"In the history of television, this may be the only sitcom based loosely on the work of Carl Jung. I shit you not. Before Lee Aronsohn and I began writing, I decided it would help with character development if I researched Jungian archetypes. What I came up with was pretty simple. Charlie was a comedic variation on Dionysus, while Alan was the biblical Job. One brother epitomized the god of wine and the pleasures of the flesh. Debauchery, if you will. The other was a decent man constantly being tormented by God in order to test his faith. (I imagined including this sophisticated backstory in my Emmy acceptance speech. Which might explain why I have an imaginary Emmy."

interesting how i loved this show long before getting into psychology, jung, metaphysics, etc. - because psychosomatic *resonance* to an extent is what determines fit, and the intellectual articulation comes long afterwards, if then

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5914288&forum_id=2#50199381)