Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, we’re finally concluding our coverage of Two And A Half Men (2003-2015, CBS), which is currently available on DVD and Peacock!
Two And A Half Men stars JON CRYER and ASHTON KUTCHER. With CONCHATA FERRELL as Berta, EDAN ALEXANDER as Louis, MAGGIE LAWSON as Ms. McMartin, COURTNEY-THORNE SMITH as Lyndsey, and HOLLAND TAYLOR as Evelyn.
After deciding to back away from Eleven’s use of Charlie’s daughter as an excuse to earn the series’ title, Two And A Half Men’s twelfth and final season takes a different approach to justify its implied premise: an arc in which Alan and Walden pretend to be gay so they can adopt a child. This makes prominent a joke that has been recurring since at least Ten, when the writers felt it necessary to be self-aware about the unusualness of Alan and Walden’s living arrangement by jokily framing their rapport as queer. In that vein, this storyline where they get married and feign coupling for an adoption agent similarly emphasizes their bond and the “buddy comedy” aspect of the premise that’s been largely undermined after Charlie’s exit. It also reintroduces parenting stories to the series — the notion that someone who has never been a dad is suddenly thrust into that role (first Charlie, now Walden). So, there’s a sense of “full circle” to Twelve, and with these hooks, plus the rom-com storytelling that has never gone away, it’s almost as if all the original tenets of the show’s situation are back in play. The problem? By now, the characterizations are a mess. Walden has no definition — his status as a billionaire is barely even addressed; all that’s featured is his desire for a child — and Alan has been reduced to nothing but an obnoxious jerk: an effeminate, chronically masturbating mooch. This story is unable to grant either any new or meaningful exploration — they’re both too far gone, and thus can’t support the arc with actual specifics… Also, the very idea, which dominates the plotting of the first half of this season, is broad, with more leaps in logic than Men’s recent baseline, and it’s fundamentally a self-perpetuating story-led cliché, predicated on the single joke that they’re gay — a hacky, witless setup that’s already been played too often episodically to surprise. What’s more, the adopted kid is even more of a narrative device (and less of a character) than Jake, while the whole parenting angle — though perhaps premise-connected — sits uncomfortably within the tonal identity that Men has since cultivated over its twelve-year devolution, not just in terms of the show’s hyper-sexual bent, but also its accelerated “meta” humor.
Speaking of “meta” humor, many of Men’s sitcom contemporaries were also performing self-awareness to suggest smarts. But most had some level of metatheatricality in their bones — for example, Curb Your Enthusiasm stars someone playing a version of his real-life self, and 30 Rock delights in lampooning the industry in which its workplace is set. Men was not instilled with such DNA; in fact, it was surprisingly earnest in its early years, exploring its situation with a commitment to upholding its integrity. So, now that this show is frequently and gracelessly alluding to real-life details about its actors and remarking on the premise in a manner that these characters, if they were true to life, simply wouldn’t, it’s a recent shift towards a nudge-nudge, fourth-wall-breaking ethos that does not feel earned and smart, but instead, gimmicky and lazy. That is, it only validates a prevailing criticism about the series: that it’s so willing to do anything for a laugh that it’ll ignore whether or not a joke works for the premise or its characters, even going so far as to undermine our faith in, well, the sanctity of the “situation” as a concept. Additionally, this feeds the common perception about Chuck Lorre and his associated style — a non-thoughtful, crass sense of humor that has no filter for the obvious or low. And since Lorre is the trackable force behind the 2000s’ and 2010s’ most popular multi-cams, his negative brand also gets attached to all twenty-first century multi-cams as a whole. (Never mind that other shows, including some with his name, like The Big Bang Theory, Mom, and even Mike & Molly, are actually sharper and more discerning.) Accordingly, I think Men, while deserving of more credit for how finely designed it was at first, and how well it could initially play to its premise, is ultimately a more unfortunate-than-fortunate show in the sitcom genre, doing more harm than good due to its reputation and the quality under which it eventually operated for too long. Oh, yes, I’ve been fascinated when covering it — the most important multi-cam of the 2000s decade — and I genuinely found a way to enjoy about half the run. But this is, on balance, among the weakest Tuesday efforts I’ve examined — more critically necessary than qualitatively laudable.
01) Episode 249: “Glamping In A Yurt” (Aired: 11/13/14)
Alan and Walden begin the process of trying to adopt a child.
Teleplay by Don Reo & Jim Patterson & Jim Vallely | Story by Saladin K. Patterson & Matt Ross & Max Searle | Directed by James Widdoes
It’s difficult to pick seven decent episodes here in Twelve, for although the year’s overarching adoption storyline has some merits, the series’ too-dwindled fortunes by this point have made it so the writing simply isn’t capable of goodness, let alone greatness. So, I can only manage five selections — this being one because it’s funnier than most of the others in this arc, better using the single-joke notion of effeminate Alan embracing their “we’re a gay couple” ruse. Also, Maggie Lawson debuts as their adoption agent — she’s very funny, a material-elevator.
02) Episode 253: “Sex With An Animated Ed Asner” (Aired: 12/11/14)
Alan and Walden befriend a group of single moms.
Teleplay by Don Reo & Matt Ross & Max Searle | Story by Jim Patterson & Jim Vallely & Tim Kelleher | Directed by James Widdoes
As noted, the kid that Alan and Walden adopt has even less personality than Jake and he’s more of a device than a character, so it’s hard to enjoy outings about him, while those with the exposition of getting him are too plot-driven to celebrate. The best samples in this arc set aside the kid and those narrative maneuvers for a more familiar utilization of the two leads, however diluted or caricatured they may now be. This entry puts the since-married Alan and Walden back into the dating scene, with many jokes about Alan taking on a traditionally “feminine” role.
03) Episode 257: “For Whom The Booty Calls” (Aired: 01/22/15)
Walden joins a support group for fathers of adopted kids.
Teleplay by Don Reo & Jim Patterson & Steve Tompkins | Story by Saladin K. Patterson & Jim Vallely & Warren Bell | Directed by James Widdoes
Most of the comedy in this excursion, like the majority of Season Twelve, comes from its framing of Alan and Walden as a couple, and this installment, as with the above, is better than the rest because it sheds the kid and this arc’s narrative trappings for a story more about the two main men themselves and their friendship, as Walden joins a group for adoptive fathers that really turns into a space where they can get away from their wives — which, naturally, now includes Alan. Har de har har — it’s repetitive, but at least it’s about the leads’ relationship.
04) Episode 260: “Don’t Give A Monkey A Gun” (Aired: 02/12/15)
Walden promises Alan one big present as they initiate divorce proceedings.
Teleplay by Jim Vallely & Matt Ross & Max Searle | Story by Don Reo & Jim Patterson & Tim Kelleher | Directed by James Widdoes
The final half hour before the double-length finale, this installment basically concludes Men’s situation, as Alan and Walden start divorce proceedings, and the former finally plans to move out so he can marry Lyndsey, to whom he proposes — thereby ending the premised construct of the guys’ living arrangement and Alan’s weekly romantic foibles. I like that this outing wraps things up for his character in a script that’s funny but fairly ordinary, and actually uses the fact that Walden is a billionaire — the one aspect of his initial characterization that, prior to this season, could sometimes be emphasized in plot. Also, there’s a fantasy sequence that looks into the future — enough of a gimmick to make this seem like a closer. Only, it’s not…
05) Episode 262: “Of Course He’s Dead (II)” (Aired: 02/19/15)
Alan and Walden are fearful when they learn Charlie is still alive.
Written by Chuck Lorre & Lee Aronsohn & Don Reo & Jim Patterson | Directed by James Widdoes
Two And A Half Men ends with a two-part finale that originally aired in a single hour-long block. It was very controversial at the time of its debut, with a story fixated on the hyped but denied return of Charlie and therefore Charlie Sheen to the series — apparently the most notable thing about this show, which has limped along (creatively) in the years following his departure. Now, I understand that no satisfying conclusion for Men could avoid addressing his character — the original fulcrum around which its entire concept turned — but in making this whole hour about his potential appearance, it’s basically telling us that the last four years are less important. And, again, I get it — the last four seasons sucked. But it’s inherently self-negating, to both the show and those who stuck with it, to centralize a no-longer-relevant element… Meanwhile, this outing — which, incidentally, is riddled with unnecessary cameos by famous people — sees the height of Men’s metatheatricality, with jokes about Charlie Sheen, to-camera winks about the series’ reputation for stupid humor, and even a scene where Alan and Walden recap the premise of the show and its trajectory, in a way that blatantly mocks its ridiculousness. All of it is screamingly funny… well, if this were a sketch, and not a sitcom asking us to emotionally invest in its characters and the premise. Naturally, a lot of viewers scoffed at this self-derision, which insulted them by proxy… However, even though the finale exaggerates its “meta” to heretofore unseen levels, this has been the show’s modus operandi for its entire final season (and even before), so I don’t see it as out of the blue. And, frankly, it only further reveals what many already knew about the series: that it would do anything for a laugh, including low-hanging, obvious, fourth-wall breaking gags that lampoon the show itself (and these characters)… even during something so “sacred” as a finale. In this regard, it’s a painfully accurate version of the beast that Men has become, and I find it fitting. I also find it fitting that Charlie Sheen never appears — the show never got earned closure with his character when he left and it never will, for it never should have existed after he left. This finale knows we know that, and while I certainly agree that his non-appearance is frustrating schmuck bait, it otherwise represents so much of Men’s own identity by Twelve that it simply has to be my MVE. It’s insightful.
Other episodes that merit mention include: “Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy, Lyndsey,” where Alan seems to lose Lyndsey to Herb (the amusing Ryan Stiles), and “Of Course He’s Dead (I),” the first part of the finale, which is more earnest than the second part in its Charlie tease, giving us some fairly funny and believable scenes with both Evelyn and Jenny.
*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Twelve of Two And A Half Men goes to…
“Of Course He’s Dead (II)”
Come back next week for more sitcom fun! And stay tuned for a new Wildcard Wednesday!