# Did you guys know about "vanity cards"? Also, defending Two and a Half Men **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678 "2009-07-29T16:25:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/21 "2009-07-29T18:24:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Not hardly. _Battlestar: Galactica_ came up with a different, two second animation of the two producers killing and/or maiming each other for nearly every episode. Heck, your own cite points out that Mary Tyler Moore’s production company, MTM, would tailor their card to the show (although not to the episode) by putting various props on the kitten relevant to whichever show it was attached to. > > Lots of other shows have used the card for various gags, although I’m blanking on specifics at the moment. Robot Chicken has the Stupid Monkey character about to die in a different way at the end of every show. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/22 "2009-07-29T18:27:21Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Joss Whedon would change his Mutant Enemy logo at the end of various shows to make a joke. For example, at the end of “Once More With Feeling”, the monster sang the “Grr Arrgh” I remember another one, where, after a particularly angsty episode, the monster moped, “I’m so depressed!” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/23 "2009-07-29T18:41:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I remember another one, where, after a particularly angsty episode, the monster moped, “I’m so depressed!” I found a list of all of them: “Becoming, Part Two” — He says “Oooh, I need a hug” instead. “Amends” — He wears a Santa hat. “Graduation Day, Part Two” — He wears a graduation cap. “Once More, with Feeling” — He sings the line in falsetto. “Storyteller” — He sings a line from the episode, “We are as Gods”. “Chosen” — He turns and pulls a face at the viewer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/24 "2009-07-29T19:24:42Z")
I’ve been watching _The Big Bang Theory_ on DVD, and they have the vanity cards at the end. It being DVD, I can pause it just then and read the whole thing. A couple of times, though, it’s just been something that looks like an audio player control with the caption “Click to play”. On the off-chance that it was an Easter egg on the disc, I tried clicking it, but it didn’t do anything. Were those the ones I was supposed to dig up online? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/25 "2009-07-29T19:33:33Z")
Amigos de Garcia, the production company for My Name is Earl and Yes, Dear creator Gregory Garcia, rotates a different picture of somebody Garcia knows wearing a sombrero. I don’t watch Two and a Half Men, but I do watch The Big Bang Theory. When I first picked it up at the beginning of this season I started pausing the TiVo and reading his vanity cards. One of them related stories that “weren’t funny then; are funny now” about things that happened to him over his TV career. The last one told about how when working on Cybil, Cybil Shepard told him to fire a certain writer because he was a misogynist, which Lorre admitted was true. But he responded “What do you care? You’re not a woman!” So she fired Lorre instead. On the card, he wrote that this was one instance that still wasn’t funny all these years later. That was the last time I read his cards. What a self-justifying douchebag. He seriously thought he could have gotten away with such a slimy thing to say? Sure, Shepard’s supposed to be an unpleasant person, but who cares? You say that shit to anybody, they’ll kick your ass for you. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/26 "2009-07-29T21:17:24Z")
I don’t love Two and Half Men. It is one of those: _I’m bored, I can’t find anything else to do and I don’t feel like reading_ shows. Some of the vanity cards are funny. I saw one a few weeks ago that made me laugh. In short, he said that he likes to imagine that we are all god and feels more connected that way, then he turns on Fox news and becomes an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/27 "2009-07-29T23:01:10Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I found a list of all of them: > > “Becoming, Part Two” — He says “Oooh, I need a hug” instead. That’s the one I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/28 "2009-07-30T00:28:12Z")
re “Two & 1/2 Men” - The first couple times I watched it, I couldn’t believe how incredibly vulgar it was. But I was also laughing very hard. So I watched the reruns late night sometimes, and some ep.s I’ve seen numerous times still make me laugh. Definitely a very guilty pleasure. Slightly off-topic - Isn’t it one of the few successful TV shows to depict a child growing up as a child of divorce, being shuttled between homes? When I consider that, oh, 80% of the students at the high school where I work have divorced parents, that makes poor Jake a pretty interesting character. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/29 "2009-07-30T00:30:37Z")
I used to like tow & a half men but I’m bored with it now. I liked it that the kid wasn’t cute or particularly bright. & I liked that the adults had more than their share of human frailties - but I’m over it now. I think they have run out of ideas. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/30 "2009-07-30T00:52:51Z")
maplekiwi - That’s the problem with most American TV shows. If they are successful at all they inevitably stay on the air long past the point where they are good. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/31 "2009-07-30T01:17:22Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > Slightly off-topic - Isn’t it one of the few successful TV shows to depict a child growing up as a child of divorce, being shuttled between homes? When I consider that, oh, 80% of the students at the high school where I work have divorced parents, that makes poor Jake a pretty interesting character. I can’t think of another show where it’s been done. I think the writers have handled it well in not making a big deal of it. All of Alan and Judith’s fights are about each other – they don’t use Jake as a weapon and they’re both trying to be good parents. And Jake handles it well too. He doesn’t whine, doesn’t play one parent against the other. Bit of a stoic, actually, our Jake. He has three people who care deeply about him (four if you count Evelyn) and he’s turning out okay. Maybe a downside is that the show makes divorce seem like no big deal for the kids. ? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/32 "2009-07-30T01:34:47Z")
5 if you count Rose. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/33 "2009-07-30T02:58:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 5 if you count Rose. Gosh yes. Every kid could use a friend like Rose. Hell, **I** could use a friend like Rose. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/34 "2009-07-30T03:53:15Z")
I think that _Two and a Half Men_ catches a lot of flak because it’s [Strictly Formula](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrictlyFormula), and a lot of people have the knee-jerk reaction that “formulaic = automatically bad”. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. It’s okay, for a sitcom; not great, just okay. I suspect that a lot of people that rag on the show don’t particularly like sitcoms in the first place. That makes about as much sense as me going around saying that (for instance) Brooks & Dunn make bad music when I’m not even into country music anyway. Plus it seems like it has the dubious honor of being the go-to “bad show” that other TV shows pick to make fun of (except _Family Guy_, which goes after _Dharma & Greg_). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/35 "2009-07-30T14:33:03Z")
**Max the Immortal** , yeah, it’s definitely got a formula. The 2.5 Men writers make it interesting – it’ll look like they’re changing the formula but they always get back to it. Like Evelyn’s marriage to Teddy, Charlie deciding he might be in love with Rose, Judith softening toward Alan, etc. It’s almost like the Simpsons sometimes – the beginning of an episode seems to have no relationship to the ending. You think “How did they get here from there?” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/36 "2009-07-30T18:40:51Z")
I watch it mostly for Evelyn and Berta. The way those two cut down Charlie and Alan is worth it. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/37 "2009-07-30T20:29:15Z")
I prefer [Family Guy’s version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1kASUNqR3E) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/38 "2009-07-30T21:02:36Z")
I miss Rose. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/39 "2009-07-30T22:39:15Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I miss Rose. She’s gone? We’ve only seen the repeats and about half of this last season’s episodes. Where’d she go? IMDB says she’s making movies (five coming soon) but where’d she go on the show? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678/40 "2009-07-30T23:16:26Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I didn’t warm to it for a long time, but after sitting through a couple repeats for lack of anything else to watch at the end of a long day, it grew on me. You, sir, are worse than Hitler. I hate that show so much and its popularity among the American people troubles me so much I could only crack a half-smile when Obama was elected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-guys-know-about-vanity-cards-also-defending-two-and-a-half-men/504678.md?page=3)