Amber Tamblyn is joining the cast of Two and half Men as Charlie Harper's illegitimate lesbian daughter that he may not have known existed. I guess in the absence of Jake (Angus T. Jones), who was the half in two and a half men, a lesbian replacement is a crude play on the wording of the title.
Two and a Half Men has fallen victim to a couple of transgressions for sitcoms. Over the last ten seasons I've watched this show slowly trade in its heart and soul in order to profit off the cheap and gross laugh and pratfall. What makes it worse is they've been rewarded for it by steady or increased ratings. At this point TAAHM is a shadow of its former self and going into this new season they may as well re-brand the show because of the radical departure its made from its core. The best way to see the change is through the development of the youngest member of the trio, Jake. As he got older we can see the show slowly morphing into its current incarnation.
In the beginning, the show was about two brothers, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) the unabashed bachelor and Alan (Jon Cryer) a just divorced father who takes care of his son, Jake, on the weekends. The show was something along the lines of the Odd Couple with Allen playing the overly levelheaded constantly put upon roommate to Charlie's free wheeling, alcoholic swinging single. At this point the show had chemistry and heart. Alan just wanted to be the best father and example he could be to his son despite a failed marriage and the emasculating affect of having to move in with his big brother. And even though Charlie cherished his space and freedom he willingly gave that up to support his little brother and nephew in their time of need.
While mostly episodic there were a number of story arcs that lead to some interesting character development for Charlie and Alan. Most of the recurring characters pertained to Charlie's love life and his issues with commitment. The other recurring story-lines involve Alan's efforts at first to rekindle his relationship with his ex and failing that finding love again with other women, most of whom Charlie already slept with. And its that little detail that helped to show just how deep their bond went. They both had similar tastes in women and even though there were many aspects of Charlie's lifestyle that Alan resented or was jealous of, deep down he really wanted to be like his big brother.
Since Angus T. Jones was a little boy during this time, his character, Jake was portrayed as a regular little boy. He wasn't precocious nor too snarky and sarcastic for an eight year old. The supporting characters, Evelyn Harper (Holland Taylor), their near unfit, neglectful mother, Rose (Melanie Lynsky), the crazy obsessive neighbor, Berta (Conchata Ferrell), the domineering house keeper and Judith Harper (Marin Hinkle), Alan's nagging ex-wife rounded out the show perfectly. Everyone had a function and purpose in the main characters lives and the chemistry with the full cast was great. The writing for the characters in seasons 1-4 was very well done.
read more: http://mczfilmtvreviews.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-two-and-half-men-hopelessly-lost.html
