"Two and a Half Men": Man, Do I Take This Show Seriously

So after more hype than…I don’t know what, CBS finally premiered the new “Two and a Half Men.” And I would give it a mixed review…

First, the pluses. I liked seeing Charlie’s former girlfriends at the funeral and Evelyn’s (Holland Taylor) reaction was classic Evelyn. And Jon Cryer was so good that I actually teared up as Alan said goodbye to Charlie. The John Stamos cameo was classic and seeing Dharma and Greg together again (from Chuck Lorre’s “Dharma and Greg”) was a nice surprise. And you just knew that Rose (Melanie Lynskey) would somehow be involved with Charlie’s death. Man, do I hope we haven’t seen the last of her…

I would also say that for the most part, Ashton Kutcher (Walden) was good, but I’m still adjusting to seeing him play it so straight and awkward. He’s usually the airheaded, breezy type and this is totally new. Not bad necessarily, just new. There’s clearly a lot more to explore there, so I can’t say I’m completely on board with him just yet.

Now to the minuses. I will concede that I pay WAY too much attention to this show. I blame it on the constant rerun watching. But I was disappointed with how some of Charlie’s girlfriends were depicted at the funeral. It was a “Two and a Half Men” trademark to use the same actresses over and over to play Charlie’s girlfriends, but I think they should have played who were they were the last time we saw them. In that case, Mia (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Chelsea (Jennifer Taylor), who were ex-fiances, would never have talked about Charlie so disparagingly. And I don’t think Courtney (Jenny McCarthy) would have badmouthed him that way either. And both times Liz Vassey played Charlie’s girlfriend (Seasons 1 and 8), their relationship ended cordially. Plus, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe is so well known for playing Isabella, the Satanist, so her funeral behavior didn’t work either. I have to believe that one of them would have been sad to see Charlie gone.

But maybe that was the point. Chuck Lorre was so determined to make us not miss Charlie that he was willing to forsake the show’s very history to trash him.

Wow. I do take this show seriously, don’t I?

I will, of course, stick with it. But I’m not ready to say I’m okay with it just yet.

And for the record. I do miss Charlie. Very much…

So what did you guys think? Do you think they handled Charlie’s exit well?