If you've never watched "Two and a Half Men" before then you've clearly never watch TV live, because it's always on. Re-runs of the most recent season have been making the rounds on television since Charlie Sheen began his tour of crazy across the airwaves and got fired. Regardless of your feeling of Sheen as a person, he's a highly entertaining actor, and Chuck Lorre and CBS have their work set out for them replacing him in a way that gives them more than one more season of life.
Again, this is probably old news but Ashton Kutcher, the baby-faced boy-toy husband of Demi Moore will be filling the vacancy on the show. There are many different ways that the creators and writes can incorporate him into the family, but I see only one way in which all characters can work.
Basic Character Desciption
Kutcher's character, let's name him. . . Bill, is a long lost half brother. This would work because everyone who's watched at least an episode of the show knows that the mother is a) a huge slut b) a giant liar and c) acts in her best interest. Thus it would make sense that she could have briefly shacked up with someone, had their kid, and then left the man and the kid alone. The age difference (or apparent age difference since Kutcher looks so young) between Jon Cryer (Alan Harper) and Kutcher large enough that this could have all taken place after Charlie and Alan were out of the house.
How Do We Incorporate "Bill"?
Since Lorre hates Charlie Sheen so much, I imagine he'd likely kill off Charlie Harper (easily explained by his life of alcoholism and debauchery). This sets up the perfect entrance for Bill: after discovering who is mother is from his father he goes in search of his half brothers and ends up at the funeral. There, he introduces himself to his new-found brother and nephew, confuses and scares the hell out of mommy dearest, and manages to move in with Alan. This allows Cryer to augment Alan to become slightly less manic (because his type of comedy and Kutcher's type of comedy won't mesh as they are now). With Alan acting more mature because he's the older brother, Bill acts up like all comedic little brothers should. He gets into all sorts of trouble and Alan uses the money left to him in Charlie's will to cover the damage and support Bill's shenanigans.
What Does This Mean for the Show?
This means that the "Two and a Half Men" that audiences have adored for 8ish seasons is gone. For good. There's no real way to replace Charlie Sheen because he wasn't acting; he was merely reining in the crazy a little to make the character more likable. Kutcher may be able to do a god job, but I give the show at max another 3 season. Angus T. Jones is growing up and no longer the adorable snarky little kid we once loved. Cryer has become grating and if he doesn't change he'll clash with Kutcher's comedy. Sooner or later all shows must come to an end. If only they'd decided to let this show die with Sheen's good standing with SAG. But that would have meant Lorre let Sheen win and damn if he'd let that happen. I guess we'll find out what happens later this year or early next year. I'm curious to see how they make this work.
This would have been so much better!
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