DVD Review: Two and a Half Men - The Complete First Season

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 11, 2007, 16:21 GMT

Charlie Harper is a bachelor in paradise, complete with Malibu beach house, overpaid job and a very active dating life. Then his uptight brother Alan, in the throes of a divorce, moves in - and brings his 10-year-old son Jake with him. Sorry, Charlie. It looks like paradise lost. This 4-disc set includes all 24 Season-One Episodes of the breezy comedy - the People\'s Choice Award winner as Favorite New ...more

Charlie Sheen plays a womanizing bachelor that finds that his neurotic brother needs a place to stay and lets him crash his bachelor pad.  His brother brings along his son that this puts a wet blanket on Charlie’s swinging bachelor pad.  

Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen) lives in a fabulous house on the beaches of Malibu and lives a swinging bachelor’s lifestyle with a steady stream of beautiful women through the house.  Charlie’s brother Alan (Jon Cryer) shows up on his doorstep.  Alan is the exact opposite of Charlie being compulsive and neurotic. 

Alan also brings his ten-year-old son Jake (Angus T. Jones) to put a further crimp on Charlie’s freewheeling lifestyle.  Add Charlie’s domineering mother Evelyn (Holland Taylor), his crazy neighbor Rose (Melanie Lynskey), his no nonsense housekeeper Berta (Conchata Ferrell), and Alan’s soon to be ex-wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) to the mix and you’ve got the makings of a great sitcom.  

Now Charlie has to cope with his vicarious lifestyle interfering with Alan’s attempt at raising Jake.  Not to mention that Jake and Charlie’s personalities don’t exactly fit well together – in fact they drive each other crazy most of the time.  The plot of the episodes usually deal with Charlie’s lifestyle interfering with what Alan is trying to instill in his son.  For example, in one of the show’s first episodes Jake sees one of Charlie’s dates half dressed and this leads to a life lesson about girls and Jake’s interest in the female form. 

There are many other episodes where Charlie’s bad habits and situations lead to Alan’s neurosis flaring up and both men having to come to terms with having a boy and not a man in the house.  The show’s situations are hilarious as the characters and actors bounce off of each other well and the writers know how to come up with hilarious situations for them to play off of.  Not only does the trio of main actors play well in this film, the supporting cast has there moments to shine.  This four-disc set brings together the 24 episodes of season one.  The show was a hit with audiences and won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy Series.  

Two and a Half Men is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include the 27-minute “Two Adults, One Kid, No Grown Ups” which interviews creators Lee Aronsohn and Peter Lorre, Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones.  Next is a 5-minute selection of “Gag Reel/Outtakes.”  Finally, there’s an 8-minute “Backstage Tour with Angus T. Jones” where the young star takes you around the set.  

Two and a Half Men well deserves its award as the People’s Choice for Favorite New Comedy Series.  The trio of actors at the heart of the show, Sheen, Cryer, and Jones, are well cast as play well off of each other and have also won the hearts of the audience.  The set adds some good special features and fans of the show will find them well worth the time to glimpse behind the scenes of the show.  

Two and a Half Men - The Complete First Season is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.