The Ten Best TWO AND A HALF MEN Episodes of Season One

https://jacksonupperco.com/2024/02/07/the-ten-best-two-and-a-half-men-episodes-of-season-one/

I thought I could avoid the formidable 12-week commitment to Two And A Half Men by covering other Chuck Lorre sitcoms (like The Big Bang Theory) that similarly demonstrate how he has become, for better and for worse, synonymous with the state of all multi-camera sitcoms in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. But the truth is, despite his prior successes, the enormous popularity of Men — right when the 1990s’ best multi-cams were dying out and ready to hand over the proverbial torch — is the very thing that made Lorre a powerhouse in this new millennium. So, honestly, I’m glad that I’m now forcing myself to cover this series — America’s most-watched sitcom from 2005-2006 to 2009-2010 — for even though I think Big Bang is a stronger effort, it’s something of a throwback to the ’90s (in terms of design and story), while Men feels like it better represents the Lorre ethos overall, along with the perceived sensibility of multi-cams, as a whole, during the mid-to-late 2000s. Specifically, I think Lorre’s work is associated with a certain crass obviousness — an erosion of subtlety, or an anything-for-a-laugh baseness, particularly with both bathroom humor, and most importantly, sex. Indeed, Men would quickly become its era’s quintessentially raunchy example of a multi-camera sitcom, literally known by and for its audaciousness — some of which, arguably, was an embodiment of both these characters and the premise, but eventually veered into cheap gratuity, especially as the show was hitting this style as a major part of its identity, following a reduced ability to showcase other elements as well.