"People Who Love Peepholes" is the 179th episode and second episode of the ninth season of the American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

.'' It is also the second part of the two part premiere of the ninth season. The episode aired on September 26, 2011 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

Plot

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

(

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a S ...

) buys the Harper beach house, and

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

(

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

) prepares to move in with his mother Evelyn (

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). F ...

). Walden asks Berta (

Conchata Ferrell Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943October 12, 2020) was an American actress. Although she was a regular cast member of five TV sitcoms, she was best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for all 12 seasons of ''Two and a Half Men''. For he ...

) to stay as a live-in housekeeper, an offer which Berta, being attracted to Walden, readily accepts. (She takes great pleasure in taking "Zippy's" room, even telling him her plan). Alan quickly becomes uncomfortable living with his mother again, as she essentially ignores Alan. Disgusting him further, Evelyn tells Alan to come check on her if the date she's going to have rough sex with "can't hear her safe word". Walden stops by Evelyn's to drop off some of Alan's things he left behind (which are books on how to get women), and invites Alan to go out and do something. Alan, desperate to get away from his mother, quickly agrees. Walden begins talking about his wife, Bridget (

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...

), who has spurned him, driving more recklessly the more he dwells on the topic. This causes Alan to wet himself out of fear for his life. Eventually, the two pull up to Walden's mansion, where Bridget tells him to get lost. Alan is shocked Walden will not stand down and comply with his wife and is forced to help him hop the fence at his gate to get in. However, once Alan is dragged up with Walden, Bridget warns them she'll turn on the electricity, but Walden says she's bluffing. Terribly wrong, Walden and Alan receive a massive shock to their crotches and fall into Walden's lawn. They recover inside Walden's mansion, being nursed by Bridget. She complains that she is more of a mother than a wife to her husband, as Walden acts immaturely on a regular basis (the entire living room is filled with arcade games and game tables such as

foosball Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...

). Bridget tells Walden that she does love him, but she couldn't stand the way they lived. Alan and Walden leave, and wake up the next morning back in Malibu, drunk, naked, and sharing a deck chair and a blanket. Alan is at first horrified he might have done something he might regret, but Walden tells him they went skinny dipping. Further confused, Alan asks who would suggest it. Berta gives an answer from the next lawn chair, covered in a larger blanket. After getting dressed, Alan finds a girl in a bikini named Penelope (

Stephanie Jacobsen Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen (born 1980), also known as "Stephany", is a Hong Kong-born Australian actress. Early life and education Jacobsen was born in British Hong Kong. Her family moved to Australia when she was twelve years old. She is Chi ...

) looking for Charlie. Alan tells her about his death, but that is quickly forgotten as she lays eyes on Walden. The two hit it off and Alan prepares to leave. However, Bridget stops by and Alan ends up saving Walden by claiming Penelope is his girlfriend (much to her disgust) and leading her out. Bridget then apologizes for acting harshly the night before, and offers to give Walden a chance to prove himself. Alan leaves, but is quickly stopped by Walden, who tells Alan that he will do any favor Alan wishes as a "thank you" for all the help Alan has given him. Alan asks to move back into the beach house with Walden, saying he will only stay until he can find another place. Walden agrees, and Alan quietly celebrates moving back in, fully intending to stay for good.

Production

This episode marks the third appearance of

on the show. She appeared during the fourth season in the episodes "Smooth as a Ken Doll" and "Aunt Myra Doesn't Pee a Lot" as Judith's sister-in-law Myra. She also appeared during the third season of Lorre's sister show ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'' in the episode "The Plimpton Stimulation" as Dr. Elizabeth Plimpton. Starting with this episode, Greer portrays Bridget, Walden's estranged wife. The episode had the show's third highest number of viewers ever and was the third episode to pull in over 20 million viewers. This episode is also the last to use the original "Manly Men" theme song, the second version debuts in the succeeding episode "Big Girls Don't Throw Food" and is used until "Oh look Al Qaeda" (with one reuse in a season 10 episode, perhaps an error on the editor's behalf). The third and final version debuts in season 10.

Reception

The episode attracted 20.521 million American viewers and received a 7.2 18–49 rating. Including DVR ratings, which adds 3.56 million viewers, the episode was watched by 24.09 million viewers.

References

External links

* {{Twoandahalfmen 2011 American television episodes Season 9 Episode 2