Charlie Harper is a jingle writer who lives in the hedonistic lap of luxury - a beach house in Malibu, California. His brother, Alan is a moderately successful chiropractor who has just been tossed out of the house by his wife. With nowhere else to live, Alan begs Charlie to take him in, and his young son at least on the weekends. It was creator Chuck Lorre’s take on The Odd Couple; Two And A Half Men. Two overgrown men, and one of them who is somehow partly responsible for raising his dimwitted son.
Charlie basically did whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted, with no consequences. While Alan would constantly get the short end of the stick. Then all of the Martian backstage drama started. Charlie Harper and Charlie Sheen were done with the show, and Alan still couldn’t catch a break! Actually, the only break he could ever get was somehow never being asked to leave his cushy guest room apartment, despite the place no longer belonging to Charlie.
That’s just the first thing that makes zero sense about the ridiculously popular sitcom. It ended a few years ago, but it still lives on in reruns. Fans, and detractors can still watch and dissect one of the most divisive, yet popular sitcoms of all time.
Whether it was behind the scenes drama or just sitcom tomfoolery, here are 20 Things That Make No Sense About Two And A Half Men.
20 Alan is Perpetually Poor
For sitcoms to work so well over the years, all kinds of things that aren’t normal in the real world have to exist in the world of the show. These are call sitcom tropes - the loud and obnoxious crazy neighbor (Rose, for example). But for the entire premise of Two And A Half Men to work, you have to believe that Alan is poor.
Alan is a chiropractor in Malibu. One would assume he makes far above the median average for these guys, which is 146K annual. Even with having to pay alimony, he would have been able to live moderately comfortably for a single man.
19 Alan’s Allowed To Still Live In The House
Time and time again, Alan would not only comment on his brother’s behavior. He would lambaste the guy for it. Whether you agree or disagree with Alan and his opinions, the guy probably shouldn’t be ripping into the only family member that took him in, rent-free.
Somehow, the guy even finagled his way into staying at the beach house once his brother passed away. Alan living at the beach house became a hallmark of the series for no other reason than it’s a sitcom - there wasn’t a reason that was needed to be given.
18 Several Ladies Played Different Roles
While just about every sitcom ever doesn’t ascribe to continuity and continuous plot lines, most of the times, actors are seldom re-used and re-cast. But on Two And A Half Men, plenty of women filled several roles without anyone being the wiser - except for the internet.
True enough, background actors can get recast for several different roles throughout a show’s run. Men’s recasting several actresses was a little egregious. Jennifer Bini Taylor for example not only played one of Charlie’s conquests before being cast as his no-nonsense fiancé, Chelsea.
17 Alan Constantly Ridiculed Charlie For His Lifestyle
One of the great tropes of sitcoms is obvious hypocrisy between its two leads. Two And A Half Men was no different. Alan would constantly ridicule and comment on his brother’s life choices, even though he was wildly successful and happy, while Alan was not so much.
But if you didn’t notice behind all of his holier-than-thou stances on Charlie, Alan was not a whole lot better. He too, led a controversial-filled lifestyle. He dated out of his league and whenever he tried to catch up, he would usually fall flat on his face.
16 Stopped Being Two And A Half Men
The reason for the show’s title was obvious - two grown men raising a young lad, or at least trying to. As the series progressed and had to change, the name made zero sense. Little Jake became more like a three-quarter man as he got older. Once Sheen left, Amber Tamblyn was brought in as Charlie’s long-lost daughter.
The show clearly had evolved or devolved beyond its original concept. There probably wasn’t a catchy way to sing about Alan, Walden, Jake, and Jenny.
15 The Terrible Final Season
Let’s be honest - Two And A Half Men was not groundbreaking television. It was a 22-minute traditional sitcom designed for pure escapism week to week. Don’t try to be introspective about it, blood might shoot out your nose. Nor should we try to make sense of it, just laugh about some of these items.
But the final season was just awfully abysmal in any quality. Walden wants to adopt a kid, but adoption agencies wouldn’t grant a kid to an incredibly wealthy single man. So, he and Walden pretend to be married so he can get a kid. Oh, and they both have a relationship with the lady at the adoption agency. Yes, it was that bad.
14 Jingle Writers Don’t Make THAT Much
When the series, Charlie is a jingle writer that lives in a palatial estate on the shores of Malibu. Your average jingle writer can charge up to ten grand per thirty-second song. Even if Charlie hustled the way he could, there’s just no way he could churn out the number of jingles he would need to continue his lascivious ways.
Either he’s asking for and somehow receiving an exorbitant rate for his songs to be able to afford his home, his booze, women, and gambling. Or, like he finally admitted to Alan in one episode, “the whole thing’s built on a house of cards.”
13 Lasted Twelve Years
Two And A Half Men debuted in 2003. In twelve years’ time, it seemed like nothing was going to stop this show from being on. Not Charlie Sheen’s epically public meltdown. Not Angus Jones finding religion and lambasting the show. Not even the Parents Television Council could denounce the show enough to have it booted off the air.
Perhaps Chuck Lorre sold his soul to someone since just about every show he’s ever written lasts at least five years. Perhaps enough people loved the crass humor. But the show was a living, breathing dichotomy. The more critics seemed to abhor the series, the more fans it seemed to get.
12 Alan And Charlie’s Relationship With Evelyn
Sitcoms often tend to have the mom, or the mother-in-law character be the bane of existence to one or more of the main characters. Holland Taylor played the Harper matriarch, Evelyn throughout the series. She played the role with a devilish grin - the harpy that Charlie and Alan always called her out for being.
Often in real life, no matter how awful a mother is, it’s hard for kids to stay away from them. However, it does seem like only in the sitcom world, where such a strange relationship like the one in this show could work.
11 Berta The Maid
Berta was a maid who does next to nothing except offer up a whole lot of sass and sarcasm. But like Benson and Geoffrey and several other Butler characters before, her character just doesn't make sense. Normally it’s strange that the bosses of TV housekeepers don’t get more annoyed at how little their maid does.
But on Men, Berta should’ve quit on Charlie years ago. She didn’t sign up to have new houseguest Alan try to tell her how to do her job. Nor did she sign up to watch the creep try and bond with her niece. But considering she knows where all the bodies are buried so to speak, there was no letting her go.
10 Alan Dates Rose?!
While we’ve all had that friend or family member who decides to date one of our exes, that does not make it okay. Alan was apparently so desperate and lonely that he thought it would be a good idea to shack up with Rose for a time.
While we're not supposed to worry or look too deep into developments, it was firmly established since just about the first episode how disturbed and in love with Charlie that Rose was. Alan trying to date her, while it made for a funny episode, was just a dumb idea.
9 the character Was Written For Sheen
Not only was Charlie Harper written to be an awful character with no compunction to ever do the right thing, but he was also written for actor Charlie Sheen in mind. Not because of Sheen’s terrific acting skills, but because he was known for being a bit of a wild child!
What did the producers expect would happen if and when Charlie went off the rails? That’s not in defense of the guy, but when you hire a known philandering firebrand to play one, don’t be so shocked when he lashes out.
8 How Anyone Wants To Marry Charlie? Part One – Mia
They claim there is someone out there for everybody. What happens one of those someones happens to have slept with a whole heap of other someone’s?! When Charlie met Mia, he was instantly smitten and wanted nothing more to be with her, and then he finally got the chance to date the fetching dance instructor.
Like a lot of couples, they had their arguments, but Mia was just far too good for Charlie. She accepted his nonsense while trying to better him as a person. Strangely enough, Charlie had put up with all of this and Mia had put up with Charlie. But the final straw was Charlie not willing to kick his brother to the curb, something he had wanted to since the very first episode.
7 How Anyone Wants To Marry Charlie? Part Two – Chelsea
Chelsea was the other great monogamous relationship of Charlie’s life. He actually said “I love you” to her without being prompted to do so. In order for her to say it back, the guy proposed to her. Naturally, because, well sitcoms, she said yes.
Similar to Mia, Chelsea was pure of heart. But unlike Mia, she didn’t try to change or’ Chuckles that much. Strangely enough, eventually Chelsea was the one who wanted out of the relationship due to being attracted to another man.
6 No One Sees How Bad Rose Is
Rose isn’t exactly stable. She fills the role of the sitcom trope of the crazy next-door neighbor. There was Norton on The Honeymooners, Kramer on Seinfeld, and Rose. But Rose wasn’t just zany for sitcom standards, she was certifiable by real-life standards.
Meanwhile, even though she is completely deranged, not one of the other people in Charlie’s life seem to acknowledge this fact. They all, in fact, try to get Charlie to realize that she’s perfect for him. Just because two people are all kinds of crazy, doesn’t mean that they’re a fit for one another.
5 Even Jake Gets Treated badly
In the world of Two And A Half Men, the adults in Jake’s life are all terrible people when you think about it. Uncle Charlie is a philanderer, his dad’s a deadbeat, mom’s neurotic, and grandma is a satan worshipping demon, according to her sons. But at least during the early episodes, little Jake was treated like gold.
At some point though, Jake and his limited intelligence became fodder for a lot of jokes on the show. For a series about raising this child, boy did the adults in his life do a poor job! Of all people, it was his uncle that seemed to actually care about the kid, he even had given up relationships for him.
4 Somehow, Hot Shots Is Never Mentioned Or Mimed
For such a slapstick style show, it’s a little weird to know that Sheen and Cryer were both part of the eighties Brat Pack. Even more so, both actors were part of the first Hot Shots film. If you haven’t seen it, the film is a parody of movies like Top Gun, ala The Naked Gun and Airplane films.
Considering both of your leads were part of the film, it seems like it would have been a great fit for at the very least a Halloween episode, much less go full bore into a parody of a parody. Alas, it never happened.
3 Angus Jones Biting The Hand That Feeds
Angus Jones was a mere ten years old when the series began. To say he didn’t know any better about the material that was written for him and around him is a gross understatement. But whoever his parents and agent happily took the money and had the kid subjected to it.
By the time he was old enough to know what he was doing, he joined Charlie Sheen in the “speak out against the show that’s paying you.” Jones implored viewers to stop watching due to the series content. While it is ok to not to like your job, remember these people are paying you great money to entertain the masses.
2 Sheen vs Kutcher
After Sheen’s really public meltdown and subsequent firing from the show, the search was on for a new lead. Would they recast Charlie Harper? Or create a new character? Enter Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt. Sheen tried to play it cool at first and congratulated Kutcher.
But then the Tiger Blood took hold and Sheen started threatening Kutcher on Twitter. To the extent that Kutcher responded very publicly on Jimmy Kimmel, imploring the troubled actor to just stop it.
1 Rose Is Never Questioned
In the very first episode of the new Two And A Half Men, there is a funeral held for Charlie. His widow, Rose all but states that she eliminated him, or at least was partly responsible for it.
Only on this show, in the wake of Sheen’s real-life troubles could his character’s passing be played up for ultimate laughs. His widow basically admitted to dealing away with Charlie, and no one took it seriously.
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Is there anything else that makes no sense about Two And A Half Men? let us know in the comments!
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