History YMMV / TwoAndAHalfMen

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The show often alternates between who should be "right" about his brother, i.e. Charlie is often portrayed as an uncaring ass who treats Alan as a burden on him, and Alan is often portrayed as a lazy bum who won't move out. The problem is that Alan's financial troubles that led to Charlie having to take him in are 100% Charlie's fault, which goes all the way back to the pilot episode. Even if they weren't, Charlie is absurdly wealthy and could easily buy Alan ''his own'' house if he wanted him out that badly, so it comes off as a rich snob complaining that people who aren't as well-off as him have the gall to ask him for help. Though it should also be noted that it is not Charlie's place to buy Alan a house as it's ultimately up to Alan to improve his financial troubles, which he rarely, if ever, attempts to do. Not to mention Alan has repeatedly expressed no desire to leave Charlie's house even if he could afford to and he seems more than happy to mooch off his brother rather than spend any of his own money. Additionally, some episodes reveal Charlie's finances aren't as good as they appear, such as when he's hospitalised and reveals he's leaving the house to Alan, but it has two mortgages and the property taxes are $50,000 a year, or when the royalty payments slow down and he has to wait for his commercials to start airing again and his accountant reveals he has very little saved up, meaning buying a house for Alan might not be possible.
* {{Wangst}}: Judith.

* FairForItsDay: Early episode "An Old Flame with a New Wick" has one of Charlie's exes coming out as a transgender man, and contains all the insensitive jokes one would expect of an early 2000s show dealing with transgender people. However, despite the initial shock, Charlie is rather quick to accept Bill for who he is and helps him adjust to his new life, which was quite progressive for its time. Similarly, the typically caustic Evelyn is in no way put off by Bill being transgender (though she was creeped out that he dated Charlie before transitioning), and continues dating him after he tells her the truth (albeit for typically superficial reasons).

* BaseBreakingCharacter: All of the main characters.

** Alan has his fans who [[TheWoobie feel sorry for all the crap he goes through]], even when he brought it upon himself, while others hate him for being [[{{Wangst}} a whiny wimp]] and using his brother's (and later Walden's) wealth for his own gain.

* SeasonalRot: While many argue that it happened earlier in Seasons 7 and 8, due to the jokes becoming more juvenile and asinine and the three titular characters becoming more {{Flanderized}}, it is near-universally agreed that it was Season 9 that saw the show permanently go downhill. The ninth season, produced following the public meltdown and departure of Creator/CharlieSheen, is largely considered this due to much worse writing and extreme {{Flanderization}}: Alan becoming more immature and an even bigger mooch, Jake smoking pot and becoming even more stupid, Rose becoming more a bitch, Lindsay becoming crazier, and Berta being the only character who stayed consistent. The tone is completely different, there's a much greater emphasis on ToiletHumour, and Charlie's replacement Walden is little more than a rich and more immature version of Alan and his interactions with the other characters feel very forced and unnatural. The remaining seasons improved somewhat by retooling the humor in a way that clearly took inspiration from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' (which at least was more appropriate than the toilet humor, given that Walden was meant to be a technology mogul), but it never again reached the levels of popularity it had in Seasons 1-8, and eventually ended with a widely-reviled finale that mostly just took pot-shots at Sheen.

* BrokenBase: The show's quality after Creator/CharlieSheen was fired. Most fans seem to agree that Season 9 (the first with Creator/AshtonKutcher) is the show's worst season, as the writers were trying to find their feet again. Some regard the following seasons as an improvement, thanks to a major ReTool in the cast and humor, while others regard them as being only slightly better than Season 9, and still way worse than the first eight seasons.

* CreatorsPet: Rose. Since her first appearance, she's had little depth than being Charlie's obsessive stalker and has never grown past that, but for some reason the writers continue to bring Rose back year after year and had the other characters claiming she was perfect for Charlie. Hell, by the end of season 8, she'd successfully manipulated Charlie over time into thinking she ''was'' the perfect woman for him, even though he had more reasons to think the opposite. Then she passed the MoralEventHorizon by killing Charlie, and not only does Rose [[KarmaHoudini get away with the murder]], but a year later [[spoiler:turns out to have started stalking Walden]]. And unlike Charlie, where she started stalking him because she couldn't let go of a one night stand, was doing so ''for no reason whatsoever''.

-->'''Jake:''' If you died, would any of those women be at your funeral?\\

* HoYay: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in one episode when Charlie and Alan pretend to be gay. Alan gets rather too into it, whilst Charlie repeatedly denies anything in that direction, [[{{Squick}} naturally squicked]] due to the fact that they're brothers.

** Alan and Herb's friendship.

* MemeticMutation:
** Season 2 Episode 9's "Can You Eat Human Flesh with Wooden Teeth?" scene where Alan and Charlie [[SomethingWeForgot left Jake behind]] is this with the series, [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-think-i-forgot-something being used as a meme template]].

* StrawmanHasAPoint: We are supposed to side with Rose, whom Charlie has thrown off like a fake dollar eight years ago, and her ruining Charlie's dates and stalking his ex-girlfriends ought to be LaserGuidedKarma punishment for his Casanova attitude. But Charlie is right; Rose has been ending her relationships. JerkAss as he is, he does tell the truth.

** For some, introducing Ashton Kutcher as a new character instead of TheOtherDarrin. It would have been a far better TakeThat to Charlie Sheen than anything they do in the show and would have kept the show's original tone.

* IdiotPlot: The Charlie/Rose/"Manny Quinn" fake LoveTriangle is this for some due to the idea that Charlie being sort of friends with Rose for eight years despite his attempts to get her to leave him alone clearly means he's in love with her. Not to mention it takes some pretty {{contrived coincidence}}s for no one to see the deceptions going on (namely that "Manny" is a fake boyfriend Rose made up).

* IdiotPlot: The Charlie/Rose/"Manny Quinn" fake LoveTriangle is this for some due to the idea that Charlie being sort of friends with Rose for eight years despite his attempts to get her to leave him alone clearly means he's in love with him. Not to mention it takes some pretty {{contrived coincidence}}s for no one to see the deceptions going on (namely that "Manny" is a fake boyfriend Rose made up).

* BillingDisplacement: Ashton Kutcher (Walden) receives top billing during the final four seasons, even though it’s Jon Cryer (Alan) who gets the most focus between the two of them. However, both actors are credited onscreen at the same time but it’s positioned in a way where it’s hard to decipher whose name comes first.

** In an early episode, Charlie wakes up hungover and remarks that he's either extremely hungover ''or has been hit by a train''.

* {{Adorkable}}: Specially in earlier seasons. While still "mourning" over his divorce, Alan Harper often gets excited if something interesting happens.

** When Angus T. Jones became a born again Christian and apologized for calling the show "Filth" the episode that aired shortly after the incident "I Scream When I Pee" had Jake proudly announce [[WhatAnIdiot that he has the clap..]] (And keep in mind Jake knew very well that he now has an STD but is proud that he has something "sexually transmitted".)

* DorkAge: The ninth season, produced following the public meltdown and departure of Creator/CharlieSheen, is largely considered this due to much worse writing and extreme {{Flanderization}}: Alan becoming more immature and an even bigger mooch, Jake smoking pot and becoming even more stupid, Rose becoming more a bitch, Lindsay becoming crazier, and Berta being the only character who stayed consistent. The tone is completely different, there's a much greater emphasis on ToiletHumour, and Charlie's replacement Walden is little more than a rich and more immature version of Alan and his interactions with the other characters feel very forced and unnatural. The remaining seasons improved somewhat by retooling the humor in a way that clearly took inspiration from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' (which at least was more appropriate than the toilet humor, given that Walden was meant to be a technology mogul), but it never again reached the levels of popularity it had in Seasons 1-8, and eventually ended with a widely-reviled finale that mostly just took pot-shots at Sheen.

* FairForItsDay: Early episode "An Old Flame with a New Wick" has one of Charlie's exes coming out as a transgender man, and contains all the insensitive jokes one would expect of an early 2000s show dealing with transgender people. However, despite the initial shock, Charlie is rather quick to accept Bill for who he is and helps him adjust to his new life, which was quite progressive for its time. Similarly, the typically caustic Evelyn is in no way put off by Bill being transgender (though she was creeped out that he dated Charlie before transistioning), and continues dating him after he tells her the truth (albeit for typically superficial reasons).

* NeverLiveItDown: Alan's... [[NoodleIncident experiments]] during his youth, which are mentioned from time to time (to be fair, Charlie apparently talked him into most of them).
** Outside the show, when people think of ''Two and a Half Men'', people think more about the meltdown Charlie Sheen (and a bit of Angus T. Jones) had which resulted in his character being killed off (with Jones just being written out), in comparison to the show's actual plot/humor. Even referencing the show will also spark remembrance on how Chuck Lorre ''really'' should have let things go, especially with the infamous series finale.

* SeasonalRot: Season 9 for many people. Others argue that it happened earlier in Seasons 7 and 8, due to the jokes becoming more juvenile and asinine and the three titular characters becoming more {{Flanderized}}.

* CreatorsPet: Rose. Since her first appearance, she's had little depth than being Charlie's obsessive stalker and has never grown past that, but for some reason the writers continue to bring Rose back year after year and had the other characters claiming she was perfect for Charlie. Then she passed the MoralEventHorizon by killing Charlie, and not only does Rose [[KarmaHoudini get away with the murder]], but a year later [[spoiler:turns out to have started stalking Walden]]. And unlike Charlie, where she started stalking him because she couldn't let go of a one night stand, was doing so ''for no reason whatsoever''.
** Apparently, she never killed him. She only said she did so no one would [[spoiler:search her house, since she's a good candidate for causing Charlie to go missing for a long time]].

** And Herb. He's probably the [[NiceGuy nicest and most decent guy]] in the whole show, and suffers all kinds of abuse from Judith, not to mention his daughter Milly might not even actually be his. Ramped UpToEleven after Judith [[spoiler: divorces him]].

* FairForItsDay: Early episode "An Old Flame with a New Wick" has one of Charlie's exes coming out as a transgender man, and contains all the insensitive jokes one would expect of an early 2000s show dealing with transgender people. However, Charlie is rather quick to accept Bill for who he is and helps him adjust to his new life, which was quite progressive for its time. Similarly, the typically caustic Evelyn is in no way put off by Bill being transgender, and continues dating him (albeit for typically superficial reasons).

* NightmareFuel: The episode "Hi, Mr. Horned One" is really disturbing to watch.

* FairForItsDay: Early episode "An Old Flame with a New Wick" has one of Charlie's exes coming out as a transgender man, and contains all the insensitive jokes one would expect of an early 2000s show dealing with transgender people. However, Charlie is rather quick to accept Bill for who he is and helps him adjust to his new life, which was quite progressive for its time.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: To put it curtly, the casting crew is just a plain mess. The two main characters, [[DesignatedHero Alan and Charlie]], are hardly much different from the other selfish {{Jerkass}} characters on the show, which makes it confusing for the audience on who exactly they're supposed to be rooting for.

* DesignatedVillain: Charlie sometimes gets hit with this whenever he and Alan are fighting. The best example is "All Our Leather Gear is in the Guest Room", Charlie may have been petty about it but he has every right to not want bowls in his living room that he doesn't like. Instead the show makes it seem like Charlie's in the wrong and he's forced to take back Alan.

* FairForItsDay: Early episode "An Old Flame with a New Wick" has one of Charlie's exes coming out as a transgender man, and contains all the insensitive jokes one would expect of an early 2000s show dealing with transgender people. However, Charlie is rather quick to accept Bill for who he is and helps him adjust to his new life.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The show often alternates between who should be "right" about his brother, i.e. Charlie is often portrayed as an uncaring ass who treats Alan as a burden on him, and Alan is often portrayed as a lazy bum who won't move out. The problem is that Alan's financial troubles that led to Charlie having to take him in are 100% Charlie's fault, which goes all the way back to the pilot episode. Even if they weren't, Charlie is absurdly wealthy and could easily buy Alan ''his own'' house if he wanted him out that badly, so it comes off as a rich snob complaining that people who aren't as well-off as him have the gall to ask him for help. Though it should also be noted that it is not Charlie's place to buy Alan a house as it's ultimately up to Alan to improve his financial troubles, which he rarely, if ever, attempts to do. Not to mention Alan has repeatedly expressed no desire to leave Charlie's house even if he could afford to and he seems more than happy to mooch off his brother rather than spend any of his own money.

** The series finale, hoo boy. Either you thought it was a great meta episode with some nice fourth wall jokes, or you hated it because of the constant Charlie Sheen bashing, and [[NeverLiveItDown you feel]] Creator/ChuckLorre needs to learn to ''[[InvertedTrope just let things go.]]'' Or, you could be somewhere in the middle.

** A throwaway exchange from one of the earlier seasons takes on a whole new level of hilarity with the season 9 premiere:

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* HarsherInHindsight: