‘Two and a Half Men’ Season 9 Premiere Draws Record Number of Viewers

Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher in Two and a Half Men
Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher in Two and a Half Men - © CBS Broadcasting Inc.

It seems everyone wanted to know what happened to Charlie Sheen’s character and how Ashton Kutcher would handle taking over one of the lead roles in Two and a Half Men. The ninth season premiered to huge numbers, with over 27.8 million viewers tuning in to see how the show would handle the transition from Sheen to Kutcher.

The premiere marked the show’s highest-rated episode to date, with the Two and a Half Men premiere registering a 10.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a 12.2 rating among viewers 25-54. The number’s posted far surpassed all expectations, and now the real question is how many people will tune in to episode two since we’ve seen what happens to Sheen and learned a little background on Kutcher’s character.

Kutcher was introduced as billionaire Walden Schmidt, a sad-sack of a man who shows up on Alan Harper’s (Jon Cryer) back porch after trying to drown himself following a devastating breakup with his girlfriend. He’s handsome and a billionaire, but for some reason he doesn’t think he has a reason to go on – or that he’ll ever find another woman. Seriously? Anyway, he offers to buy the house and promptly becomes Alan’s new buddy.