SkimIt
Predictions by former series lead Charlie Sheen and others that after his departure Two and a Half Men would, much like Sheen, crash and burn have proven to be as incorrect as they were premature. Veteran That 70s Show favorite Ashton Kutcher not only came to its rescue but resurrected what was becoming a tired and dying show. Every honeymoon period, however, eventually comes to an end, and if this show is to make it to an 11th season, it could use a little fixing.
Two and a Half Men starring Ashton Kutcher and John Cryer airs on CBS Thursdays at 8:30 pm ET.
Fix Number One: Use the Kid More – Angus T. Jones
Angus T. Jones who plays Jake Harper is no longer just half a man - he is a (almost) fully-grown man, and the highest paid teen on television. He is also underused and frustrated, as his unfortunate blast of ill-considered comments in November about the show being "filth" demonstrate. While no longer the cute little kid of yore, this 19-year-old is "in the army now" and that should open up a lot more story lines. After all, isn't it about time to bring back the service comedies of the golden age of television? Vietnam is long behind us and the military is revered in ways it has never been in this country - and it could use and easily take a little ribbing a la Sgt. Bilko, Commander McHale or even PFC Gomer Pyle. Unleash Angus – and let him be all that he can be, and not just some dumb as dirt, bratty teenager he has been of late.
Fix Number Two: Bring Back Momma - Holland Taylor
Charlie Sheen is gone but does that mean his mother has to go too? Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper knew how to make an entrance, part Rosalind Russell, part Helen Gurley Brown, the veteran stage actress often stole the show from her wayward sons and scholastically challenged grandson. Her trysts with men (among them Robert Wagner as the loveable scoundrel Nathan Krunk alias "Teddy Leopold") and women alike were both legendary and light-hearted, and gave hope to an older generation of viewers that there was both love and sex (and a lot of it) after 60.
Fix Number Three: Whatever Happened to Judith? - Marin Hinkle
Marin Hinkle as Alan Harper's (Jon Cryer’s) ex is one of the few female characters (other than Holland Taylor and Conchata Ferrell, who plays the wise-cracking housekeeper, Bertha) who could give not merely as good but better than she got from the two and a half men on this show. As a strong female character she was the grounding in the electric light show put on by the boys, and her henpecked sweet whipped husband Herb (Drew Carey Show alumni Ryan Stiles) offered a nice, real and relatable counterpoint to the insatiably frisky Harper men.
Fix Number Four: Bertha's Family - Megan Fox, Sarah Rue
Before they were more familiar, Megan Fox and Sarah Rue appeared as Bertha's granddaughter Prudence and daughter Naomi. Conchata Ferrell is always funny, but her Bertha is at her best when she talks about her family. While a Bertha spin-off would be pushing it, an occasional arc involving these and other members of her kooky, quirky brood could offer a My Name is Earl/Beverly Hillbillies thread to balance off the luxurious Malibu lifestyle of Ashton Kutcher's billionaire bachelor.
Fix Number Five: Let Ducky Grow - Jon Cryer
Jon Cryer is a master of physical comedy and self-deprecating humor, but after almost ten seasons enough is enough. Even Frank Burns and Hot Lips Houlihan had to grow or go on M*A*S*H, and the same is true with Alan Harper. His character has not evolved - if anything, it has regressed - and what was once fresh and funny has now become not merely stale but annoying, and at times so annoying as to make a viewer squirm. Jon Cryer is better than that, and so too is Alan Harper - he is, after all, a doctor (of sorts) and a dad. Let him be a little more of both. The show, after all, is called Two and a Half Men, not One and Two-Halfmen....
