‘Two and a Half Men’ season 11, episode 1 review: Meet Amber Tamblyn, Charlie Harper 2.0

Do we have a new series regular on our hands for “Two and a Half Men” in Jenny? Amber Tamblyn made her debut on the show last night, and she was a pretty funny addition to the group. But, you still have to wonder whether she was great on her own, or more just filling in a gap left by Charlie Sheen’s signature Charlie Harper character.

Jenny is basically just a female version of Charlie in that she drinks, parties, and hooks up with women. She seems like someone that could have some depth, but this episode was mostly just about her meeting all of the important people, and then standing around and admiring the Malibu beach house now owned by Walden Schmidt. It almost felt like a pilot in many ways, so it was hard for the show to hit the ground running.

The success of Tamblyn in the long-term will be if the show gives her enough interesting stuff to do. They have by and large figured out what they want to do now with Walden, so introducing another new character can be tricky. The challenge for them will come via giving it enough time for her to find her place, if she does stick around and become a regular. We do find the potential for comedy here to be pretty high, but at the same time you don’t want to take away from what is already going on. “Two and a Half Men” minus Charlie Sheen is best when Walden’s at the helm, and having too much Harper may serve as a reminder of how much Charlie is missed.

So overall, a good premiere. Does it need work? Definitely, but we feel better about Jenny being on the show now than we would Jake if he was still turning up.

What did you think about the premiere, and do you want to see Tamblyn around for a larger role in the future? If you want to check out some more “Two and a Half Men” news, including videos, just be sure to head on over to the link here.

Photo: CBS