Two and a Half Men: The Complete Fourth Season

It's good to see that Two and a Half Men - The Complete Fourth Season is coming out on DVD, for (in my personal opinion) it's the best and funniest sitcom series of this decade. As a single father, this viewer can find much to relate to... and laugh about.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing this top-rated series on TV, it's about the lives of two brothers, one of the brother's son, and the many people, especially women, who surround them. When his wimpy younger brother Alan Harper (Jon Crier) becomes separated from his wife and moves out of their house, he has to move in with Charlie, his older brother (played by Charlie Sheen). Alan shares custody of his son Jake (Angus T. Jones), who was 10 when the series began and who stays with them part-time. The "half a man" in the title of this sitcom is in reference to the fact that Jake isn't an adult yet.

Charlie Harper is a successful bachelor with a house on Malibu Beach, a Mercedes in the garage and an easy way with women. His easygoing, often hedonistic single lifestyle is interrupted when his tightly-wound brother, Alan (a chiropractor), and Alan's son, Jake , move in with him. Alan's hung-up ex-wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) frequently makes matters worse, as does the brothers' narcissistic mother, Evelyn (Holland Taylor), whose wide-ranging sex life is a recurring gag throughout the series. The brothers' housekeeper Berta (Conchata Ferrell) is unapologetically sarcastic, and often has the best one-liners, trading insults with Charlie referring to Alan as "Zippy." Their household can't function without her.

There are a number of other series regulars, but in this viewer's opinion, Charlie's wacky neighbor and female stalker Rose (Melanie Lynskey) is one of the best. She has a habit of popping over Charlie's deck railing and sometimes enter his house at inopportune moments. It's alluded that she had a one night stand with Charlie shortly before the show started, which she believed to be more significant than he did. Rose's father Harvey is played by Martin Sheen, and in one episode he asks Charlie of his intentions with his daughter. At one point Harvey meets Charlie and Alan's mother and has an affair with her, and popping in and stalking her just like his daughter does with Charlie.

It should be said that this series and its actors have won a number of Emmy Awards and nominations. Those who are familiar with it can well understand why. This series is well worth it, and if you do like it, there are other seasons available:

- Two and a Half Men - The Complete First Season

- Two and a Half Men - The Complete Second Season

- Two and a Half Men - The Complete Third Season

And notice that they are all rated at 4+ stars by the reviewers here... my call is that they're all 5-stars. It's one of the best sitcom series... ever!

This is a terrific series. My husband and I started watching it late in the seasons. Now we are catching up. Immoral behavior? You betcha! We have laughed ourselves silly through every vicarious second of it. We just bought the first dvd series of this show and can't wait to watch it from the start. I have been watching series 4 in reruns on tv. I don't know if it is season 4 but my favorite episode is when Charlie becomes the hapless victim and sex slave of a witch's coven. He is saved by his mother who strikes fear into the coven ending the show perfectly dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West. This is not a show for kids, but adults, especially those with and ex or two, or crazy relatives should love it.

If you liked the first three seasons you'll like this one too. More of the same kinds of fun. Sexually suggestive humor and good looking women, sign me up! I thought the kid (Jake/my favorite character) might be getting too old to be as effective, but he still pulls it off for the most part. I think the writers will have to start changing his lines a little in season five. Things that were cute/funny when he was younger might come off as just a rude/disrespectful teenager as he gets older. The only negative so far is I waste too much time watching tv when this is on or in the dvd player.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 57 reviews  4.9 out of 5 stars