TVSquad

When family members appear on each other's TV shows -- if they're a show biz family, of course -- sometimes the results are great. And sometimes they're not. Jerry Van Dyke appeared twice on The Dick Van Dyke Show as Rob's brother Stacey, and he was terrific. (Much better than he was on My Mother The Car).

Tyne Daly popped up on Wings, playing scenes with her brother Tim, and again, it worked out great. On the other hand, when Martin Sheen guested on Two and a Half Men in 2005, it was a dud. I don't know, maybe comedy really isn't Martin Sheen's forte.

Fortunately, Charlie Sheen isn't above trying again. Charlie's brother Emilio Estevez is going to do a guest turn on Two and a Half Men in an upcoming episode. They won't be playing brothers, but Emilio will be one of Charlie's best buddies from times gone by.

That would make them bro-mantic, but not actually related. Emilio's character is described as "a former drinking and partying buddy of Charlie's who comes for a visit."

This would seem to me to be the perfect set up for Alan to be jealous, which plays right into Jon Cryer's wheelhouse. Some of the best episodes of Two and a Half Men, in fact, have revolved around Alan's need for some visible display of affection from his brother, not just the snarky commentary about how he's been stuck with him living in his guest room for the past six years.

As for Emilio and Charlie, this won't be their first time on screen together. They've acted together in the movies Rated X, Young Guns and Men at Work. You can probably expect Two and a Half Men creators Chuck Lorre or Lee Aronsohn to pen the episode, but if they really wanted to think outside the box, they should give John Hughes a call and ask him to write something for these guys.

They've all been in John Hughes' films -- the good ones, too. Emilio was in The Breakfast Club, Jon was in Pretty in Pink, and Charlie had a memorable turn in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And Holland Taylor was also in a Hughes' film, She's Having A Baby.