With the departure of their main character, Two and a Half Men continues to produce the same type of humor for their viewers, but with a sense that something is missing from the show.

Two and a Half Men replaced its lead character, Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen), at the beginning of its ninth season, which aired on September 19. But with the main focus of the series gone, the season premier fell short of expectations.

The first episode, “Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt,” begins with Charlie’s funeral Charlie’s wife of three days pushed him in front of a train in Paris after she found him cheating.

While the premise of the episode is not bad, the writing of the funeral scene is unbelievable and the characters act as if Charlie’s funeral is an event they want to rush through. Jake Harper (Angus Jones) specifically is un-phased by his uncle’s funeral and is more concerned with being hungry.

While the opening scene was unrealistic overall, especially with Charlie’s old girlfriends at his funeral waiting to spit on his body, viewers should have expected no less from a show focused on crude comedy.

Since Charlie’s death, his brother, Alan Harper (John Cryer), can’t afford to keep the house and tries to sell it to several notable actors, such as John Stamos, but with no real prospects. Then he runs into Charlie’s replacement.

Alan meets Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher) who is a millionaire trying to kill himself in the ocean after his wife left him. Alan lets Walden into the house to dry off and ends up dropping Charlie’s ashes. Alan ends up having to vacuum the ashes. While this is yet another unrealistic situation, this does set up the idea behind the new season: Walden Schmidt moving into the house.

Episodes following the season premier look to have more promise, however, with Charlie’s death out of the way, the show can get back to the comedy that is expected from Two and a Half Men. With Walden Schmidt still struggling with him wife leaving him, Alan tries to give him advice on break-ups.

The episode continues with a humorous date where Walden acts like a child. While the scene highlights Kutcher’s acting skills, it’s a different type of humor from Sheen’s character portrayal.

New episodes premier Tuesday nights at 9PM on CBS.