191: Two and a Half Men Meets a Trans Man

“An Old Flame With a New Wick” (March 1, 2004)

Despite the preconceptions you might have about Two and a Half Men, the fact remains that its first season features an episode centered on a trans man... when few other sitcoms ever bothered to tell a story about someone who’s trans and male. In fact, the previous sitcom of note to do a trans man storyline was the previous episode we had guest Henry Giardina on for: the Golden Girls episode with Gil Kessler. In this installment, we discuss why sitcoms are allergic to trans men and why Two and a Half Man, improbably, doesn’t completely fuck this up, even if it’s very early 2000s in its understanding of trans people.

Listen to Henry & co. on the Totally Trans podcats. And listen to the the trans man-centric (kinda) episode of The Golden Girls with Henry here.

Watch Holland Taylor’s “best fellatio known to mankind” scene from the Practice here.

Episode artwork by Ian O’Phelan.