The ratings are in. Fall's first episode of Two and a Half Men, featuring a clothing-optional Ashton Kutcher in his debut as Charlie Sheen's replacement and a mean-spirited funeral for Sheen's character, scored an astounding 28 million viewers. That makes the show the most watched sitcom since the series finale of Everybody Loves Raymond in 2005. Over on Comedy Central, the brutal roast of Sheen became the network's highest rated roast ever, and the second most-watched show of any kind in the channel's history. Given the number of eyes glued to Sheen-related programming Monday night, is the supposedly disgraced actor "still winning?"
No. It's Kutcher who comes out on top: Ashton Kutcher "more than fulfilled his goal" of saving TV's top sitcom, says Shelley Fralic at the Vancouver Sun, with the premiere's "stunning" ratings dwarfing those of Sheen's last episode. Meanwhile, Sheen's been relegated to a derided "mea culpa tour": His "seemingly sincere and sober" appearance at the Emmy Awards earned a particularly lukewarm reaction. "Who's winning now?"
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