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"Two and a Half Men" Spoofs "CSI" -- But Not for the First Time

Even by sweeps-month TV standards, it's a bizarre crossover stunt: writers on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men and the drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation taking a stab at writing an episode of each other's shows. The CSI version of Men aired last night, and the more comedic version of CSI airs Thursday.

So far, it's a fun stunt. But it's not the first time Two and a Half Men has tweaked this particular CBS drama franchise.

More on that in a minute. First, some observations about last night's Men...

It's too bad that Robert Wagner, as the brothers' brand-new father-in-law, was enlisted as the corpse. He was lots of fun on this show. But the casting of Jamie Rose, as the detective investigating his mysterious death, was perfect -- a dead-on (so to speak) tribute to Marg Helgenberger's sexy, red-headed detective on CSI.

Also perfect was the end-of-show Chuck Lorre vanity card, a weekly feature which, this week, was turned over to the writers from CSI, who described their transfer into the strange new world of the situation comedy -- "a world where the only rule is whether or not it makes you laugh, where actors say exactly what's on the page so it better be funny right down to the syllable, and where puns are the lowest form of humor." The CSI writers thanked everyone at Two and a Half Men "for making us all feel stupid," and closed by saying, "We look forward to returning the favor this Thursday night at 9."

Very funny. Even funnier, though, was an episode from a previous season of Two and a Half Men, in which Alan's sexy young bride at the time, Kandi (played by the delightful April Bowlby), auditioned for, and won, the part of a forensics investigator on a new TV crime series. That episode of Men ended with Alan and company watching her TV debut in disbelief, especially because of the blatant display of cleavage.

And what was the name of that new, sexed-up CSI spoof? Look below...

5 Comments

Toby OB said:

"puns are the lowest form of humor"? Ouch, I bet that hurts, David! I know how much you love a bad pun and I take inspiration from that when coming up with the bad ones I use in my subject headings. (Yeah, my favorite author, Mark Twain, felt that about puns, too. But I forgive him. -- David B.)

Comment posted on May 6, 2008 11:53 PM

Neil RWC said:

Couldn't agree more, especially the comment about April Bowlby, who I'd love to see more of. (Oh, you know what I mean!) Wonder what her acting is like when she's not playing an airhead. Though she is so, SO dead-on playing this particular airhead!

One correction: Robert Wagner wasn't the brothers' new father-in-law, he was going to be their stepfather.
(Good correction. I would have been terrible writing fairy tales.. talking about the wicked mother-in-law... Except that, had Charlie gone through with marrying Jenny McCarthy's character, Wagner WOULD have been his father-in-law, except they both were con artists. -- David B.)

Comment posted on May 7, 2008 2:05 PM

henri said:

Just watched the CSI episode. I thought both 2&1/2 and CSI were fun, they should do this with more shows next season.

I have to say this is the first time I've watched CSI in a long time, and would not have had it not been for the writer-crossover.

Comment posted on May 10, 2008 2:22 AM

Brandy said:

Does "Charlie", on two and half men, really play the piano? (They usually shoot to cover, or with super-closeups, so my guess would be no. -- David B.)

Comment posted on November 25, 2008 11:03 PM

drpoundsign said:

and playing The Who's "papa's got a squeeze" GOTTA be a WHO song LMFAO

CSI Detroit could play "hand me down world" by the Guess Who

CSI Sun City "My Generation" with criminalists on walkers and power wheelchairs. LOL

(Dear Dr. #, whoever you are:
You're absolutely correct, the music use throughout that episode was intentionally chosen, and very funny. I also liked, very much, the use of Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," used so well by David Lynch in a similarly creepy scene.
By the way, if I may -- and this is a respectful request from an old fart, not a scold from one -- you'll note, if you read the columns and comments on this site, most people take the time to write out what the mean to say, rather than use shorthand web and Twitter abbreviations. LMFAO may take a lot less time for you to type, but takes twice that long for old, stubborn ex-print guys like me to decipher. I see FAO, I think Schwarz. I know I'm in the minority here, on the Interweb, but I like to think of TV WORTH WATCHING and its contents as a magazine, not an IM. Sorry -- that's Instant Message. But I loved your comment, and mean no offense. PDBA. As in, Please Don't Be Angry. -- David B., as in Bianculli)

Comment posted on May 18, 2009 4:55 PM

Behind David in the picture is the first TV owned by his father, Virgil Bianculli, a 1946 Raytheon. (The TV, not his father. His father was a 1923 Italian.)

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air, occasional substitute host for that show's Terry Gross, and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His most recent book is 2009's Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' and he's at work on another.

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