3:46 p.m. | Updated
Even in the absence of Charlie Sheen, the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” is still finding ways to cause controversy. This time it’s Lee Aronsohn, a co-creator and executive producer of that series, who incensed industry colleagues by suggesting that there were too many television comedies focusing on women.
Mr. Aronsohn, who on Sunday appeared as a speaker at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, told The Hollywood Reporter that the pendulum had swung too far in the direction of comedies centered on female protagonists, like “2 Broke Girls” (which is shown on CBS) and “Whitney” (NBC).
“Enough ladies,” Mr. Aronsohn said. “I get it. You have periods.” While he commended female comedy creators like Tina Fey of “30 Rock” and Whitney Cummings of “Whitney,” Mr. Aronsohn, who has also written and produced comedies like “Grace Under Fire,” “Cybill” and “Murphy Brown,” added that “we’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation.”
In his speech at the Toronto conference, Mr. Aronsohn had suggested that women were to blame for the problems of the main characters on “Two and a Half Men.” “We’re centering the show on two very damaged men,” he said in the address. “What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women. I never got my heart broken by a man.”
These remarks drew swift online rebukes from performers like Martha Plimpton, a star of the Fox comedy series “Raising Hope.” On her Twitter account, Ms. Plimpton wrote: “Um, Lee, women are 51% of the population & a coveted demographic for advertisers. What are you thinking?” She added: “The rise of female writers and performers in television is a result of demand. So we’re taking our place at the creative table.”
Lizz Winstead, a creator of “The Daily Show,” published a Twitter post linking to the Hollywood Reporter interview and calling Mr. Aronsohn an obscene name. Ms. Winstead sarcastically added: “You realize that if we are at Peak vagina, the prices at the pump are gonna skyrocket.”
Nancy Franklin, the former television critic for The New Yorker, encouraged her Twitter followers to contact Mr. Aronsohn, writing: “Lee Aronsohn’s twitter handle is @bennyace if your overexposed lady parts want to send him a message.”
On his own Twitter account, Mr. Aronsohn responded to the criticism, writing: “Women, please look up ‘irony.’” Mr. Aronsohn said that he has “made a career out of” jokes about the male anatomy even as he was “complaining about vaginas.”
“See what I did there?” he wrote. (The post no longer appears on Mr. Aronsohn’s Twitter page.)
In a subsequent post Mr. Aronsohn wrote, “Yes, yes – it was a stupid joke. I’m sorry.”
Representatives for CBS and Warner Brothers Television, which produces “Two and a Half Men,” declined to comment.
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