It was a huge ratings bonanza for CBS and Two and a Half Men on Monday night when the sitcom drew a series-high 27.8 million viewers.
The ninth-season opener revealed how Charlie Sheen‘s character was written out and how the Ashton Kutcher character would be incorporated into the Harper household. We’re still up in the air on the later point, having only seen part one of a two-part episode.
Perhaps the most humorous one-liners were delivered by Jon Cryer, who accidentally launched dead Charlie’s ashes all over the living room when he was startled by billionaire Walden Schmidt, who arrived dripping wet on the Harper balcony after a failed suicide attempt.
We learned that the eccentric rich guy wants to buy the Harper home– just before all 27.8 million of us saw “To be continued” come across the screen.
Charlie Sheen watched the show and shared a photo on Twitter, along with this sentiment, “Surrounded by friends and watching the premiere of Two and a Half Men. Odd… But cool..! So far a lot of laughs!! Nice.”
During the same time slot on NBC, Dancing with the Stars drew an audience of 18.6 million, down considerably from last season’s September 2010 premiere that garnered 21.3 million. USA Today concludes that Chaz Bono is no Kirstie Alley … and we tend to agree.
Check out video of Alan Harper talking to Charlie’s ashes:
Photo: Courtesy-WENN