Gay jokes help 'Two and a Half Men' stem ratings slide
The sitcom’s numbers finally turn around on a night heavy with homoerotic humor.
We're not trying to draw any cause and effect conclusions here (OK, maybe we are), but Two and a half Men finally reversed its steep ratings slide last night with an episode that leaned quite heavily on gags trading on a gay relationship between Walden and Alan.
Here's an example.
Yes, that was Joe Manganiello (Alcide the werewolf on True Blood) as Bridget's date. There was another guest appearance in the episode as well: Glee's Jane Lynch returned to reprise her role as psychiatrist Linda Freeman. She was able to make Walden see that he's a hoplessly immature momma's boy in about three minutes of therapy.
The bulk of the plot involved Alan and Walden pretending to be a gay couple because Walden ran into a lesbian in a bar who reminded him of Bridget and he wanted the woman and her partner to feel comfortable hanging out with the boys.
It started with Walden and Alan locked in a deep, smoldering kiss and continued with Alan doing a full-on Cage aux Folles.
The gay farce worked. Two and Half Men drew 15.5 million viewers, up 2% from last week. Not a bonanza, but it's the first time the CBS comedy flagship has seen a ratings improvement of any kind since the season began.
Prepare to camp it, guys.
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