DVD Review: Mediocre Release For Reboot Season of ‘Two and a Half Men’

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CHICAGO – It’s funny that after all of the build-up, all of the headlines, and all of the hype that the ninth season of “Two and a Half Men” proved to be so lackluster. Once the dust had cleared on Hurricane Sheen and Ashton Kutcher had moved into the lead role, the show went through some serious growing pains in its first revamped year.

I like Kutcher, Jon Cryer has always been good, and there’s reason to believe year two of this reboot will more creatively consistent (and a POWERHOUSE ratings hour now that it’s been paired with “The Big Bang Theory” on Thursday nights) but the lackluster special features and the so-so episodes make for a DVD release for fans only.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

I was hoping that there would be some insight into the process that led to showing Charlie Sheen the door and bringing Ashton Kutcher into replace him on the special features here but they’re pretty surface level. The featurette “Two and a Half Men Version 2.0” gets into it a little bit but it’s really a puff piece for how great Kutcher is in his new role. Other than that? It’s just a house remodeling featurette and a gag reel. Yawn. Imagine if Chuck Lorre and Jon Cryer could have done an audio commentary on the season premiere and discussed the debacle. It could have been fascinating. I feel like there are still Charlie stories to tell. Maybe they just want to move on (and I get that). Maybe on next season’s DVD.

Two and a Half Men: The Complete Ninth Season was released on DVD on August 28, 2012
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Synopsis:
Season Nine comes with big changes - and even bigger laughs from the Men of TV’s favorite comedy! When hopeless nebbish Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) and his fast-maturing son Jake (Angus T. Jones) suddenly find themselves without a place to call home, their solution walks in off the beach in the form of internet gazillionaire, Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who buys the Malibu beach pad and offers to let Alan and Jake stay. Soon, the three guys bond, forming a substitute family, and find themselves involved in all sorts of comedic exploits that you’ve come to expect from Two And A Half Men. As the season unfolds, Walden turns to Alan (of all people) for advice on his forlorn love life, Jake considers his future as a high school graduate, and Walden considers the upside of Berta’s “special” brownies. Meanwhile, Alan has a brush with death and - even worse - life without a view of the ocean. 24 fresh episodes - serious manly fun!

Click here to buy “Two and a Half Men: The Complete Ninth Season”

Special Features:
o Two and a Half Men Version 2.0: Co-Creator and Executive Producer Chuck Lorre and the Cast Reveal the Real Story Behind the Changes to the Show
o The Billionaire Upgrade: Walden Schmidt’s Malibu House Redesign
o Gag Reel

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com