Two and a Half Men’s highest-rated episode perfectly explains what’s wrong with the 12-season sitcom

There is not a single Ashton Kutcher episode in Two and a half peoples top 10 on IMDb, proving that the series would have been better off if it just ended after Charlie Sheen left. When Sheen’s substance abuse and tensions with series co-creator Chuck Lorre worsened during the eighth season, Sheen was fired and went to rehab. But since Two and a half people was one of the highest-rated shows on the air, Warner Bros. wasn’t ready to let it go. So, they brought in Kutcher to replace Sheen as the lead and dragged it out for another four seasons.

The series had already seen a decline in quality before Kutcher came along. The underlying sweetness of the first times was completely eradicated, and the correctness completely took over. But it was still a funny show; The decline became much steeper after Kutcher came on board. Two and a half people on IMDb. There isn’t a single episode from the Kutcher years on the list, proving that it was a much stronger show under Shin. When Shin left, the series should have just ended.

Two and a Half Men should have ended once Charlie left the story

There’s no show without Charlie

The whole premise of Two and a half people was built around Shin’s public persona. Charlie Harper’s characterization as a rich, promiscuous, carefree bachelor is based on how the tabloids portrayed Sheen himself. When his brother and nephew came to live with him, it forced him to grow up, and he eventually became a loving family man. Shin was the whole reason there was a show To begin with. There is no point in trying to continue without him – and the overwhelmingly negative response to the episodes after Charlie on IMDb proves it.

And it’s not just a Charlie issue; Since the show was already in its eighth season when Shin left, there wasn’t much story mileage left in any of the other characters, either. Jake was all grown up, Evelyn came to warm up to her family, and every single possible laugh was turned out of Alan’s frugality and refusal to move out. Even if Charlie stuck around, Two and a half people Didn’t have much more to go. The only reason it’s still going at all is because Charlie is still a great character.

Two and a half people have accumulated way too many problems to continue

There was too much behind-the-scenes drama

When Charlie left Two and a half peopleThe show has accumulated way too many problems to continue. Sheen’s split with Lorre began to affect the series itself. The vindictive way the show killed off Charlie made it like The writers put their own personal arguments for the needs of the story. They lost a lot of the goodwill of the audience when they killed off a character in which they had eight years of investment. Charlie was a beloved character; Giving him such a disrespectful send-off started the second chapter of the series on the wrong foot.

If the writers had come up with a more respectful way to write Charlie out of the show, long-time fans would have been more willing to give the Kutcher era a chance. But by opening season 9 at Charlie’s funeral, which reveals that he was cruelly killed by a train and quickly devolves into a mean-spirited roast, they burned the bridge immediately. Two and a half people Continued to have decent ratings for the next four seasons, however It absolutely destroyed the show’s legacy.

Two and a Half Men was a completely different show until the end

Eventually, Alan was the only main character left

Until then Two and a half people Eventually ending in its 12th season, it was a completely different show. It began as the story of an untimely bachelor who reconnects with his former brother and becomes a caring uncle to his estranged nephew. When Kutcher’s Walden Schmidt took over, it became the story of a goofy, geeky tech billionaire with no flaws to overcome and no problems to fight. This made the Walden years much more boring than the Charlie years.

And it wasn’t just Charlie’s departure that made Two and a half people A completely different series in the last four seasons. Jake’s role was drastically reduced as he got older and he eventually also left, when Angus T. Jones objected to the immoral humor of the show. finally, Alan was the only main character left and he was completely flanderized. Other characters were brought in to recapture the early-season magic — Charlie’s long-lost daughter Jenny brought back some of his edge and Walden’s adopted son Louis brought back the original premise of dysfunctional co-parenting — but it is never the same.