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List Price: $29.98Price: $11.99You Save: $17.99 (60%)
Weeds - Season One
Actor: Mary-Louise Parker
ASIN : B000FFJYE8
Sales Rank : 104
Director : Burr Steers, Lee Rose
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lionsgate
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0031398188056
UPC : 031398188056
Release Date : December 11, 2006
Publisher : Lionsgate
Manufacturer : Lionsgate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lionsgate
Running Time : 283
Product DescriptionStudio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/06/2007 Run time: 283 minutes Rating: Nr Amazon.com With its fantastic comedy series Weeds, cable network Showtime finally gave up its also-ran status to HBO and found itself with a controversial, buzz-worthy show that was as hilarious as it was dark, one about a truly desperate housewife. A recent widow with two growing sons, Nancy Botwin (Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker) looks like a typical resident of the affluent Southern California suburb of Agrestic. She keeps a clean, upscale house (with the help of a live-in maid), attends PTA meetings, goes to her kids' soccer games, makes frequent stops at the local coffee franchise.... and sells marijuana in order to make it all possible. Left with no way to support herself after her beloved husband's fatal heart attack, Nancy turns herself into the "suburban baroness of bud," dealing to her neighbors in the area, with the help of her supplier Heylia (Tonye Patano) and point man Conrad (Romany Malco). Nancy's clients run from the local councilman (Kevin Nealon) to the just-barely-legal students at the local community college, but many in Agrestic are still in the dark as to how she keeps her family afloat, including her best friend, the sardonic Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), a wife and mother whose blistering, withering put-downs could make Dorothy Parker cringe in fear. But like many small-business owners, Nancy yearns for more success and cash, and like her workaholic neighbors, finds keeping a balance between work life and home life to be extremely precarious at best. While Desperate Housewives yearned to be a suburban satire with bite, Weeds was the real deal, skewering upper-middle class mores with a sharp eye, a keen wit, and a mostly forgiving heart. In episode after episode, the show's creative team (led by creator Jenji Kohan) pulled back the layers of Agrestic's superficiality to show what lies beneath the squeaky-clean exteriors and smiling faces; it turns out that hunger, fear, desire, and, yes, desperation aren't that far down. However, Weeds forsakes pulpiness and florid drama for biting yet affectionate humor--its heroine is a woman with sliding morals, but one you'll root for to the very end. The effervescent Parker, the only actress who can mix perkiness with morbidity in just the right amounts, anchored the show with her amazing turn as Nancy, who by the end of the first season had become a kind of soccer-mom version of Michael Corleone, entering a corrupt world with both trepidation and fascination--and totally enamored of the power it brought her. Also perfectly cast, Perkins found the role of a lifetime as the bitterly hilarious Celia, and entering the show in its fourth episode, Justin Kirk (Parker's co-star in Angels in America) proved to be a potent secret weapon as Nancy's brother-in-law Andy, a slacker who wasn't above peddling t-shirts to elementary school kids. As icky as these characters might appear on the surface, Weeds made them all immensely appealing and great company to be around. Don't say we didn't warn you: one hit and you'll be hooked on this show. The DVDs feature six episode commentaries with cast and crew, outtakes, original featurettes, a music video, and most enjoyably, Agrestic Herbal Recipes (for entertainment value only, we assume) and the "Smoke and Mirrors" marijuana mockumentary. --Mark Englehart
Reviews for the Weeds - Season One
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Weeds - Season Two
Actor: Mary-Louise Parker
ASIN : B000Q6GUKW
Sales Rank : 114
Director : Burr Steers, Tucker Gates
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lionsgate
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012236215677
UPC : 012236215677
Release Date : December 24, 2007
Publisher : Lionsgate
Manufacturer : Lionsgate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lionsgate
Running Time : 283
DescriptionFunnier, darker and more daring, the second season of this acclaimed Showtime series reaches a higher ground. Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker stars as Nancy Botwin, the soccer mom who had to learn how to deal - pot, that is - after the death of her husband. Now, her business is a hit. But keeping up with the neighbors in this suburban utopia isn't easy. She's joined up with a few of her closest friends, and together they're facing life's highs and lows - because even in paradise, nobody's perfect. Don't miss WEEDS, an addictive comedy, the highest grade TV has to offer. Amazon.comThe first season of Weeds ended with a shocker: Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) found a dreamy new boyfriend, but he turned out to be a DEA agent (Martin Donovan). Luckily, she manages to find some pretty creative ways to "deal" with it. Despite that new obstacle, she decides it’s also time to "grow" the business to higher levels, and all these risky moves lead up to another fabulous season finale cliff-hanger. Elsewhere in suburban utopia, comic relieving brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) tries to dodge his army commitments by joining Rabbi school, while the hilarious Doug (Kevin Nealon) battles it out with Celia (Elizabeth Perkins) to maintain power over the Agrestic City Council. Plot aside, Season 2 of Weeds took this potentially great show to the next level. No matter how hard they tried in the first season, the show’s makers had a heck of a time trying to shake the impression that they were mimicking the edginess of HBO’s original programming. (Some might have gone as far as to say they were trying a little too hard.) This time around, the characters and the story have grown into their own skins, and they offer something much more authentic and convincing. The second season also starts a great new tradition: Malvina Reynolds ‘s "Little Boxes" is still the opening theme song, but it is performed by a different artist for each episode (from Elvis Costello to The Shins). Just one more thing to keep us "addicted." --Jordan Thompson
Reviews for the Weeds - Season Two
List Price: $39.98Price: $20.49You Save: $19.49 (49%)
Family Guy, Vol. 6
Actors: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry
ASIN : B0012018OE
Sales Rank : 60
Director : Brian Iles, Chris Robertson, Cyndi Tang-Loveland, Dan Povenmire, Dominic Polcino
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543541691
UPC : 024543541691
Release Date : December 21, 2008
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 374
DescriptionThe quirky characters at Crane, Poole and Schmidt are at it again, bringing the most outrageous and often times improbable cases to court.
Beyond Family Guy - Vol. 6 on DVD  Arrested Development |  Family Guy - The Complete Collection [Amazon.com Exclusive] |  The Simpsons - Season Eleven | Stills from Family Guy - Vol. 6 (Click for larger image)
Reviews for the Family Guy, Vol. 6
List Price: $39.98Price: $15.99You Save: $23.99 (60%)
Weeds - Season Three
Actors: Mary-Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins, Hunter Parrish, Kevin Nealon, Alexander Gould
ASIN : B00166UFSY
Sales Rank : 100
Director : Craig Zisk, Ernest R. Dickerson, Julie Anne Robinson, Lev L. Spiro, Martha Coolidge
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0031398240778
UPC : 031398240778
Release Date : December 03, 2008
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 388
DescriptionAmerica's favorite pot-dealing soccer mom is more addictive than ever in the third season of WEEDS, the highly acclaimed Showtime(r) Original Series. Emmy (r) and Golden Globe(r) winner MARY-LOUISE PARKER stars as Nancy Botwin, a single mom who resorts to dealing pot after her husband dies suddenly. But when an off beat way to make ends meet grows into a mini-empire, the mother of all dealers finds she may be in over her head - and on the verge of taking everyone else with her. Hilarious and subversive, WEEDS is the hit that put the herb in suburb. Amazon.comWeeds: Season Three continues the dark line of comedy that emerged in the previous season for this Showtime series. The story picks up exactly where it left off, with Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) faced with a half-dozen guns pointing at her in her own kitchen, while an Armenian gang and Nancy's buyer, U-Turn (Page Kennedy), both demand she turn over her entire stash of marijuana (worth several hundred thousand dollars). Problem is, the pot is in the trunk of on-again, off-again friend Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), whose car has been stolen by Nancy's oldest son, Silas (Hunter Parrish). Silas wants in on mom's business, but his timing couldn't be worse as Celia and a police officer show up to reclaim the car while Nancy is still at gunpoint. The fallout from all this is that Nancy ends up working for U-Turn to repay her debt to him, a dangerous relationship that sends Nancy down a rabbit hole of underworld threats and violence. Meanwhile, Celia gets booted out of her home by her husband and becomes estranged from her young daughter, Isabelle (Allie Grant), who insists she's a lesbian. Celia rebounds a bit when a corrupt developer (Matthew Modine) gives her a house in exchange for her support on city council for one of his schemes. That goes wrong, too, when Celia allows Nancy, Doug (Kevin Nealon), and Conrad (Romany Malco), all of whom go into business after U-Turn stops being a problem, to put their endangered trove of marijuana plants in her house. Nancy's other son, Shane (Alexander Gould), claims he can see and talk to the ghost of Nancy's late husband, and Nancy's brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) goes AWOL from the U.S. Army after his comrade is deliberately killed in an experimental missile test. As always, it's one thing after another on Weeds, and the blend of humor and suspense is uniquely compelling. Parker and the rest of the cast pull off some pretty surreal situations with great credibility. The show's lead star, particularly, can carry moments of blended terror and comedy: one of the season's most memorable moments finds Nancy forced to put on a sexy dance for a group of drug dealers in order to pick up a package U-Turn requires. The scene is humiliating, frightening, sexy, and comical all at once. Few actresses could have pulled it off, but Parker does. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the Weeds - Season Three
New Price: $23.89
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Seasons 1 & 2
Actors: Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito
ASIN : B000RW3VDE
Sales Rank : 121
Director : Rob McElhenney, Daniel Attias, John Fortenberry
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Subtitled, Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543444169
UPC : 024543444169
Release Date : December 04, 2007
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 380
DescriptionThree best friends own a Irish Pub in Phili and get into sticky situations resulting from bad judgment. Amazon.comTake the best elements from Seinfeld and Arrested Development and you have It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Combining the social-degenerate-buddy formula (three men, one woman) with the beyond-dysfunctional-family element, Philadelphia creates scenarios that are so hysterical, wrong, appalling, familiar, embarrassing, uncomfortable, and entertaining, the show is addictive like staring at a car wreck when you know you shouldn't, but you just can't look away; it's invigorating like a fresh, loud, wake-up slap on the face. The writing, the quick timing, and the performances are so natural, one wonders if anyone is even acting (but hopes to heaven they are). Danny DeVito joined the cast in the second season, in one of the best roles on TV. DeVito is "Frank," the buddy dad that just wants to be part of the gang, the dad that looks good on paper, but the experience for his kids is more like taking care of a vicious dog that isn't potty-trained. Three of his four talented cohorts (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenney) not only star in the series, but write it as well. Thanks to their new take on old themes and a willingness to stretch the boundaries of appropriateness and exploit the audiences' inner insecurities, originality is back on TV.--Rachel Moss Beyond It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  Groundbreaking TV: Arrested Development |  Fox TV Store |  More from Danny DeVito | Stills from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1 & 2
Reviews for the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Seasons 1 & 2
List Price: $169.98Price: $108.99You Save: $60.99 (36%)
Family Guy - The Total World Domination Collection (Stewie Head Packaging) - (Amazon.com Exclusive)
Actor: Family Guy
ASIN : B001DEO7LK
Sales Rank : 1163
Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
Format : NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543555384
UPC : 024543555384
Release Date : December 21, 2008
Publisher : Twentieth Century Fox
Manufacturer : Twentieth Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Twentieth Century Fox
Amazon.comThis Amazon-exclusive Family Guy - The Complete Collection contains every minute of Family Guy on DVD: 22 discs including over 100 episodes, loads of special features, plus Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin – The Untold Story and Family Guy: Blue Harvest – all in a limited edition, collectible "Stewie Head" package that’s available only on Amazon.com!
The Family Guy - The Complete Collection includes:
Disc 1 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 1 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 2 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 1 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 3 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 1 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 4 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 1 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 5 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 2 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 6 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 2 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 7 - 158 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 2 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 8 - 90 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 3 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 9 - 90 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 3 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 10 - 112 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 3 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 11 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 4 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 12 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 4 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 13 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 4 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 14 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 5 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 15 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 5 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 16 - 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 5 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 17 - 132 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 6 PS (Disc 1)
Disc 18 - 132 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 6 PS (Disc 2)
Disc 19 - 110 min 1.33:1 Family Guy TV Volume 6 PS (Disc 3)
Disc 20 - 48 min 1.33:1 Family Guy Blue Harvest (Disc 1)
Disc 21 - 88 min 1.33:1 Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin Feature Film (Disc 1)
Disc 22 American Dad Season 1 PS Bonus Disc
Total run-time 2561 minutes
Beyond Family Guy - The Complete Collection  Family Guy - Vol. 6 |  Arrested Development
|  The Simpsons - Season Eleven | Stills from Family Guy (Click for larger image)
Reviews for the Family Guy - The Total World Domination Collection (Stewie Head Packaging) - (Amazon.com Exclusive)
List Price: $39.98Price: $20.99You Save: $18.99 (47%)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3
Actors: Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Charles Gideon Davis, Danny DeVito, David Gueriera
ASIN : B0018RKEQE
Sales Rank : 107
Director : Fred Savage, Jerry Levine, Matt Shakman
Brand : Twentieth Century Fox
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543525998
UPC : 024543525998
Release Date : December 09, 2008
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 332
Product DescriptionStudio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/09/2008 Amazon.comThe folks who populate It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia may be pals, but they sure aren’t Friends. They may be a gang, but they’re not Our Gang--heck, these cretins make Spanky, Alfalfa, and company look like members of the Good Sam Club by contrast. Consider, if you can bear it, the first of the 15 episodes (presented, with bonus features, on three discs) from this, the show’s third season: Mac (Rob McElhenney) and Dee (Caitlin Olson) discover a baby in a dumpster. Do they report it to the police? To Child Services, maybe? Of course not! They take it to a commercial agent, hoping to cash in by putting the kid in TV ads; and when the agent says that Latino babies are all the rage, they take him to a tanning salon so he’ll appear darker and more “ethnic looking.” Meanwhile, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) pretends to be join a tree-hugging group of hippies, merely so he can steal the group leader’s girlfriend, while Charlie (Charlie Day) and Frank (Danny DeVito) spend the day rummaging around at the trash dump. It’s tough to go downhill from there, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. In the course of the following episodes, members of the quacked quintet reveal themselves to be not only rude, devious, unscrupulous, amoral, and dishonest, but also racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and dumb (their endless arguments about nothing are riotously ridiculous). Not that this will surprise anyone who’s seen the show before. Dee, Mac, and Dennis try out for the Philadelphia Eagles while Charlie and Frank drop acid. Dee sleeps with the old, toothless janitor at a competing bar in order to steal their microbrew recipe. They mock a deaf mute. They fart in each other’s faces. When they think Paddy’s Pub, where they work, is going to be sold, three of them quickly land gigs at a nearby restaurant, where they get drunk on the job and steal from the customers. They even get held hostage by the hillbilly McPoyle family, possibly the only people in the known universe who can make our “heroes” look good. And it’s all pretty hilarious, including the bonus features. Those include humorous commentary on two episodes by McElhenney, Day, and Howerton (the show’s executive producers and occasional writers), two featurettes (a season overview and a look at the McPoyles) that are as whack as the show itself, a gag reel, and a “Dancing Guy” sequence so strange as to beggar description. --Sam Graham
Beyond It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Season 3 on DVD  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD |  Arrested Development – Season One on DVD |  Arrested Development – Season Two on DVD | Stills from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – Season Three (Click for larger image)
Reviews for the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3
List Price: $44.98Price: $33.99You Save: $10.99 (24%)
Two and a Half Men - The Complete Third Season
Actors: Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer
ASIN : B0013D8M3U
Sales Rank : 579
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0085391171669
UPC : 085391171669
Release Date : December 13, 2008
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 7 to 13 days
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 527
Product DescriptionStudio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/13/2008 Amazon.comIn the third season of Two and a Half Men, the usually sensible Alan (Jon Cryer) ends up dating someone young enough to be his daughter, as well as a senior citizen old enough to be his mother. His playboy brother Charlie (Charlie Sheen) dates a woman who worships Satan, and also strikes up a relationship with a proper ballet dancer who refuses to sleep with him (but does ask him to donate some sperm). And Alan's 11-year-old son Jake (Angus T. Jones), who has just started dating, proves to be the most mature member of the oddball household. All 24 episodes of the series, which originally aired during the 1995-1996 television season, are included in this concise four-disc set. There are some surprises this season, including a death and a wedding (not on the same day). There are also plenty of vulgar moments; for instance, Jake not only learns about booty calls, but he also finds out the about why some men use Viagra. With guest stars ranging from Jon Lovitz, Sheen's real-life dad Martin Sheen, and Cloris Leachman (as Alan's older woman), Two and a Half Men delivers the laughs. Always hilarious, Leachman is priceless in her role as Norma. Contemplating Charlie's "relationship" with a beautiful young sex kitten, Alan scoffs, "It must be fun dating a woman whose IQ is the same as her age." Charlie shoots back, "I could say the same about you." Touche. --Jae-Ha Kim
Reviews for the Two and a Half Men - The Complete Third Season
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The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season
Actor: Dan Castellaneta
ASIN : B000MQCFLO
Sales Rank : 240
Brand : TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Studio : 20th Century Fox
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0024543460411
UPC : 024543460411
Release Date : December 07, 2007
Publisher : 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer : 20th Century Fox
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : 20th Century Fox
Running Time : 524
Product DescriptionStudio: Tcfhe Release Date: 10/07/2008 Rating: Nr
Reviews for the The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season
List Price: $44.98Price: $34.99You Save: $9.99 (22%)
Two and a Half Men - The Complete First Season
Actors: Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones
ASIN : B00005JOHC
Sales Rank : 499
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Warner Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0012569594418
UPC : 012569594418
Release Date : December 11, 2007
Publisher : Warner Home Video
Manufacturer : Warner Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 9 to 12 days
Label : Warner Home Video
Running Time : 501
DescriptionCharlie 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 Series - starring Charlie Sheen as Charlie and Jon Cryer as Alan. As the brothers reestablish a sense of family, Charlie also bonds with Jake (Angus T. Jones). Holland Taylor is the guys' domineering mother, Marin Hinkle is Alan's icy ex and Melanie Lynskey is Rose, who thinks one date with Charlie means life-long commitment. Meet the Harper men - two adults, one kid and no grown-ups. DVD Features: Featurette Gag Reel
Amazon.comHedonistic bachelor Charlie (Charlie Sheen) is a jingles writer who, he blithely states, makes a lot of money for doing very little work, sleeps with beautiful women who don't ask about his feelings, drives a Jag and lives at the beach, and sometimes, in the middle of the day, for no reason at all, likes to make himself a big pitcher of margaritas and take a nap out on the sundeck. His brother, Alan (Jon Cryer), evicted from his house by his soon-to-be-ex-wife, is "rigid, inflexible, uptight, obsessive and anal-retentive." Charlie and Alan are "twisted Jungian archetypes," according to series co-creator Chuck Lorre in one of this set's bonus features. If by "twisted Jungian archetypes," he means Oscar and Felix from The Odd Couple, then yes, Charlie and Alan are "twisted Jungian archetypes," and this inaugural season finds rich comic tension in their period of adjustment. Charlie is a Man Behaving Badly, whose idyllic life is upended when "fuddy-duddy" Alan moves in, accompanied by his impressionable 10-year-old son, Jake (Angus T. Jones), with whom he shares custody with his iceberg-cold, sexually confused (a comic conceit thankfully abandoned by season's end) estranged wife, Judith (Marin Hinkle). Alan is a single father who is appalled by his amoral brother's lifestyle and by the influence Charlie might have on Jake ("Uncle Charlie, I understand the point spread, but I'm still confused about the vig"). And then there's Berta (effortless scene-stealer Conchata Ferrell), Charlie's formidable, tart-tongued housekeeper who is initially driven out the door by Alan's fussiness ("The peanut butter stains on Jake's shirts really require an enzyme presoak"). Two and a Half Men is a guy show that sets feminism back a good three decades. Women are portrayed as either bimbonic objects of lust (Transformers' Megan Fox guest stars as Berta's teenage granddaughter), vengeful and retaliative (Heather Locklear as Alan's divorce lawyer), crazy hot (Jenna Elfman as an unstable single mother on the run), or emasculating (Holland Taylor as Charlie and Alan's mother, or, as Charlie refers to her, "Mom, the Impaler"). The charming Melanie Lynskey's is a particularly thankless role, that of Rose, Charlie's "insightful and disturbing" stalker, who becomes Jake's babysitter. While Charlie's "bad-boy act" could quickly get old in lesser hands, Sheen, in the past not the most natural of comic actors, is in his element. Charlie's genuine affection for Jake goes a long way toward redeeming his character (and lack of it). Two and a Half Men, a People's Choice Award-winner its first season, really adds up with a crudely funny sense of humor that is all kinds of wrong, but also smart and, at times, even sweet. --Donald Liebenson
Reviews for the Two and a Half Men - The Complete First Season
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