SALON

Tuesday, Jun 26, 2012 3:15 PM UTC

“Anger Management”: Charlie Sheen’s misogynistic, homophobic comeback

Charlie Sheen's back on TV in "Anger Management." It's as lame as you'd expect, because that's how TV works now

By

Topics: TV, Charlie Sheen, Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, The Sopranos, The Wire, Parks and Recreation, Television, Mad Men, Louie,

FX’s “Anger Management,” Charlie Sheen’s return to television, is a godawful, small-minded, crassly commercial exercise. It’s “Two and Half Men” on a cable channel, starring a more haggard-looking Sheen as a therapist with a temper problem. Insofar as giving the detestable, unreliable, post-“Winning!” Sheen a job and a platform is a risk, “Anger Management” is a bold step for FX. But everything else about the show, from its laugh track to the misogynistic, homophobic, lame and dirty jokes is utterly predictable. And that’s the point.

Television is in the midst of an extremely fertile period: This golden age of TV, from “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” on down through “30 Rock” and “Parks and Rec,” is a who’s who of shows that do something fresh and new, taking content, themes, language or characters in unprecedented directions. But smuggled into these shows, even the most revolutionary and cutting-edge, is something unoriginal. After the first episode, every installment of a TV show contains large quantities of sameness: The same characters, the same setting, the same premise. For all its innovation, each episode of “The Wire” featured established characters, Baltimore, that dialogue, and a worldview about the humanity-crushing nature of dysfunctional, dying bureaucracies. “Community’s” every episode may intend to blow minds and blow up genres, but audiences came to expect exactly that level of madcap energy every week. On shows like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men” and “Louie” (which will air in a block with “Anger Management,” and by its very excellence act as a permanent rebuke), audiences wait for the surprising moment, the one that will be so great and awesome and unlike anything we can specifically imagine.

This sameness is not usually a bad thing. Originality may be a quality we prize more, a characteristic of anything that’s aspiring to be art. But the sameness of TV, the way, over time, each show becomes a genre unto itself, is perhaps its more powerful pleasure. The most popular shows on TV — “NCIS,” “CSI,” “Two and Half Men” — are all series in which every episode hits the same predictable beats, in a supremely professional, competent and enjoyable manner. If those aren’t to your taste, then think of whatever procedural you’re addicted to, whatever show you’ll always watch in rerun or rewatch on DVD — I know those are the series I love most. We may have advanced from the little kid who wants to have the same book read to him over and over and over again, but religiously watching a TV show is a different behavior by fewer degrees than we might like to think.

The nicest thing I can say about “Anger Management” is that it seems hyper-aware of this side of the audience-show relationship. Unlike most new series, and certainly unlike every other series on FX, it is totally uninterested in originality. It is an extremely calculated play for the people — and there are many of them — who want to see Charlie Sheen appear as some version of himself in a really mediocre sitcom, and see it over and over and over again. The very deal for the show makes this clear: FX agreed to air 10 episodes of “Anger Management.” If it does well, they will order 100 episodes. If the first 10 can find an audience, the assumption is so will the next 90, presumably because all 100 episodes will be almost exactly the same.

Sheen plays Charlie Goodson — as with “Two and Half Men,” on which he played a character called Charlie Harper, there’s much intentional clouding between Sheen’s persona and his characters, starting with his name. Goodson’s a one-time ballplayer with anger issues; he destroyed his knee and career by breaking a baseball bat over his leg. He’s since turned his life around and become an anger management therapist, but, of course, he still has a temper. In the first episode he threatens to beat his ex-wife’s new boyfriend with a lamp. Isn’t it funny when a guy involved in various incidents of domestic abuse plays his short temper for laughs? In the second episode, an ugly woman — the show’s term, not mine — Goodson slept with to break a slump in the minor leagues comes back to stalk him. Isn’t it funny when a guy sleeps with a woman who’s not that hot? (She’s played by Kerri Kenney, a veteran of the ‘90s sketch comedy show “The State,” just one of the supporting cast members who had me wondering what befell them that they found themselves here.) This is just the tip of the iceberg, if the iceberg were an offensive, lazy, crass sitcom, full of jokes about gay men’s asses, crazy chicks and Charlie’s sexual prowess.

There is absolutely no virtue in the new Charlie Sheen show, except that people enamored of Charlie Sheen and his skeezy persona and middling jokes will probably like it. And given the size of the audience for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” that already air on FX, the network and Sheen are betting that’s a lot of people. Personally, I’m going to skip this rerun.

Willa Paskin

Willa Paskin is Salon's staff TV writer. More Willa Paskin.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 26 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
527 points528 points | 26 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
431 points432 points | 32 comments
vote
Yes, there is a better search engine (1998)
101 points102 points | 30 comments
vote
Machiavelli doesn’t belong to the 1 percent | "The Prince" is oft-quoted on Wall Street, but its author was a hero of the working class who despised elites
89 points90 points | 33 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
89 points90 points | 9 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows