# Two and a 1/2 Men -Season Debut **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830 "2011-09-19T15:17:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [September 20, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/41 "2011-09-20T14:00:33Z")
Not a bad debut. Not great, but not bad. Since we watch the show for Evelyn and Berta anyway, the lack of Charlie doesn’t mean a thing. Talking about not aging well…Jon Cryer showed every mile last night. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/42 "2011-09-20T14:09:55Z")
I only managed to catch about the first 15 minutes because I was at work and it just happened to be on in a patient’s room. How does the Kutcher character manage to get/live in/attain Charlie’s house? I assume that’s what happened somehow or Allan and Jake would have to live with Evelyn and I’m guessing that’s not happening. If only I could have contrived to stay in the room for another ten minutes … ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/43 "2011-09-20T14:12:03Z")
Thanks, **muldoonthief**. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/44 "2011-09-20T14:15:47Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I only managed to catch about the first 15 minutes because I was at work and it just happened to be on in a patient’s room. How does the Kutcher character manage to get/live in/attain Charlie’s house? I assume that’s what happened somehow or Allan and Jake would have to live with Evelyn and I’m guessing that’s not happening. > > If only I could have contrived to stay in the room for another ten minutes … He bought it. He’s an Internet billionaire. He likes Alan, so Alan and Jake get to stay there. It’s a two-parter, so the details will be hashed out next week. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/45 "2011-09-20T14:17:59Z")
Charlie had multiple mortgages, so even though he left the house to Alan, they had to put it up for sale. (BTW, what does a beachfront house in Malibu go for? $5 million maybe?) Kutcher’s character is a dotcom billionaire who just broke up with his wife and bought the house in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Presumably in another episode they’ll shoehorn in a reason to let Alan continue to live there. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/46 "2011-09-20T14:22:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > He bought it. He’s an Internet billionaire. He likes Alan, so Alan and Jake get to stay there. It’s a two-parter, so the details will be hashed out next week. Thanks. I’m not working next Tuesday evening, so I hope to be able to catch up. So far, though, I’m doubtful I’ll like it. It just won’t be the same without Charlie. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/47 "2011-09-20T14:36:20Z")
I haven’t watched the show since Jake became a teenager. I really enjoyed the first few seasons, but the charm evaporated once the kid grew up. Then it became one long, tired cliche that needed to be put out of its misery already. I’m honestly surprised that it’s still such a hit because IMO it’s a shell of its former self. Kind of like The Office. In any event, I watched the season premiere out of curiosity – I wanted to see how they’d kill off Charlie. After that, I wasn’t much impressed. It appears that the new character is just going to be a reincarnation of Charlie – a wealthy hedonistic bachelor. And Alan will remain the pathetic loser moocher. It’s already been taken off my DVR list. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/48 "2011-09-20T14:38:58Z")
Oh, and I don’t know what to think about Sheen’s appearance on the Emmys. He seems to have regained some of his senses, but he is started to get that emaciated junkie look about him. What a shame. I still have hope that he’ll use his fortune to develop a charity or something. Having all that disposable income obviously hasn’t done him any favors. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/49 "2011-09-20T14:48:36Z")
I’d be interested to see the betting line: does he die from excesses fueled by his royalties from the show, or does he try to straighten out and croak ala Winehouse? ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/50 "2011-09-20T14:49:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Charlie had multiple mortgages, so even though he left the house to Alan, they had to put it up for sale. (BTW, what does a beachfront house in Malibu go for? $5 million maybe?) Kutcher’s character is a dotcom billionaire who just broke up with his wife and bought the house in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Presumably in another episode they’ll shoehorn in a reason to let Alan continue to live there. I’m sure it was his girlfriend that broke up with him not his wife. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/51 "2011-09-20T14:57:37Z")
> [@Hogfather65](#): > > I’m sure it was his girlfriend that broke up with him not his wife. He told the woman in the bar that his wife just left him. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/52 "2011-09-20T15:36:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’d be surprised, that would totally change the dynamic of the show and basically turn it into a spinoff. I’m guessing that Ashton will snap out of his funk within the next 1-2 weeks and become a sober version of Charlie. In fact, now that I’ve said that out loud, I wonder if they’re going to try to keep the same ‘dynamic’ but clean the show up for all the people that said they didn’t watch it because of the ‘bathroom humor’. So maybe get rid of the drugs, drinking, hookers, cheating and try to keep individual girls around (for Ashton) for a bit longer then Charlie held on to them. He’s a billionaire, so even if he wasn’t good-looking and well-hung, he’s going to have women after him, and from what we’ve seen, he won’t know how to handle the attention. Alan needs to keep Walden unattached and in Charlie’s house, or Alan will be living with his mother. I think that’s how Alan will see it. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/53 "2011-09-20T16:12:18Z")
I thought the writers did an excellent job! It can’t be easy to resolve Charlie’s death and set up a new character and be funny in about 20 minutes of script! That’s a hell of a lot of territory in a very short time. Kudos to them. i was dubious, but now I think it can work. The new Walden character is another perfect foil for Alan to work off of - he is rich (super rich), he is good looking (and hung like a horse), all the women already love him and are ignoring Alan immediately, Walden (like Charlie) seems like the type of guy who will always step into luck without really trying. He’s the guy who would buy one lottery ticket, and win, and because he is so rich, spend it all on remodeling the bathroom fixtures on his private yacht. (When ya got a billion, what’s a paltry 30 million gonna buy?) They have set it up to continue as it was - perhaps minus the hangovers, but then again - it didn’t take Alan long to convince Walden to start knocking back those drinks in the bar, so even that could come into play again. I actually liked Charlie Sheen in the original version and am a big fan of the show, but think they have done a great job so far in replacing him. All in all - a good start. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/54 "2011-09-20T17:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] I still have hope that he’ll use his fortune to develop a charity or something. Having all that disposable income obviously hasn’t done him any favors. [/QUOTE] People in Tuscaloosa, AL are pissed at him. He came there after the horrible tornado destruction this past spring and just after his meltdown was dropping from the news, and he donated some money (about $70,000 or so) BUT also promised he was going to go back to Hollywood and do a fundraiser to get some serious money for the victims. Then evidently forgot about it on the way to the airport- he hasn’t done anything since, which makes them think (rightly or wrongly and probably rightly) that it was just a PR “I’m feeling MUCH better now!” stunt. At least they got the money he donated when he was down here. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/55 "2011-09-20T17:10:17Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > People in Tuscaloosa, AL are pissed at him. He came there after the horrible tornado destruction this past spring and just after his meltdown was dropping from the news, and he donated some money (about $70,000 or so) BUT also promised he was going to go back to Hollywood and do a fundraiser to get some serious money for the victims. Then evidently forgot about it on the way to the airport- he hasn’t done anything since, which makes them think (rightly or wrongly and probably rightly) that it was just a PR “I’m feeling MUCH better now!” stunt. At least they got the money he donated when he was down here. Yes, cuz $70K is nothing. How much did the other Hollywood stars donate? Back to the show - it is a ghost of itself. The show used to be one of the crispest, best written shows with the cast uniquely suited to the writers, with impeccable timing of delivery of jokes. That was greatly due to Chuck Lorre’s involvement (it is not a coincidence that Dharma and Greg, 2 1/2 Men and Big Bang Theory are all like that, crisp, rhythmic timing of jokes with well-suited cast), but he doesn’t operate in a vacuum and needed Sheen to carry it off. Kutcher, with best intentions, doesn’t measure up. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/56 "2011-09-20T17:19:48Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > He told the woman in the bar that his wife just left him. And no man in the history of mankind has ever lied to a woman in a bar with the hopes of getting laid. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/57 "2011-09-20T17:30:44Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Yes, cuz $70K is nothing. How much did the other Hollywood stars donate? It’s not the amount of money he donated, it’s the fact he pledged to do a lot more by hosting a benefit, then ‘out of sight, out of mind’. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/58 "2011-09-20T17:40:20Z")
I wonder who’s going to play his wife. He said they were high school sweethearts so that lets out Demi Moore. UNLESS, she was his teacher. Though if that’s the case go all the way and cast Roseanne Barr as the estranged wife he’s pining over, except I think she’s on Chuck Lorre’s list of “People I’ll never work with again for any amount of money”. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/59 "2011-09-20T17:41:11Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > The new Walden character is another perfect foil for Alan to work off of - he is rich (super rich), he is good looking (and **hung like a horse** ), all the women already love him and are ignoring Alan immediately… An elephant, according to Alan. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830/60 "2011-09-20T17:46:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I wonder who’s going to play his wife. He said they were high school sweethearts so that lets out Demi Moore. > > UNLESS, she was his teacher. Though if that’s the case go all the way and cast Roseanne Barr as the estranged wife he’s pining over, except I think she’s on Chuck Lorre’s list of “People I’ll never work with again for any amount of money”. Supposedly,Judy Greer, whoever that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-and-a-1-2-men-season-debut/596830.md?page=4)