The eighth season of the American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'' aired on

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

from September 20, 2010 to February 14, 2011. The season was the last season with

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Sheen has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as ...

as its main star, who was replaced by

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

in the following season. Being composed of 16 episodes, the season was the shortest season of the series up to that time, although the twelfth and final season would later have the same number of episodes.

Cast

Main

as Charlie Harper *

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor. Born into a show business family, he made his film debut with a lead role in ''No Small Affair'' (1984); his breakout role was as Duckie in the John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughe ...

as Alan Harper * Angus T. Jones as

Jake Harper The American sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'', created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, premiered on CBS September 22, 2003. Lorre and Aronsohn are also its executive producers. The show initially centers on seven characters: the brothers Charlie ...

Marin Hinkle Marin Hinkle (born March 23, 1966) is an American actress. Among many television and movie roles, she is best known for playing Judy Brooks in the ABC television drama ''Once and Again'' (1999–2002), Judith Harper-Melnick in the CBS sitcom ''Tw ...

as Judith Harper-Melnick *

Conchata Ferrell Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943 – October 12, 2020) was an American actress. She played Berta the housekeeper on the sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'' from 2003 to 2015, and she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outs ...

as Berta *

Holland Taylor Holland 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) and she ...

as Evelyn Harper

Recurring

Courtney Thorne-Smith Courtney Thorne-Smith (born 1966 or 1967) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on '' Melrose Place'', Georgia Thomas on '' Ally McBeal'', and Cheryl Mabel on '' According to Jim'', as well as her recurrin ...

as Lyndsey MacElroy *

Graham Patrick Martin Graham Patrick Martin (born November 14, 1991) is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Eldridge on ''Two and a Half Men'' (2010–12) and former teen hustler Rusty Beck on the series finale of ''The Closer'' and in its ...

as Eldridge MacElroy *

Ryan Stiles Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22, 1959) is an American-Canadian comedian and actor. His work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his work on ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (both the original British version and the ...

as Herb Melnick *

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American accents, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous ...

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

Kelly Stables Kelly Michelle Stables (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, such as Melissa on ''Two and a Half Men'' (2008–2010), Eden Konkler on '' The Exes'' (2011–2015), and Kelly Watson on '' Superstore' ...

Melissa Melissa is a feminine given name. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite language, Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". Meliss ...

Jenny McCarthy Jennifer Ann McCarthy-Wahlberg (' McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, television personality, and anti-vaccine activist. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named thei ...

as Courtney

Guest

Judd Nelson Judd Asher Nelson (born November 28, 1959) is an American actor. After a lead role in the film '' Making the Grade'' (1984), Nelson had his breakout with a starring role in the coming-of-age teen film ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985), which caused ...

as Chris MacElroy * J.D. Walsh as Gordon *

Steve Hytner Steve Hytner (; born September 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Kenny Bania on the NBC series ''Seinfeld''. Biography Hytner was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up on Long Island. In 1979, he ...

as Dr. Schenkman *

Erinn Hayes Erinn Hayes (née Carter; born May 25, 1976) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her role as Dr. Lola Spratt on the sitcom ''Childrens Hospital'' (2008–2016), which she later reprised in its spin-off series ''Medical Police' ...

as Gretchen *

Liz Vassey Elizabeth Leigh Vassey (born August 9, 1972) is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Emily Ann Sago on ''All My Children'', Captain Liberty on '' The Tick'', Wendy Simms on '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', Lou on '' Brotherly ...

as Michelle *

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (, August 18, 1943 – June 27, 2024) was an American actor, musician, and painter. He became known on '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' its spin-off '' Fernwood 2 Night,'' and '' America 2 Night.'' Other notable roles included ...

as Russell *

Nadia Bjorlin Nadia Alexandra Bjorlin (born August 2, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and model. Early life Bjorlin was born on August 2, 1980, in Newport, Rhode Island. She is the second eldest child of Swedish composer and conductor Ulf Björlin and ...

as Jill *

Macey Cruthird Macey Ellen Cruthird (born November 12, 1992) is an American actress best known for her role as Hayley Shanowski in the ABC sitcom ''Hope & Faith''. Career Macey has trained in numerous acting and auditioning workshops in Los Angeles and her hom ...

as Megan *

Tonita Castro Tonita Castro (January 8, 1953 – May 8, 2016) was a Mexican-born American actress from Jalisco, Mexico. Coming to the United States from Mexico in the late 1970s, Castro initially sought to become a teacher before securing a job at Radio Expr ...

as Esmeralda *

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...

as Marty Pepper *

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Gui ...

as Dr. Linda Freeman *

Dakin Matthews Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews (born November 7, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. He is best known as Herb Kelcher in '' My Two Dads'' (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in '' Gilmore Girls'' (2000 ...

as Father Shaunassey

Production

Many reports of Sheen partying in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, going on alcoholic binges, and dating pornstars had been over the Internet from the beginning of January 2011 and CBS had expressed its concern. Early in the morning of January 27, Sheen was rushed to hospital suffering from severe abdominal pains after holding a party at his house in which he allegedly smoked

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...

. After being released from the hospital, Sheen checked himself into

rehab Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation hospital, hospitals devoted to the rehabilitation of patients w ...

, causing the show to be put on hiatus, with production scheduled to resume on February 28. The season was originally ordered for 24 episodes, but due to Sheen entering rehab, the episode count was cut to 20. On February 24, 2011, it was announced that the show would shut down production for the rest of the season and cancel the remaining four episodes, due to Sheen making offensive comments about

Chuck Lorre Charles Michael Lorre ( ; né Levine; born October 18, 1952) is an American television producer, writer, director, and composer. Nicknamed the "King of Sitcoms", Lorre has created/co-created and produced many sitcoms including '' Cybill'' (199 ...

, the creator and lead writer of ''Two and a Half Men'', on the February 24 edition of a radio broadcast hosted by

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

. On March 7, 2011, Sheen was fired from the show. After much speculation over whether Sheen would return to the series after all, Lorre announced in April 2011 that he had new plans to

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

''Two and a Half Men'' with

in a lead role alongside a new character.

was later hired to portray the new character,

Walden Schmidt The American sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'', created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, premiered on CBS September 22, 2003. Lorre and Aronsohn are also its executive producers. The show initially centers on seven characters: the brothers Charlie ...

Episodes

Reception

Critical reception to the eight season of ''Two and a Half Men'' was mixed. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season holds an approval rating of 63% based on eight reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10.

Ratings

US Nielsen ratings

Canadian ratings

Australian ratings

References

;General references * * *

External links

* {{Twoandahalfmen

Season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

2010 American television seasons 2011 American television seasons sv:Lista över avsnitt av 2 1/2 män#Säsong 8