Jon Cryer Reveals Charlie Sheen-less "Two and a Half Men" Details

[JamesG]

Jon Cryer reveals "Men" details: Alan is Ashton's love mentor, Charlie's death addressed all season -- EXCLUSIVE
by James Hibberd
August 29, 2011


So how are things going on that certain CBS sitcom that’s been getting so many headlines this past year?J

You’re talking, of course, about "The Big Bang Theory".

No, things are going great. Working with Ashton is a blast. Audiences have been going nuts for him. He’s clearly a guy who missed doing sitcoms quite a bit. He just lights up on show night. It’s a lot of fun for he and I because we have to discover what works between us, and he’s game for anything.

There’s already — lines have been crossed already that probably never should have been crossed, as you’ll see in the first episode.





So the "Men" nude teaser poster that was released, that moment might manifest in the first episode?

It may well.






What are the biggest differences working on the show from a year ago?

It’s such a strange combination of the same show and a completely new show. All of us on the set keep referring to the first episode back as the “pilot” by mistake.

Chuck [Lorre] and I were standing around joking about trying to pitch this show and how ridiculous it would sound to a development executive: “The guy’s been divorced and his brother just passed away, but he meets this billionaire with a broken heart and…” It’s like, I would never buy that show. But it’s working amazingly well.





How does the premiere pull off not being too dark or morbid, considering it starts with a main character [Charlie Harper] dying?

This show has never had an ounce of sentimentality; it’s not what we do. There was a moment in the first season where we tried it, then we realized, no, that doesn’t work.

This is handled with that same lack of sentimentality. Any concerns I had about it were completely washed away by the studio audience we had — which signed nondisclosure agreements — and had a terrific reaction to it.





So after the first episode is there no more looking back, or are there references to Charlie in the later episodes?

The history of the show does not go away at all. It will be dealt with all through the first season. It’s not, “Oh, that character’s gone, let’s forget completely about him.” There will be ramifications all through the season.

We’re not taking this into a new universe where the first show didn’t exist.





How do the changes impact Alan?

Well, I don’t know for certain. It’s funny because everybody is signing nondisclosure agreements. The scripts go out with watermarks and every script gets handed to you personally by somebody from the show. They’re being super secretive. And that’s all new, the show has never functioned like that before.

But what isn’t new is they’ve never told me what my character is going to go through. They’ve cryptically hinted at stuff. One of the characters will be institutionalized, but they don’t say which character or what kind of institution. I don’t mind that because to me that feels like life — you never know what’s going to happen next.

And God knows last year proved that to me.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/08/29/jo...nd-a-half-men/

[ryan423]

Jon Cryer steals the show, and I can't wait for its return!

[ThomasE]

I'm looking forward to the show too. I just wonder how it will do in the ratings. Jon is a funny man.

[krkklptrck]

Can't wait to see what they do with the show