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Two and a Half Men: The Return of the Sitcom
While Jon Cryer's appearance on the show this Wednesday will no doubt be mostly devoted to discussing his work with the recently-departed John Hughes, not to mention his new film, Shorts, it's worth taking a minute to consider Two and a Half Men.
Two and a Half Men stars Cryer alongside Charlie Sheen (also, a wise-cracking housekeeper and an equally sassy chubby kid), and is a return to the sitcom in its most iconic form. Unlike other shows of recent years that attempt to change the sitcom into something new, vibrant, and in some cases, unrecognizable, Two and a Half Men has more in common with I Love Lucy than Arrested Development.
For one thing, Men is filmed in front of a live audience (like Lucy). For another, its jokes are rarely ironic or meta, rather they're pretty much straightforward gags. Unlike Lucy, they spend a lot of time riffing on bodily functions and sex, but the comic timing and simplicity of the humour is for the ages. Two and a Half Men may not be the most intelligent show on TV, but that doesn't make it any less funny.