JOHN CRYER | A profile Actor finds he fits neurotic role in 'Two and a Half Men'

The sitcom has been garnering a big audience.
By ELLEN GRAY
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
There are people who'll try to tell you that the sitcom is dead, but Jon Cryer isn't buying it.
And why should he?
As the actor who plays Charlie Sheen's nebbishy divorced brother on CBS' "Two and a Half Men," Cryer has proof, in the form of the weekly Nielsens, that comedy lightning can still strike.
Paired with "Everybody Loves Raymond," which is entering its final season, "Two and a Half Men" hasn't just been keeping its lead-in audience in recent months, it's been building on it.
In reruns, it was the summer's top comedy.
"You can't say the sitcom is dead, it's just not," Cryer said recently during a CBS party at LA's Dodger Stadium.
"It's a form that will wax and wane and sometimes be incredibly popular. Let's face it -- we went through an incredibly great period for sitcoms with 'Frasier' and 'Friends' and 'Raymond' all happening at the same time, and you know, maybe there won't be as many classic sitcoms in the next few years, but give it a couple of years and it's bound to rebound," he said.
No foolproof formula
Cryer, 39, whose previous TV outings include such also-rans as "The Trouble With Normal" and "Partners" -- as well as critical fave "The Famous Teddy Z" -- knows better than most that there's no foolproof formula for success.
"Anyone who claims to know how to do that doesn't really," he said. "You just kind of put it together and hope."
That said, it helps to attach yourself to good people, especially when the concept -- two brothers sharing a beach house with one man's son -- doesn't exactly scream "hit."
Context is everything, said Cryer.
'Neurotic' role
"Charlie was already cast. A friend of mine called me and said, 'There's this part that's perfect for you.' And I read it and was like, 'This guy's incredibly uptight and neurotic, anal, obsessive guy -- that's not me, is it?'
"And apparently it is," he said, laughing.
"But by the time I'd heard about it, Charlie was already involved and Chuck [Lorre, the executive producer] was involved, who I'd done a pilot with and [director] Jim Burrows was involved, and I really enjoyed the script, so for me it was a no-brainer. The second I read it, I said, 'OK, this is something I have to do,'" he said.
And the friend who thought he was Alan?
"A woman, actually," he said, laughing. "A woman who clearly was not attracted to me."
"When we started the season, I thought, 'Oh, this'll be a challenge for me, to play a guy who's so not like me.' And as the season went on, I realized, sadly, that this is me. I dress a little better, but that's about it."