I can't defend its artistic merits. I can't even begin to pretend that it adds to the social discourse. But, Lord help me, I find the show hilarious.

Sure, it's low humor. Very low. Pee jokes. Fart jokes. Booby jokes. Low, low jokes. But...low jokes done well.

And the cast? Well, say what you want to about Charlie Sheen in real life, he's fun as the douchebag straight man. Jon Cryer is an adept physical comedian. Never have humiliating injuries been funnier. Holland Taylor has always been able to play a strong woman and still be funny. Now, she gets to play the funny, strong mother from hell.

I've been a fan of Melanie Lynskey since she starred in Heavenly Creatures (check it out if you're a Peter Jackson fan). Her line reading are always unexpected, yet on the mark. Conchata Ferrell is a brilliant actress who manages to make a throw-way roll into something three-dimensional. And Angus T. Jones play one of the most realistic boys I've ever seen on TV.

So, is this great TV? It's not edgy in the modern sense. It's not one of the comedies of squirm (Arrested Development, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm). And, as much as I like comedies of squirm, I don't want to see one on a Monday night. Mondays are hard. Most of us work because we have to. Going back to work after the weekend is hard. On Monday night, lots of us want to decompress. Squirmy comedies don't let that happen. They add pressure, and they seldom have any kind of satisfying resolution that would let the pressure off.

But Two and Half Men? There's something about laughing at really dumb shit - it's just relaxing. Kids get this. I think a lot of people do. Maybe that's why it's still a top 20 show after five seasons.

Agreed.

I won't come close to defending it as great art, but it's great, low-concept humor. Interestingly, as you mentioned, it's low concept humor that's cleverly done (which can't be said for 99% of low concept humor). And, with a 7-year old, and a 4-year old, Angus T. Jones plays my worst nightmare. Anyway, it's fun to watch caricatures of both male superego and id.

I love that kid. Sure, he's an exaggeration, but he's more like the boys I know. Frustrating, goofy, charming, and oddly lovable. You think they're heading toward a career as a Wal-Mart stock boy, but they pull it out and turn into self-sufficient men.

I hope so. My kids alternate between moments of near-Schrodinger-brilliance and Angus Jones-level lunkheadism. I hope that they asymptotically trend toward the former.

I'm with ya. This show has become a poster boy for the dumbing down of America, but is actually very cleverly written. I've enjoyed Chuck Lorre's work over the years - nothing stupendous, but good, solid comedy that stands out among a bunch of throwaway shows. It's not compelling, I can take it or leave it -- but most shows don't even rise to that level.

Big Bang Theory is another solid work that mixes the crude with the geekily sublime.

Oh, and TiVo means never having to know what day of the week it is.

I agree about the DVR. Who cares about Network Scheduling? For the shows we like, we set it to record only new episodes. I Time Warner doesn't have any maintenance snafus, our shows are waiting for us.

We don't have a TiVo brand recorder, but we did get a DVR about six months ago. I never want to have a TV without one. Turner Classic Movies and the DVR mean that we are no longer ties to the networks to provide programming.

The only thing that bothers me is when the networks have episodes that run a little long. The last few minutes are cut off. I think the nets do this on purpose because they hate DVR's. I guess I can't blame them - we love fast-forwarding through commercials. But, still, don't cut off my show. If you're going to run the show until 10:35, schedule it until 10:35. That way, the DVR picks it up.