Funnyman Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher talk about their camaraderie on the sets of Two and a Half Men and what makes Chuck lorre productions one of a kind. Creator Chuck lorre chips in
What is it about Chuck lorre Productions that seems to workIJ
Jon Cryer: Well, if I knew what that was, I would have been doing four shows simultaneously and they would be running at the same time. I don’t know exactly what it is. Sometimes I can’t tell. I actually have spent some time with the writers this year, and it’s been really fun. And I will try to, in my mind, figure out how Chuck is going to react to whatever they’re presenting, and I’m never right (laughs). I’m almost never right. So I don’t know exactly what it is.
Ashton Kutcher: I think these shows work because they’re all built on family. They’re all built on these obscure, broken, beat up, messed up families that are just like yours. And that’s what makes them work. And I think that Chuck works with people who understand that that works, and that’s extraordinarily relatable. Even if its two straight guys acting like gay guys so they can adopt a kid; that’s a family. If it’s a bunch of kids in a dorm room talking about physics, and whatever, that’s a family. If it’s whatever it is, it’s all built around really broken, messed up families. And if you have one, you know what one’s like, and you can really relate to it, and its fun to laugh at. Because, ultimately, you sit at home and you laugh at yourself. And that’s the kind of magic that I think Chuck and his collective of incredible writers work with. I think they understand and appreciate that, and they project it through the work.
Chuck has a lot of talented writers with him, but are there certain types of comedies and themes that run through all his showsIJ
Jon: Yes, they do. I can actually go home and watch the show and laugh at myself.
Tell us something about the dynamics on the set. What are the weirdest memories that you keep on set, and the funniest memories that you have keep so farIJ
Jon: The weirdest memory. I’ve actually mentioned this before. The moment I actually knew Ashton was totally going to fit in on the show, was in the pilot. At one point we were faced with an odd situation in the pilot of the show when it relaunched. We were faced with an odd problem where he had to be naked, and the audience had to see him, but we didn’t want to put the little flesh colored undies on him, because then the joke wouldn’t work, because he had to...well, the whole point was he had to be naked. So we didn’t know how to do that in front of a live audience. And we were all sort of going back, and the writers and everybody, and there was, like, this just incredible agonising over what are we going to do in front of the audience, what are we going to do, and then Ashton piped in with a rather weird suggestion and we went ahead with it. It was a very weird and awkward moment for us.
Do you guys spend time with people from other showsIJ
Jon: No, we don’t. And usually we have pretty tight schedules. There isn’t a lot of time to wander. Yeah, so it is always a nice thing to meet someone, exchange a hug and say, “Oh God, I’ve got to go.”
Ashton: We’re all on different schedules. We all shoot on different night and I am pretty much sure that they’re keeping us separate (laughs). It’s a weird thing. There’s like a stage whisperer that tells us about the drama on the other set. So we know everything. And we commandeer and we pay them off so that we don’t get any of our drama out.
Has there been an instance where any of you have felt the instinct to go against what's written on the pageIJ
Ashton: Every Monday we get a script that is solid — rock solid. It is always kind of perfect and it details exactly what we would do.
Chuck, you have mentioned before how none of this would be possible without Two and a Half Men having been the success that it was, and few people would ever argue that that the show would have been the success that it is had it not been for Charlie Sheen. What are your feelings on thatIJ
Chuck lorre: I think we’re going to have a finale that people will be very, very pleased with. And that’s all I can going to say about it.
Money was no object on Two and a Half Men. Even though it’s a beach house, Jon’s character is not doing well financially. How important has it been for you to reflect the fact that not everybody is rich, or that people who work ordinary jobs don’t have fabulous apartmentsIJ
Chuck: I was a struggling musician till I was about 35 years old. So I remember vividly what it’s like to put 38 cents in the gas tank and drive to your second cousin’s house so they feed you, it’s an endlessly difficult thing just getting through the month. I can remember me getting a ticket once for making an illegal U-turn. Two and a Half Men was very much a magical show. There were no STDs and no alcoholism, there was nobody who got hurt. It was a make-a-wish kind of show. And that’s not how the real world works, we knew that, but we simply hoped that we could find some way to make people laugh. And boy, did it paid off!