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STUDIO: Warner
MSRP: $34.99
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 513 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Two And A half Men: Growing Up Harper
– The Women of Two And A Half Men
– Gag reel
The Pitch
Two guys, a kid and no pizza place.
The Humans
Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones, Holland Taylor, Conchata Ferrell, Marin Hinkle.
The Nutshell
Charlie Hooper (Sheen) is a womanizing jingle writer who takes in his brother, Alan (Cryer) and his 10-year-old son, Jake (Jones) after Alan loses everything in his divorce. It’s hard to know which one if any of the three are the adults.
The Lowdown
I’m not a regular viewer of this show. Upon catching it in this set, it’s fairly standard sitcom fare that is pretty solidly written and acted by all parties involved. However, I didn’t really see anything in the show that screams to me to start watching it. It’s good for a laugh and I’m glad that both Sheen and Cryer have had their careers revitalized by the show. Nevertheless, despite their presence, I’m going to continue to be a non-watcher, because when all is said and done, there’s pretty much nothing groundbreaking to me in this sitcom.
Sheen and Cryer previously worked together in 1991’s Hot Shots!, and they’re both refugees from 1980s flicks. It’s probably no coincidence that Sheen plays a guy not too far removed from his real life persona when it comes to women. Charlie Hooper is a womanizer, gambler, drinker and cigar-smoking, carefree bachelor and he likes it that way. Cryer takes up his mantle of sidekick from films such as Pretty in Pink and Superman IV, playing Charlie’s more conscientious brother. Alan doesn’t have the luck with women that Charlie has and is more prone to being hurt and dominated by them. Jones as son Jake plays the lazy and unmotivated character who at times seems just as mature as his father or uncle. Holland Taylor and Conchata Farrell round out the regular cast as the sharp tongued mother and housekeeper, respectively, both of which you’ve seen plenty of times in other sitcoms as well.
Various Season 6 episodes include “Taterhead Is Our Love Child”, where Charlie believes that a previous girlfriend has had his kid eight years prior; “Pinocchio’s Mouth” where Charlie’s new girlfriend makes him uncomfortable by asking him to spend the night. “Thank God For Scoliosis” finds Charlie and Jake competing for the affections of a waitress and “She’ll Still be Dead At Halftime” has Charlie having to remove a half-naked woman woman from his room before his girlfriend gets back from a funeral. The episodes are fine, but the show just doesn’t grab like Big Bang Theory, another Chuck Lorre-produced show.
The Package
The show looks good in widescreen and transfer is good. Audio is suitably fine in English and Portuguese Dolby Surround with English FHE, Spanish, French and Chinese subtitles. There are three special features, two featurettes titled Growing Up Harper, which spotlights Jones and runs at 13 minutes; and The Women of Two And A Half Men which features the regular female characters and recurring girlfriends of the show. A gag reel tops things off.