Too Much Alan on 'Two and a Half Men'

The February 14, 2011 episode of "Two and a Half Men" featured the continuation of a storyline that has dulled my enjoyment of the show a little bit.

It has been a bittersweet thing, though.

On one hand, Melanie Lynskey has returned to being a regular part of "Two and a Half Men," and as far as I'm concerned, that's a great thing. Her character, Rose, has always been my favorite of the lineup, after Charlie Sheen's Charlie Harper, of course.

On the other hand, Jon Cryer's character, Alan Harper, has been featured much more prominently in the recent storyline, and too much Alan is not always a good thing.

The February 14 episode, "That Darn Priest," continued the story that began the week before, in the episode titled "Three Hookers and a Philly Cheesesteak." Alan has been taking money from family members - and even from Charlie's housekeeper Berta - in a Ponzi scheme, claiming that he's investing the money in advertising for his chiropractic clinic but instead spending the money on himself and using some of the bigger "investments" to pay off the smaller ones.

Meanwhile, Charlie has become obsessed with Rose, whom he believes is married but isn't.

Unfortunately, the Charlie-and-Rose storyline has more or less been a sub-plot to Alan's financial dilemma, and I'd much prefer it if things were the other way around.

Don't get me wrong, Jon Cryer is great. He does a fantastic job playing the part of Alan, but when it comes to this particular character, a little bit goes a long way. Alan is perfect in relatively small amounts. He's goofy, whiny and pathetic, but those traits, which make him a great sidekick to Charlie, make him a tad annoying in larger doses and, for me, his schtick gets old fairly quickly.

Usually, creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn do a pretty good job of balancing out Alan with other characters, so that he remains funny. But this two-episode stretch has featured too much Alan for my taste.

With Charlie Sheen out of rehab, "Two and a Half Men" is reportedly set to end its recent production hiatus on February 28, then record four more episodes before wrapping up the seventh season.

Here's hoping that Sheen's recent personal troubles don't mean we're in for even smaller doses of Charlie.

Because only one Harper brother can pull off the lead role on "Two and a Half Men," and it's not Alan.

Sources:
Cast, CBS.com
Two and a Half Men, Yahoo! TV
Charlie Sheen going back to work, EW.com