Two-and-a-half times better.

My social sphere is incredibly small. I count my television amongst my closest confidants. So, when something happens on a television show that makes me proud, I must blog about it as if it were my best friend having a baby. Even though my best buds are definitely past baby-having age. And even though I secretly think babies are kind of stupid.

I watched the premier of "Two and a Half Men" last night. Being interested in writing, I was _(sorry, blank word attack)_ in how the writers would deal with the monstrous issue of Charlie Sheen's departure. How do you write the main character out of a show and still maintain the elements of the concept that make viewers tune in each week?

The writers could have gone in many different directions, and they chose to go in a direction I honestly was not expecting: Niceness.

I can hear you thinking, "Katie, there were 7.25 jokes about large penises. How is it that you find the show to be 'nicer'?"

The main concept of the show was the dichotomy between Alan - broke, means well, always comes out the loser, compared with Charlie - rich, out for himself, always comes out the winner. "Rich", "Out for oneself", and "always comes out the winner" don't lend themselves to an inherently likeable character. Jalepenos. People don't like them by themselves, but mix them with something bland, like Alan Harper's tomato, and you've got a fiesta.

I was incredibly happy the writers of the show were able to maintain that dichotomy, while turning the show in a 90-degree direction. Walden Schmidt (Ok, could've done better on naming him) is a billionaire who buys deceased Charlie's house. He's rich, but the similarities end there. He makes his entrance after a failed suicide attempt due to the ocean being too cold. Charlie would never admit to such a weakness. He'd mock him. Walden hugged Alan several times in the half-hour episode, more than I think Charlie and Alan hugged their entire time together. It is still a dirty show, and there will still be references and story lines about down-and-out Alan versus Walden's ease with everything that Alan doesn't have (money, women) but...Walden is a likeable character.

Seeing many years into the future, I predict viewers catching "Two-and-a-Half Men" in syndication. They turn it on, see Charlie Sheen, and say, "Oh. This is one of the old ones," and change the channel.