Two and a Half Men Debuts Ashton Kutcher, Has Funeral for Charlie Sheen's Character

Ashton Kutcher's entrance onto the stage of Two and a Half Men had to wait for several minutes, while the show took care of writing off Charlie Sheen's character of Charlie Harper, forever. The show opened with a funeral sequence that humorously said goodbye - and took several parting shots - at Charlie Sheen's character. Most of the barbs were related to drugs, prostitutes and venereal diseases, all targeting Sheen in real life as much as his character on the show.

Given that there was a great chance for the show to fumble the transition from Sheen to Kutcher, most viewers would have to agree that the show's writers came through in a big way. The demise of Sheen's character was explained in a funny manner, but with just enough touches of sadness to make it worthy of prime-time television. Kutcher's character may be a bit rough around the edges and it will probably take some time for the writers to fine-tune the personality of the billionaire bachelor. But Jon Cryer's character seemed to fill the void and the show has a chance to re-work much of Cryer's shtick as he gets to know Kutcher's character.

Overall, it seems like the show will have an opportunity to run with the early momentum that it generated with the season premiere. Hardcore fans may not embrace the show without Sheen's character, but it's clear that the writers want Kutcher's character to fill much of the same role, but in a slightly different way. He's still rich, he'll still get all the girls, but will be doing so with a child-like innocence as opposed to Sheen's jaded and drug-addled persona.