Jon Cryer talks ‘ridiculous’ Two and a Half Men

Jon Jon Cryer admits the premise for the new season of Two and a Half Men is “ridiculous”.

The actor portrays Alan Harper in the comedy show, which until recently also starred Charlie Sheen. He was sacked earlier this year after falling out with television bosses and has been replaced by Ashton Kutcher.

Charlie’s character Charlie Hopper dies in the first episode of the latest series. His home is bought by Walden Schmidt, played by Ashton, and Jon has spoken about shooting the new scenes.

“All of us on the set keep referring to the first episode back as the ‘pilot’ by mistake. [Showrunner] Chuck [Lorre] and I were standing around joking about trying to pitch this show and how ridiculous it would sound to a development executive: ‘The guy’s been divorced and his brother just passed away, but he meets this billionaire with a broken heart and…’ It’s like, I would never buy that show,” Jon laughed to Entertainment Weekly. “But it’s working amazingly well.”

Jon added Charlie’s character will be referred to throughout the season. Show bosses wanted to make sure the plot was believable and he wasn’t just forgotten about.

There are other big changes in store for Alan. When his brother Charlie was around he’d often turn to him for love advice, but that’s turned on its head when Walden enters the scene.

“There’s obviously big change in the dynamic with Ashton, in terms of what that creates in my character. I can only say my character ends up being the more romantically experienced one of the two of them,” Jon laughed. “Alan becomes sort of a mentor character to Ashton’s character… I’m a terrible mentor. And that’s where a lot of the fun of the show comes from.”

The new series of Two and a Half Men starts in America on September 19.