Two and a Half Men not Quite Half Good

'Two and Half Men' (TAHM) is another on-in-the-background show and programme that never ceases to amaze 'thetvreviewguy' at how lucky Charlie Sheen is. His father was the most popular fictional US President ever, he (Charlie) never appears to be actually acting, and, most galling of all, he gets paid about a million bucks an episode. The storylines mirror Sheen the Younger's life to an uncanny degree; hookers, drinking and, in Philip Larkin's phrase, avoiding the 'toad work' where and whenever possible. His daffy next door neighbour is always chasing him, his brother is never quite as cool as Charlie and both do a passable job of bringing up the half man in question. It's never hilarious and frequently hackneyed but always comforting in its familiarity and is occasionally quotable. Charlie is the Slacker Supremo; we don't really want to dwell to much on his demons in the real world, we just want predictable guffaws and a easy wind down after the working day. TAHM mostly has 'thetvreviewguy' thinking 'Now why can't I get paid a shed load of money writing stuff like this?' but less so than over a myriad of worse sit-coms out there.