Two and a Half Men

Overview

The series revolved initially around the lives of the Harper brothers, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer), and Alan's son Jake (Angus T. Jones). Charlie is a bachelor who writes commercial jingles for a living, while leading a hedonistic lifestyle. When Alan's wife, Judith (Marin Hinkle), decides to divorce him, he moves into Charlie's Malibu beach house, with Jake coming to stay over the weekends. Charlie's housekeeper is Berta (Conchata Ferrell), a sardonic woman who initially resents the change to the household, but eventually accepts it. Charlie's one-night stand Rose (Melanie Lynskey) was first introduced as his stalker in the pilot episode.

The first five seasons find Charlie in casual sexual misadventures with numerous women until the sixth season, when he becomes engaged to Chelsea (Jennifer Taylor), but the relationship does not last, as Chelsea breaks off their engagement. Afterwards, Charlie flies to Paris with his stalker Rose in the show's de facto eighth-season finale. However, in the ninth-season premiere, Charlie is said to have died after he was struck by a Paris Metro train. Rose hints that she threw Charlie into the train's path after learning that he had cheated on her.

Alan's attitude and experiences are contrasted with Charlie's. Throughout the series, Alan deals with his son Jake's growing up and the aftermath of his bitter divorce, while having little success with women. His marriage to Kandi (April Bowlby) at the end of the third season was short-lived. In the fourth season, Alan is back at the beach house paying alimony to two women out of his low earnings as a chiropractor. In the seventh season, he begins a relationship with Lyndsey McElroy (Courtney Thorne-Smith), the mother of one of Jake's friends. Their relationship is temporarily suspended when Alan cheats on her and accidentally burns down her house, but the relationship is eventually resumed.

In the ninth-season premiere (after Charlie's death), the beach house is sold to Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), an Internet billionaire going through a divorce from Bridget (Judy Greer). Alan leaves to live with his mother Evelyn (Holland Taylor) when the house is sold, but later Walden invites both Alan and Jake back to live in the beach house.

At the end of the ninth season, Jake joins the US Army; he appears occasionally during the 10th season, briefly dating Tammy (Jaime Pressly), who is 17 years his senior and has three kids, as well as Tammy's daughter Ashley (Emily Osment). In the season, Walden proposes to his English girlfriend Zoey (Sophie Winkleman), only to be turned down and discover she has another man. He becomes depressed. Meanwhile, Alan gets engaged to his girlfriend Lyndsey, while Judith leaves her second husband Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles) (to whom she had been married since the fourth season) after he cheats on her with his receptionist (they later reconcile). Alan and Lyndsey's relationship of three years ends as she wants to move on. Rose returns and briefly dates Walden, later stalking him as she did to Charlie. Walden begins to date a poor but ambitious woman named Kate (Brooke D'Orsay) and changes his name to "Sam Wilson", pretending to be poor to find someone who wants him for him, not for his money. They later break up when he reveals who he really is, though Kate realizes that Walden's money helped her become a successful clothing designer. Jake announces he is being shipped to Japan for at least a year, so Alan and he go on a father-son bonding trip. Other than a cameo in the series finale, this is the last time Jake appears on the show, though verbal references are made to him.

Production

Sheen's dismissal and replacement

Following a February 2010 announcement that Sheen was entering drug rehabilitation, filming of the show was put on hiatus, but resumed the following month. On April 1, 2010, People reported that after seven seasons, Sheen announced he was considering leaving the show. According to one source, Sheen quit the show after filming the final episode of season seven, purportedly due to his rejection of CBS's offer of $1 million per episode as too low. Sheen eventually stated that he would be back for two more seasons. On May 18, 2010, the New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz reported that a press release issued by Sheen's publicist confirmed that Sheen had signed a new contract for two years at $1.78 million per episode. "To put a fitting end on the two and one-half months of whirlwind speculation, I'm looking forward to returning to my CBS home on Monday nights," Sheen was quoted as saying.

On January 28, 2011, Sheen voluntarily entered a rehabilitation center for the third time in 12 months. According to Warner Bros. Television and CBS, the show was put on hiatus for an indefinite period of time.

The following month, after Sheen's verbal denunciations of Chuck Lorre in a radio interview with Alex Jones and an online interview with TMZ.com, CBS announced that Two and a Half Men would cease production for the rest of its eighth season. This affected an estimated 200 employees, and caused Warner Bros. Television, CBS, Lorre, Sheen and other profit participants an estimated $10 million loss from the unmade eight remaining episodes. Afterward, Sheen was interviewed on ABC's 20/20, NBC's Today and CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, where he continued to criticize Lorre and CBS. On March 7, CBS and Warner Bros. Television jointly announced that they had terminated Sheen's Two and a Half Men contract, citing "moral turpitude" as a main cause of separation. No further decisions about the show's future were released.

Cast members Marin Hinkle and Holland Taylor expressed sadness at Sheen's departure and personal problems. Jon Cryer did not publicly comment on the matter. In response, Sheen called him "a turncoat, a traitor, [and] a troll" in an E! Online interview, although he later issued a "half-apology" to Cryer for the remarks. Sheen sued Lorre and Warner Bros. Television for $100 million, saying that he had filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and Two and a Half Men's cast and crew; however, only Sheen was named as a plaintiff in court documents.

Jones' departure

In a November 2012 interview with a Christian website, Angus T. Jones (Jake) said he had recently converted to Christianity and joined a Seventh-day Adventist church. He attacked the show as "filth that contradicts his moral values" and said that he was "sick of being a part of it". He also begged fans to stop watching the show. Producers explained that Jones was not expected back on the set until 2013, because his character was not scheduled to appear in the final two episodes before the winter hiatus. In response to the controversy, Sheen issued a public statement in which he blamed Chuck Lorre for the outburst and claimed that "Jones' outburst isn't an isolated incident but rather a symptom of the toxic environment surrounding the show." The following day, Jones issued a public apology for his remarks and explained that he "cannot address everything that has been said or right every misstatement or misunderstanding." Jones left the series at the end of the 2012–2013 season and did not appear in season 11 despite initial reports that he would continue in a recurring, rather than a starring, role. The role of youngest family member was filled by Amber Tamblyn, who played Jenny, the long-lost illegitimate daughter of Charlie Harper, and later by Edan Alexander, who played Louis, Walden Schmidt's adopted son. On March 18, 2014, Jones officially announced his departure from the show, stating he had been "a paid hypocrite". Nevertheless, he apologized to Lorre for his actions and appeared in a cameo in the series finale on February 19, 2015.

Cast and characters

Main

Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper (seasons 1–8), a charismatic hedonistic bachelor, jingle/children's songwriter, Alan's elder brother, Jake's uncle and Jenny's father. Despite his arrogant and rambunctious demeanor, he does possess a kind heart, though he very rarely shows it. He is written out of the series at the beginning of season nine, after being pushed in front of a train and killed offscreen, due to Charlie Sheen being fired from the show. In the episode "Why We Gave Up Women", Charlie's ghost, portrayed by Kathy Bates, visits Alan and is forced to spend eternity in hell as a woman with a pair of testicles. He has a daughter named Jenny, whose existence he never disclosed to his family. In season 11, she resurfaces as an adult, but has no idea he had died. The series finale abandons the idea that Charlie is deceased by revealing that Rose faked his death and held him prisoner in a pit for four years. Brainwashed into a violent psychopath, he escapes and portends his imminent arrival by sending threats to Alan, Evelyn and Walden, as well as generous checks to Jake, Berta, Jenny and his ex-girlfriends, but a helicopter drops a grand piano on him and kills him just before he enters the beach house.

Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, Charlie's younger brother, a struggling chiropractor, Jake's twice-divorced father, Walden's best friend and Jenny's uncle. Alan is intelligent, a graduate of Cal State Long Beach but continually stricken with bad luck due to poor choices and mistakes, which are due to a lifetime of suffering from Charlie's abuse and Evelyn's neglect, as well as favoring Charlie over him. Due to a lack in income (partly the result of Charlie's sabotaging Alan's divorce-settlement by jilting Alan's lawyer in the episode "No Sniffing, No Wowing"), Alan is forced to sponge off people throughout his life, but he genuinely cares about others despite this. His poverty ultimately led to the demise of his business. In the 12th and final season, Alan agrees to "marry" Walden for the latter to adopt a child and for months, the two pretend to be a gay couple. In the series' penultimate episode, Walden and Alan end the marriage as Walden had successfully adopted a six-year-old named Louis. Alan finally proposes to Lyndsey and agrees to marry her (as well as move out) in the final episodes. Cryer is the only cast member who appears in all 262 episodes of the series.

Angus T. Jones as Jake Harper (seasons 1–10; guest, season 12), the slacker son of Alan and Judith and older half-brother (or brother, if Alan's paternity claim is to be believed) of Milly and cousin of Jenny. In season one, episode 17 ("Ate the Hamburgers, Wearing the Hats"), his real name is revealed to actually be Jacob. As he grows older, he changes from a rather bright (but gullible), independent child into a dimwitted buffoon (who is nevertheless good at blackmailing Charlie and Alan). He eventually enlists in the U.S. Army working as a chef. At the end of season 10, he announces that he is going to Japan for a year. Despite his absence, he is mentioned often in seasons 11 and 12 and makes an uncredited cameo via archive footage in season 12, as well as returning briefly in person in the series finale.

Recurring

The following appeared in recurring roles or story arcs spanning multiple episodes:

Courtney Thorne-Smith as Lyndsey McElroy, Alan's on/off love interest from season 7 on and his fiancée in season 12. In season 10, she has a one-night stand with Kandi (Alan's ex-wife) (seasons 7–12)

Jane Lynch as the sarcastic Dr. Linda Freeman, originally Jake's child psychologist and later Charlie's regular psychiatrist who later also treats Alan and Walden (seasons 1, 3–9, 11)

Ryan Stiles as Herb Melnick, a pediatrician who becomes Judith's second ex-husband (seasons 2, 4–10, 12)

Rebecca McFarland as Leanne, Pavlov's bartender (seasons 1–10)

J. D. Walsh as Gordon, a pizza delivery guy who idolizes Charlie's lifestyle (seasons 1–4, 6–8)

Emmanuelle Vaugier as Mia, Charlie's ex-fiancée (seasons 3, 5–7, 9, and 12)

Robert Wagner as Nathan Krunk (alias "Teddy Leopold"), Evelyn's fifth husband, thought to be Courtney's father, but later revealed to be a con artist (seasons 4–5)

Ming-Na Wen as the Hon. Linda Harris, superior court judge, adjunct law professor and Charlie's girlfriend (season 5)

Jenny McCarthy as Sylvia Fishman (alias "Courtney Leopold"), alleged daughter of Nathan Krunk (alias "Teddy Leopold") (seasons 5, 8–9)

Martin Mull as Russell, Charlie's self-medicating pharmacist (seasons 6–10)

Kelly Stables as Melissa, Alan's receptionist, who dates both Charlie and Alan (seasons 6–8)

Guest stars

Guest stars have included:

Aisha Tyler as an adoption lawyer to whom Walden goes when he wants a child (season 12, episode 1)

Alana de la Garza as Crystal, Laura Lang's assistant (season 1, episode 21)

Alicia Witt as Dolores Pasternak, Jake's teacher who becomes a stripper (season 6)

Allison Janney as Beverly, Alan's online dating partner (season 4)

Amy Hill as Mrs. Wiggins, Alan's receptionist after Melissa leaves him (season 7)

Annie Potts as Lenore, mother of Judith and Liz (season 7)

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Lieutenant Wagner ("Of Course He's Dead", series finale)

Brad Paisley as Derek (season 11, episode 22), Gretchen Martin's fiancé, before she broke it off to date Alan

Brenda Koo as Julie (season 12, episode 7)

Brit Morgan as a girl Walden picks up at a bar (season 10, episode 1)

Brooke Shields as Danielle, Charlie and Alan's neighbor (season 4)

Camryn Manheim as Daisy, Berta's sister (season 2)

Carol Kane as Shelly, Melissa's mother (season 6)

Chris O'Donnell as Jill/Bill Shrader, Charlie's transgender ex-girlfriend (season 1, episode 18)

Broadcast

Episodes

Each episode's title is a dialogue fragment from the episode itself, usually offering no clue to the episode's actual plotline. The show's 100th episode ("City of Great Racks") aired on October 15, 2007. To celebrate this, a casino-inspired party was held at West Hollywood's Pacific Design Center. Warner Bros. Television also distributed blue Micargi Rover bicycles adorned with the Two and a Half Men logo along with the words "100 Episodes". Each bicycle came with a note saying, "You've made us very proud. Here's to a long ride together." The cast also gave the crew sterling silver key rings from Tiffany & Co. The key rings were attached to small pendants with "100" inscribed on one side and Two and a Half Men on the other.

Seasons one through four, six and nine consist of 24 episodes. Season five was reduced to 19 episodes due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Due to Sheen's personal life problems, season seven had 22 episodes. Season eight premiered on September 20, 2010, at 9:00 pm ET. CBS initially ordered 24 episodes for the season, but again due to Sheen's personal life, the show was put on hiatus after 16 episodes were produced, with production scheduled to resume on February 28. After a series of comments made by Sheen on February 24, 2011, CBS and Warner Bros. canceled the remainder of the season.

On May 13, 2011, actor Ashton Kutcher was widely reported to be replacing Charlie Sheen as the lead on the show. The show's ninth season premiered on September 19, 2011. The first episode, "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt", begins with Charlie Harper's funeral and introduces Kutcher as billionaire Walden Schmidt, who buys Harper's house. On May 12, 2012, CBS renewed Two and a Half Men for a 10th season, moving it to Thursday nights at 8:30 pm, following The Big Bang Theory. For the 2013–14 season, the show was moved to the Thursday 9:30–10:00 pm Eastern slot. As of February 27, 2014, the series' time slot was moved to a half-hour earlier at the 9:00–9:30 slot.

Syndication and streaming

Two and a Half Men entered local United States broadcast syndication in 2007, with the first four seasons available to local stations (largely CW and Fox Television Stations, LLC affiliates in the major U.S. television markets through major deals with Tribune Broadcasting and the Sinclair Broadcast Group). From September 6, 2010, to November 24, 2017, FX aired the series daily nationwide (Charlie Sheen most recently starred on Anger Management on FX from 2012 to 2014). Syndicated shows are sold in multiyear cycles, with the first cycle the most expensive. Two and a Half Men's first cycle is nine years in length. If no ninth season had occurred because of Sheen's departure, due to the first cycle's premature end, Warner Bros. Television would not have received about $80 million in license fees. While local stations would prefer to have as many episodes as possible available to them, an early start to the second cycle would lower the cost of the show for them. The series began airing on Viacom-owned networks Nick at Nite and Spike (now Paramount Network) from December 6, 2017 to December 2025, and on IFC on January 1, 2018. As of July 2, 2018, the series has moved from Nick at Nite to TV Land, switching places with Mom. The series has aired on IFC’s sister networks AMC on Saturday mornings and later started airing on BBC America in early 2026. E! and USA Network started airing the series in April 2026. Cozi TV launched the series with a special "Two and a Half Day Two and a Half Men" marathon from May 2–4, 2026, featuring 48 episodes from the first two seasons. Following the marathon, the series regularly broadcasts on Cozi TV weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET, and Sundays from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET.

The show is available in the United States for streaming on Peacock.

Crossovers and other appearances

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

In 2007, Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre contacted CSI: Crime Scene Investigation executive producer Carol Mendelsohn about a crossover. At first, the idea seemed unlikely to receive approval; however, it resurfaced when Mendelsohn and Lorre were at the World Television Festival in Canada and they decided to get approval and run with it. When Mendelsohn was giving a talk, she accidentally mentioned the crossover, that same day Variety was already inquiring about the crossover episodes. Mendelsohn later stated: "We're all used to being in control and in charge of our own shows and even though this was a freelance-type situation ... there was an expectation and also a desire on all of our parts to really have a true collaboration. You have to give a little. It was sort of a life lesson, I think."

"The biggest challenge for us was doing a comedy with a murder in it. Generally, our stories are a little lighter," stated Lorre in an interview. "Would our audience go with a dead body in it? There was a moment where it could have gone either way. I think the results were spectacular. It turned out to be a really funny episode." The Two and a Half Men episode "Fish in a Drawer" was the first part of the crossover to air, on May 5, 2008, written by CSI writers Sarah Goldfinger, Evan Dunsky, Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar. George Eads is the only CSI: Crime Scene Investigation cast member to make a cameo in this episode.

Three days later, the second part of the crossover aired, the CSI episode "Two and a Half Deaths". Gil Grissom (William Petersen) investigated the murder of a sitcom diva named Annabelle (Katey Sagal), who was found murdered while she was filming her show in Las Vegas. The episode was written by Two and a Half Men creators Lorre and Aronsohn; Sheen, Cryer and Jones all make uncredited cameos in this episode, in the same clothes their characters were wearing in "Fish in a Drawer".

Due Date

At the end of 2010 film Due Date, a scene from Two and a Half Men is shown, in which Sheen and Cryer appear as their characters, while Ethan Chase (played by Zach Galifianakis in the movie) plays Stu, Jake's tutor.

Reception

Critical reception

Two and a Half Men received mostly mixed reviews from critics throughout its run. The New York Daily News has described the sitcom as "solid, well-acted and occasionally funny." Conversely Graeme Blundell, writing for The Australian, described it as a "sometimes creepy, misogynistic comedy". Ashton Kutcher's debut was met with mixed reviews, and reviews for season nine were also mixed. One reviewer commented that the show was made for Charlie Sheen's character and the way he interacted with other characters, and the setup did not work with Kutcher's character.

However, it has been labeled as "one of America's most successful comedy shows." Ellen Gray of Daily News praised the shows' legacy just before the premiere of the finale. The show is credited as being the reason The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly and Mom were all made. Men's success was what enabled these other Chuck Lorre shows to be made and be successful.

Following the filming of the final episode, Stage 26 of the Warner Brothers lot was renamed the "Two and a Half Men stage".

After the finale, Two and a Half Men fans launched a global petition under the name "Yes To The Harpers", to have Charlie Sheen reprise the role of Charlie Harper alongside his former co-star Jon Cryer. This idea surfaced after fans saw Chuck Lorre's vanity card about Charlie Sheen's idea of a spinoff show named The Harpers.

The first season received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 20 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Two and a Half Men's inaugural season rises above its sitcom formula with a rapid-fire clip of bawdy quips as well as the sparky chemistry between stars Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen."

The ninth season of the show, its first without Sheen, received generally mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 41% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ashton Kutcher proves to be a game replacement for the unceremoniously departed Charlie Sheen, but Two and a Half Men feels exhausted and bitter as it trudges beyond its natural lifespan."

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Two and a Half Men on CBS:

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Awards and nominations

The show received multiple award nominations. It was nominated for 46 Primetime Emmy Awards (winning nine, including three for Jon Cryer) and two Golden Globe Awards nominations for Charlie Sheen. The show won the award for Favorite TV Comedy at the 35th People's Choice Awards.

Potential reboot

When Sheen appeared on the April 2019 broadcast of Loose Women, he expressed interest in a potential revival, hoping to make two more seasons to tie up loose characters ends. In response, Jon Cryer expressed reluctance to return to working with Sheen full time, comparing it to a roller coaster.

In December 2023, after Sheen had a role in Chuck Lorre's new show Bookie alongside Angus Jones, ending their rivalries, Jon Cryer said that he was not going to rule anything out towards a possible reboot of the show. However, in February 2024 Cryer said that he doesn't know if he wants to work with Sheen "for any length of time".