smooth-talking playboy who for some reason dresses like an overgrown man-child perpetually stuck in a state of stilted adolescence, and Jake (Angus T. Jones), Alan's son and Charlie's nephew, the thick-headed buffoon of the group, whose intellectual missteps are supposed to make for solid comedy, the operative words being supposed to.
The first episode of the season -- which, mind you, is fairly important in setting the tone and laying down the upcoming themes of the rest of the season -- concerns Charlie trying to figure out if the child of the woman he abandoned years ago is actually his son. Half of the episode is devoted to lame, redundant jokes concerning the fact that Charlie didn't realize that condoms are only 98% effective. I'm sorry, but didn't they cover that gag on Friends five years ago, with much more dexterity and wit (which still isn't saying much)? Is that the norm now, to steal schticks that work on other, far more amusing sitcoms, awkwardly shoehorning them into episodes of your own half-hearted attempt at comedy, and hoping that people don't notice? Also, Angus T. Jones is much older now than he was at the start of the show, and now that any relics of that residual little-boy charm have effectively worn off, his presence feels like an unnecessary afterthought. And ALL HE DOES IS MAKE POOP JOKES ANYTIME HE'S ON SCREEN. I started a sample tally, and within the first of five minutes of an episode, I counted 7 poop jokes. Seven. The main thread for the rest of the season is Charlie attempting to grow out of his party-boy ways after he meets a girl who just may be the one, though she probably isn't because the show's been renewed for another three (!!!) seasons. Alan also toys with the idea of getting back together with his ex-wife as well as dealing with accepting the thought that her unborn child may belong to him, and Jake mostly just fills in the awkward moments with some crack about overeating or clogging the toilet. It's a shame, too, as Charlie Sheen has demonstrated the ability to display some comedic sensibility in the past -- in movies such as Hot Shots, Hot Shots Part Deux, and even Scary Movie 4 -- but history will show that those capricious forays into the world of funny are only successful when the film in question is little more than lighthearted farce and when Sheen remembers not to take himself too seriously.
Now, I realize that there are innumerable comedy shows that have similarly made the mistake of reducing characters to caricatures of their original personas as time goes on and plot lines wear thin for the sake of maintaining conflict and at least attempting to maintain some semblance of a sense of humor, but it's not a legitimate excuse for a primetime television program, nor should it even be an issue for an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated show. Ah, the state of the world we live in.
DVD Bonus Features
"Growing Up Harper" provides a brief profile of Angus T. Jones and the evolution of his character, Jake, neither of whom are particularly fascinating; the mini-doc is basically a collection of cast and crew interviews lauding Jones's, er, talents. "The Women of Two and a Half Men" is probably really only entertaining to devoted fans of the show who actually know who these characters are and how they have developed over past seasons. There's also a short but entertaining gag reel, which is probably the most amusing of the paltry special features.
"Two and a Half Men: The Complete Sixth Season" is on sale September 1, 2009 and is rated NR. Comedy, Television. Directed by Chuck Lorre, Lee Aronsohn. Written by Lee Aronsohn, Chuck Lorre. Starring Angus T Jones, Charlie Sheen, Holland Taylor, Jon Cryer.
