The first appearance of Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt, "an internet billionaire with a broken heart",[1] it was written by series creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, along with Eddie Gorodetsky and Jim Patterson, and directed by James Widdoes.
Picking up where "That Darn Priest" left off, it is revealed that Charlie Harper is dead, having been killed in an accident, offscreen, while on his weekend getaway to Paris with Rose.
Some time later, Alan receives Charlie's cremated remains, and shares a heartfelt goodbye with his late brother, telling him how much he loves him and will truly miss him.
Given the impossibility of fulfilling Charlie's wish to have his ashes be swallowed by Pamela Anderson (he also turns down taking him to live at Evelyn's, claiming "That's how horror movies start"), Alan decides to sprinkle the remains on the beach.
After phoning his wife and being rejected again, the stranger introduces himself to Alan as Walden Schmidt, a billionaire who made his money by selling out to Microsoft.
This episode was written by series regulars Chuck Lorre, Lee Aronsohn, Eddie Gorodetsky, and Jim Patterson, directed by series regular James Widdoes, and was taped on August 5, 2011 to a full and enthusiastic audience, long after the conclusion of the eighth production season, which was put to an end in February because of Sheen's threats towards Lorre.
[5] This is the second sitcom Kutcher has starred in, after his career-debut role in That '70s Show, which was beginning its sixth season when Two and a Half Men premiered in 2003.
The couple's chemistry is noticeably darker than in Dharma & Greg, with Gibson's character making sarcastic mentions of divorce and suicide.
It was also the most watched show on Australian television that night, beating third placed drama hit Packed to the Rafters by 655,000 viewers.
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter noted; "I couldn't quite figure out if Kutcher was going for vacant, naïve, nerdy or astonishingly dumb (for a character who is a billionaire), because I'll never watch this show by choice again."
"[15] Richard Lawson of Gawker Media was displeased with how the show dealt with both Charlie Harper's death/funeral and the introduction of Walden Schmidt in one episode.
[16] Lori Rackl of Chicago Sun-Times gave the episode a positive review, stating, "Filling the void left by a well established character isn’t easy, but Kutcher mostly succeeded".