Charlie Harper is a successful and respected advertising career-man living out a luxurious, sun-soaked lifestyle in Malibu. Times have been good for Charlie up until recently with women falling at his feet, a tranquil beach house and a shiny new Mercedes in the garage, until his brother Alan and Alan's son Jake crash into his life. Uptight, geeky Alan has divorced his neurotic wife, Judith and lost his home, leaving them no choice but to move in with Charlie...

The seventh season of Three and a Half Men originally aired in America between 21 September 2009 and 24 May 2010. The basic premise of the show is fairly straightforward. Charlie Harper is a wealthy man who lives in a gorgeous apartment on the seafront. His brother, Alan, is a chiropractor who has very little money - as most of it goes to his ex-wife in alimony payments - and ends up living rent free in Charlie's large property. Jake, Alan's son, spends his time living between his mother's house and in his own room at Charlie's. Charlie and Alan are very different. While Charlie is a womaniser and likes to live life to the full, Alan is awkward around the opposite sex and is very boring in his outlook on life. Jake is a good kid who likes his food, but isn't academically gifted.

This DVD collection doesn't include the original episode names (instead listing them as episodes 1 to 22) which is a shame as all the episode titles are made up of a memorable quote from each episode.

Highlights in this collection include:

Episode 5 (For the Sake of the Child), which sees Jake embarrassed by Charlie and Alan's constant bickering in public. When they humiliate him in front of a cute girl he decides enough is enough and tells them he doesn't want to spend any more time with them.

Episode 7 (Untainted by Filth), Evelyn has an offer for Charlie and Chelsea. She will pay for the wedding, but they have to get married in June at the exclusive Bel Air Hotel. While out drinking Alan and Charlie end up getting so drunk that they wake up together in bed with a strange woman.,

Episode 8 (Gorp. Fnark. Schmegle), sees Chelsea's friend move in as she's just split up from her boyfriend. Everyone in the house instantly fancies her, Charlie has threesome fantasies... and even Berta admits that if she didn't like the men so much she'd fancy her. This episode examines how men never really listen to what anyone is saying, instead having their own internal conversation. It also reveals that Charlie once kissed another man - adding more fuel to the notion that the reason that he sleeps with so many women is because he subconsciously thinks he may be gay.

Episode 12 (Fart Jokes, Pie and Celest), sees Alan's online dating getting increasingly worse. When he discovers that he has a lot in common with Herb, the two start a special friendship.

Episode 13 (Yay, No Polyps!), and to get out of flying to meet Chelsea's parents Charlie fakes a colonoscopy appointment. It doesn't matter as they fly over to meet Charlie and Chelsea instead. Chelsea's parents are bigots, but Chelsea's dad is hiding a secret from everyone.

Episode 21 (Gumby with a Pokey), sees Alan and Jake driving across the country to pick up an expensive grandfather clock which Judith's grandfather has left him in his will. Meanwhile Berta and Charlie get stoned, Charlie imagines he sees all his ex girlfriends, and a face from the past returns.

Extras include A Charlie Harper Ex Reunion (9 min, 17 sec featurette that interviews some of Charlie's ex girlfriends who return in the episode Gumby with a Pokey); and Gag Reel (7 min, 34 sec).

While this show constantly gets knocked for being low brow and not very funny by the US media, I have to admit to liking it for what it is. The jokes are certainly a lot funnier than the poor UK equivalent of shows like My Family.

So, another enjoyable collection that's well worth picking up.

8

Nick Smithson