Charlie, Two And A Half Men and Moral Turpitude

For the last week, I have been caught up in watching and listening to CSI, including its various spin offs. You know CSI-Charlie Sheen Insanity! I have read, listened and learned all about Goddesses and Tiger Blood. But yesterday was the breaking point for me in all this mess. What is amazing is that it did not come from Mr. Sheen, but from the studio that produces his show Two And A Half Men, Warner Brothers. The studio fired him from the show in part for violating the “moral turpitude” clause in his contract. Moral Turpitude, are you kidding me. This Warner’s produced show has been nothing but moral turpitude since it premiered back in 2003. But I guess if you are the one doing the moral turpitude it’s okay, especially when your company can make millions of dollars doing so. I remember when CBS was trying to get this show off the ground; they showed clips of William Demarest’s “Uncle Charley” from My Three Sons interspersed with clips of Sheen’s “Uncle Charlie” as the announcer encouraged us to watch “an Uncle Charlie for the 21^st century.” I admit I watched a few episodes and the plots boiled down to wanting to have sex, having sex or having had sex. What is amazing to me is not one of the characters have had to go to the doctor to be checked out for an STD or AIDS, nor have they ever had to take penicillin for their sexapades. I remember a few years ago, I was on a plane sitting next to a missionary who was retiring back to the US and an episode of Two And A Half Men was playing in the cabin. The missionary looked at me and asked, “Is this a popular program here in the states?” I replied in the affirmative, pointing out that it was one of the most popular and watched shows in the country and it had been renewed for another two years. He looked at me saying “Oh dear, the country is in trouble.” Warner Brothers is making so much money on the moral turpitude of Two And A Half Men, that they were paying Mr. Sheen two million dollars and episode. So as the studio rushes to try to save their cash cow, they no doubt will try to sex up the yucks even more with Mr. Sheen’s replacement. And don’t get me started on the amount of profanity included in the lines. I have never seen such laughs gotten as one character refers to someone as a s—of a b-----. What is even more disconcerting is that with “men” now syndicated, it literally plays from morning until night. Teaching a whole new group of viewers, how you can have sex with out consequences, while swearing all the while. That my friend’s is true “moral turpitude”.