Lee Aronsohn, ‘Two And A Half Men' Creator, Thinks Women-Centric TV Has Peaked

Lee Aronsohn, co-creator of the sitcom “Two and a Half Men," thinks that there are just too many women on television these days.

During an interview Sunday with The Hollywood Reporter at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, Aronsohn derided the female-centric television shows that have premiered this year on major networks, including NBC’s “Whitney” and CBS’ “2 Broke Girls.”

"Enough ladies, I get it. You have periods,” he said. “But we’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t stop there.

“Two and a Half Men” is known for its less-than-flattering portrayals of women. Aronsohn, who is also an executive producer of the show, told conference attendees that he didn’t feel bad about how his show presents its female characters. “Screw it… We're centering the show on two very damaged men. What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women. I never got my heart broken by a man.”

Aronsohn's comments provoked a backlash on Twitter, possibly because they are inaccurate. While women make up the majority of TV-watchers, as of last year, they only made up 15 percent of its writers. After the interview went up this morning, actress Martha Plimpton tweeted:

Um, Lee, women are 51% of the population & a coveted demographic for advertisers. What are you thinking? hollywoodreporter.com/news/lee-arons…

— Martha Plimpton (@MarthaPlimpton) April 2, 2012

Vulture’s Margaret Lyons wrote that Aronsohn’s remarks were indicative of a larger issue -- women feeling alienated in comedy writing:

Time and time again we hear that part of why women are underrepresented in comedy writers rooms is that they simply don't apply for as many positions as men do. Gee, we can't imagine what could be keeping them away.

Aronsohn initially responded with sarcasm, tweeting “Ladies, look up irony,” reported The New York Times. (That tweet has since been removed from his account). He has now backpedaled, saying:

Yes, yes - it was a stupid joke. I'm sorry.

— Lee Aronsohn (@BennyAce) April 2, 2012

While it remains to be seen how Aronsohn’s comments will impact his bid to get “Two and a Half Men” renewed, they’ve at the very least added a new hilarious hashtag to the Twittersphere. “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead started tweeting titles for hypothetical shows Aronsohn might consider #ladysitcoms. Her first contribution? “Love Bloat.”

LOOK: Twitter Reactions To Lee Aronsohn's Comments About Women-Centric TV

Comments

[frankblank]

07:57 PM on 11/26/2012

Aronsohn's comments are relatively uninteresting. It is to say, men tend to think men are funnier than women. Eureka!

OTH, the kid on the show made a cosmic comment, with Dan Brownish implications and swelling spiritual significance. Said he: the show is a tool of satan.

However, credibility is lacking for there was no evidence that he consulted the Church Lady.

[facebookcomment]

04:54 PM on 04/16/2012

Please tell me this guy was joking...

[listgirl3]

04:13 PM on 04/09/2012

Sounds like someone is defending his own manhood a little....lol

[Nonyabizz]

10:03 AM on 04/09/2012

Has aronson noticed that his show isn't even remotely funny? Hasn't been since the first season...

[candiceh7]

12:45 PM on 04/06/2012

Hilarious response to Lee's comments on elephantjournal.com
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/04/two-and-a-half-women-too-many--candice-holdorf/

[ReadMyLipstick1]

10:44 AM on 04/06/2012

The comments relating to this article are wonderful! First we have to remember that the hugely vast majority of tv programming is geared to the "average person". The "average person" today is gauged to be between 16 and 35, h.s. education, with not much incentive to do anything other than to watch tv. Included in the "average person" category are men who like watching any programming where women wearing very little, have a major role. Also included in the "average person" category are women who are the wives and girlfriends of the men in this category. They watch whatever the man watches, as they aren't allowed to hold the remote control. So clearly, the majority of programming is in deed, as we all know, totally geared toward the male of our species.

[gregory57]

12:18 AM on 04/06/2012

If Oprah wants to make a OWN into something that people watch, she should give some thought to programming for men. How about a soap that revolves around a sport team?

[listgirl3]

04:13 PM on 04/09/2012

Because men don't already have 3 ESPN channels....?

[Peter Wu]

03:56 PM on 06/21/2012

There are already 4 male soaps around sports teams, they are called Baseball, Basketball, Football and WWF.

[TarzanWannaBe]

09:05 PM on 04/05/2012

Woman good, man bad.

[jayindc]

05:59 PM on 04/05/2012

The show stinks since Sheen left.

[howlermonk43]

05:21 PM on 04/05/2012

Viewing tv shows is still voluntary. You don't have to watch a show if you don't want to.

[Peter Wu]

03:58 PM on 06/21/2012

I wonder what would happen to the ratings if women decided to deny sex to men who watched Two and a Half Morons?

[frankblank]

07:50 PM on 11/26/2012

You still wouldn't get any.

Sorry, couldn't resist the setup.

[howlermonk43]

05:16 PM on 04/05/2012

I don't read romance novels. I don't like them. They seem to get by okay without me though.

[somethinghappening]

11:09 AM on 04/05/2012

Women in the media ocupy 7% of decision making positions. And I doubt that the 7% has too much real power. TV is totally male and reflects male values.

Anyone who thinks TV is "too female" is very wrong. And women characters on Tv have lives that ultimately revove entirely around males. There are NO realsitic women on TV. Only fake safe non scary women. Women with no real personalites. No wonder these characters are often so boring.

To make a realistic women someone will be upset and will try to bring them down with constant criticism. It goes with the terrirory of being a real and truthful woman. It scares some people. But it makes a much more interesting TV character.

[dbgarcia17]

12:39 AM on 08/12/2012

Boring to who? I like my T.V. Women EXACTLY as they are and hope they stay this way forever. Then again, with feminism finally devolving into its true identity (a pathetic attempt at changing the status quo), along with the many consequences it has brought down on all of us. But fortunately, most of the "original pioneers" are dieing off, and the majority of our "new age" fems have no clue what they're fighting for anymore, we can get back to business as usual.

[mcfried]

10:11 AM on 04/05/2012

Anyone who has ever seen an episode of his show knows that this is how he thinks. It's pretty pathetic. His belief that women are like this is easier for him to believe than the more likely possibility that they just can't stand his personality

[thebarbecuemast]

08:18 AM on 04/05/2012

he doent know what he is talking about i like to watch women on television. They often have alot more sense then men

[Jennifer Weeks Fadool]

06:58 AM on 04/05/2012

Why is anyone surprised that a misogynistic pig who writes such sophomoric, banal, gross out scripts would say such things? He is essentially saying them in every episode.