In a welcome sign after last week’s fall, ratings for “Two and a Half Men” rebounded to a healthy 5.1 adults 18-49 rating with 14.5 million viewers Monday.
The rebound seemingly confirms Halloween as the clear culprit for last week’s disappointment, and provides another piece of evidence in favor of those touting the casting of Ashton Kutcher as a success. Remember, the hope for the recast “Men” was simply to keep the series viable, valuable and relevant–not to build by leaps and bounds over the ratings benchmark set by the Charlie Sheen version.
At the same time, the demo share was 12, equal to last week’s number. In that respect, the “rebound” is more about additional people watching television due to the non-holiday than a resurgence of interest in the series.
Viewer reaction to Monday’s episode, meanwhile, will be interesting. The episode was heavily built around Jon Cryer giving his best Charlie Sheen impression, with an emotionally-hurting Alan Harper believing himself to be his deceased brother Charlie. Monday’s segment ended with Harper being institutionalized for a nervous breakdown; believing the hospital to be the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Alan ordered some hookers from an imaginary phone before laying back in his bed and declaring that he was “winning!”
On the one hand, it was a tremendous performance from Cryer, who did not solely deliver a great Sheen impression, instead nailing the portrayal of how Alan Harper would have seen his brother. On the other hand, it not only hammered home how missed Sheen is from the series but also felt tacky in still drawing laughs from Sheen, who was uncermoniously dropped from the show.
Earlier in the night, CBS’ 8PM hour remains red hot, with “How I Met Your Mother” climbing to a very strong 4.4 with 10.4 million viewers and legitimate hit “2 Broke Girls” delivering a 4.5 with 11.3 million.
“Mike & Molly” led out of “Men” with a nice 4.2 and 12.0 million, while “Hawaii 5-0” closed with a 3.0 and 10.0 million.
it sucked big time..pathetic..Sheen as Charlie Harper was this show..Cryer trying to channel him was pathetic..we know who was the star.
I don’t watch two and a half men anymore, but from what I see on the internet, it only proves that Charlie is TWO AND A HALF MEN’s star of the show and will always be.
I do like all the other characters on the show. I think I would like it better with all the current stars, but without Kutcher. He ruins the show. Maybe that’s only my opinion, but to me that’s what count.