Series cast summary: | |||
Jon Cryer | ... |
Alan Harper
/ ...
(262 episodes, 2003-2015)
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Angus T. Jones | ... |
Jake Harper
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(226 episodes, 2003-2015)
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Conchata Ferrell | ... |
Berta
(211 episodes, 2003-2015)
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Charlie Sheen | ... |
Charlie Harper
(178 episodes, 2003-2011)
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The Harper brothers Charlie and Alan are almost opposites but form a great team. They have little in common except their dislike for their mundane, maternally cold and domineering mother, Evelyn. Alan, a compulsively neat chiropractor and control-freak, is thrown out by his manipulative wife Judith who nevertheless gets him to pay for everything and do most jobs in the house. Charlie is a freelance jingle composer and irresistible Cassanova who lives in a luxurious beach-house and rarely gets up before noon. Charlie "temporarily" allows Alan and his son Jake, a food-obsessed, lazy kid who shuttles between his parents, to move in with them after Alan's separation/divorce. The sitcom revolves around their conflicting lifestyles, raising Jake (who has the efficient, caring dad while having a ball with his fun-loving sugar uncle who teaches him boyish things), and bantering with Evelyn and various other friends and family. Other fairly regular characters include Charlie's cleaning lady ... Written by KGF Vissers
I love this show. It's funny, bright, irreverent, and like nothing else on the tube these days. Charlie Sheen was an excellent save in SPIN CITY, but he's perfectly cast as the lazy, womanizing single guy who writes ad jingles for a living, and whose space is invaded by his nerdy brother, Jonathan Cryer, and his ten-year-old son, Angus T. Jones. While Sheen does warm up to his nephew, he's doesn't turn all saccharine and start acting like an uncle should.
Instead, he's a wonderfully corrupting influence and the two of them often collude against the father. I've only seen one posting about Melanie Lynskey's brilliant turn as the female stalker who is always looking through Charlie's deck door. It's about as funny a regular gag as Carlton the doorman on the old Rhoda show and Candace Bergin's endless line of incompetent secretaries. She's adorable and makes the character both hilarious and creepy. Well done.
Holland Taylor is perfect as the insufferable mother both sons love to resent. Her self-involvement is hilarious. The name of the splendid comic actress playing Sheen's housekeeper is Conchata Ferrell, a veteran of TV sitcoms (Hotl Baltimore). It's wonderful to see her back in action.
Favorite episode was the return of an ex-flame of Charlie's. Only she is now a he, having had a sex-change operation. When it's discovered that "he" has spent the night with Charlie's mom, I could barely contain myself. I was hysterical with laughter. Then Conchata Ferrell's bit as the housekeeper who begs Charlie, offering him free housekeeping for a month, if she can be there to witness his telling his mother that the he was formerly a she! Priceless.
Wonderful cast. Wonderful, crisp writing and well-observed situations. This one has all the hallmarks of a sitcom classic and I hope it runs for years. I was never much of a Charlie Sheen admirer, but he's evolved into a first-rate comic actor and he leads this first-rate ensemble with low-key charm and expert delivery.