Ashton of the opera?

Saw "The Marriage of Figaro" by the Dallas Opera on Saturday night. One scene had a cool similarity to a recent MTV phenomenon.

After much plotting, quick thinking and scheming, the heroine (Susanna) was hiding in the closet in the Count and Countess' bedroom. The royal couple both thought it was a hormone-driven teenager (Cherubio) who had designs on the countess. The count hammered the door open, and out came Susanna.

She should have said, "You've both been Punk'd!"

Jumped the shark

The hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" has nothing left.

This Charlie Sheen/Jon Cryer vehicle -- re-creating the obvious chemistry the two displayed in the movie "Hot Shots" -- has always been a sex-obsessed show, but has had some great moments in the past. The show that combined Alan (Cryer) dating Kandi; Charlie (Sheen) dating Kandi's mom, Mandi; and Alan's ex-wife Judith dating Kandi's dad/Mandi's ex-husband Andy was one of the best TV episodes of this decade.

But Monday's episode, in which the focus was Charlie's difficulty in sleeping over at his girlfriend's house, was sad. We get it: Charlie's a narcissistic sport-****er; Alan has no backbone; Jake is a dummy.

If this kind of inane story continues, hopefully CBS will put the well-written, non-sex-obsessed "How I Met Your Mother" in the Monday night money slot of 9 p.m. Eastern Time, 8 p.m. Correct Time.