Even though Two and a Half Men is one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time, it is not perfect in any way. Many sitcoms famously decline in quality over the years, and the 2003 show was no different in this. Although many fans would agree that the biggest difference in its quality was after Charlie Sheen left the series, there were evident changes over the years.
Usually, fans focus on the Charlie Harper aspect of it all. However, they have recently diverted their attention to another character they saw decline right before their eyes.
Charlie Harper Wasn’t the Only One Done Dirty
When there is a child actor on a long-running series, audiences often get to see them grow up right in front of their eyes. They get to see them go through the phases of life and watch them turn into people over the years. While most of the time it can be quite wholesome, often, it can be painful to watch a once-beloved character turn into someone unrecognizable.
Jake Harper was beloved for many reasons. He was the half of Chuck Lorre’s Two and a Half Men, and audiences loved him for his witty humor, bringing a completely different energy to the series. However, as the years passed, fans got to see him completely transform into something new, and this isn’t always a good thing.
Taking away his intellect and his wittiness, the series completely removed all of the things fans loved about his character. In a recent Reddit thread, they began to discuss how frustrating this change was.
Jake Harper Was Left Half the Man That He Was
The discussion on the changes that Jake Harper went through was started by one user, who pointed out how much the writers forced him to play the dumb, comic relief character. Frustrated with how much they butchered his character, they pointed out that while not all of his jokes were bad, the fact that they completely changed him was extremely unnecessary.
Others seemed to quickly join in the conversation, pointing out how many things he would do that did not make sense with the rest of his character and age. Take the example of season six, episode six, where Jake accidentally stapled his hand to his shoe. They mentioned how stupid this arc was and criticized the show for making a then-15-year-old act like he was four.
Why tf did the writers dumb down Jake so bad?? It's so annoying. Not like his jokes are bad but damn the dumbness of his character kinda irks me. He was quite sharp as a 10-12yr old.
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Some fans had theories within the show that could excuse his gradual stupidity. In the seventeenth episode of the first season, Jake hurts his head while playing basketball with Charlie. Many fans believe that because of that trauma to his head, he became progressively dumber.
While this is a good theory, it is safe to say that audiences were extremely frustrated with what was done to their once-beloved Jake.
Two and a Half Men is available for streaming on Max.
