Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer
Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer Reuters

SInce the ninth season of the sitcom "Two and Half Men" started, the response has been more or less quite uniform - "Ashton Kutcher is not as good as Charlie Sheen" - "Ashton Kutcher s***s" - "Two and Half Men is not fun anymore"...

For those who are not aware, Sheen was the main lead in the sitcom until he was remoed due to alcohol and drug addiction problems. Since then Kutcher has been doing the main lead, along with Jon Cryer, who plays the role of Sheen's (now Kutcher's) younger brother.

A close look at the series will tell you a lot has changed... but what? The humour? The script? The chemistry between the actors? The spontaneity?

The main reason is probably the lack of that quintessential spark that Sheen brought to the role of Charlie Harper... that spark seems to be missing in Kutcher. Loosely described, the spark is a mix of attitude, arrogance and a familiarity with the opposite sex coupled with a sense of humour.

Unfortunately, Kutcher seems to bring none of those elements to the screen. Yes... he is a different character altogether but there is none of that spontaneity Sheen brought to the role. The quality of dialogue delivery just seems so much more artifical and poor Cryer is probably having a hard time re-building the chemistry!

The loss of the Charlie Sheen-Charlie Harper character is a mistake the production house should have realised by now. However, will they accept Sheen's return? Will Sheen agree to come back? Most importantly, if the two parties agree, then how exactly do they plan to bring a dead man back to life?

Meanwhile, Sheen did acknowledge that losing "Two and Half Men" was hard for him and he did harbour resentment against Kutcher and the production house. However, he seems to have moved on now... and is shooting for his new sitcome "Anger Management", which is scheduled to go on air in April.

That leaves us with the ninth season of "Two and a Half Men" and leaves us wondering where it is headed.