A lot of the work I do at the
PTC is centered around advertiser accountability. Specifically, the companies who support
Two and a Half Men. With Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen, whose recent antics award him the Biggest Moron on the Face of the Earth trophy ("winning!" "tiger blood!" the "
godesses"), the direction of the show remains to be seen. My guess? Down. Maybe not in ratings (yet), but in even raunchier and uncreative
writing garbage. I don't know if Kutcher will be able to fill Sheen's dry and cantankerous persona so many found appealing; Kutcher's comedic chops were honed as a boisterous and practical-joke playing personality (
That 70's Show, Punk'd, etc), so seeing him as a replacement for a crotchety sex-obsessed man-child is hard to swallow. No pun intended. Also, Kutcher is very good-looking; youthful and physically fit. Technically speaking, of course. Charlie...? Not so much:
 |
| (When you tell your kids to stay away from drugs and high-priced prostitutes, just show them this picture. 'Nuff said.) |
What
is certain however, is that advertisers will jump as high as they can to obtain coveted commercial slots in the debut episodes. And that is where you and I come in: Since
Two and a Half Men is aired on broadcast television (public), during the
Family Viewing Hour, you know that highly impressionable little kids and tween/teens will be assaulted with masturbation jokes, threesomes, and gutter-swilling frat boy humor. All brought to you proudly by
Burger King! McDonald's! Chrysler! The list goes on.
If you like that sort of humor, have at it. It's a free country. But most of us don't, especially at 8 PM. Move it cable or a later hour. I've linked this post to a page with some
letters sent out to advertisers. Take a look and see what YOUR tax dollars and YOUR money is buying you. Still ok with it? Then this probably isn't the blog for you.
Advertiser Letters
2 comments:
I've caught the show a few times in syndication because my 18 year old son thinks it's funny, of course he would, it directed at him and those younger, I don't care for it myself and wouldn't watch it but then I don't watch much of anything on regular tv except for news and even that doesn't happen often. I don't anticipate that Ashton Kutcher can do much to save this show but I agree with you that it will probably get raunchier.
I'm hopeful, actually, that Ashton will clean it up a bit... if he has such powers, that is. He and his wife now run a foundation called DNA... to "sell his soul" for this show would indeed be a travesty and certainly won't shed a good light on his foundation!!
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