Could this be it for Two and a Half Men?
A series of increasingly bizarre and combative statements from star Charlie Sheen seem to have thrown TV's top comedy into jeopardy, despite contractual agreements that keep Sheen on the show, and the show on CBS, for another season.
After Sheen railed against Men producer Chuck Lorre on Alex Jones' syndicated radio show and in an "open letter" sent to TMZ.com Thursday, CBS and Warner Bros. announced plans to shut down production, which had been due to resume next week for four more episodes after what the actor earlier termed a "forced hiatus" for a home rehab stint. Pronouncing himself cured of alcohol and substance abuse, he referred to Lorre as "a contaminated little maggot," an "earthworm" and a "clown," apparently for his involvement in the decision to initially suspend production late last month.
Given Sheen's problems and his hostile public statements about his employers, CBS and Warner Bros. aren't optimistic about another season: "With this set of facts and this guy's behavior, it would take a lot of work on his part to make the two companies comfortable with continuing the show," says a senior executive at one of them, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity over the fractured relationship between the star and producers.
As for a suggestion from Sheen that he would gladly return but only if Lorre is forced out, "that's not an alternative," the executive said.
Sheen, born Carlos Estevez, repeatedly referred to Lorre, born Charles Levine, as "Chaim Levine." In a terse statement late Thursday, CBS and producer Warner Bros. said that "based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of Two and a Half Men for the remainder of the season." Both left the door open for a ninth season next fall, though they declined further comment Friday.
In an interview aired Friday on Fox Sports Radio's Loose Cannons,
Sheen said "bigwigs" (later clarified as CBS president Leslie Moonves) came to his house. "They said change your life, and I did, in like an hour. ... They kept telling me how to live my personal life, and I said back off, back off, and they wouldn't."
Referring to Lorre and producer Lee Aronsohn, he said, "These guys were a couple of AA Nazis, raging hypocrites. It's been a toxic environment for eight years, and I felt like an unwelcome relative given cold coffee at 8 in the morning, and I got tired of it. If they want to roll back season nine I could do that, but not with the t—— they have (in place) now, that's impossible."
Sheen says Warner Bros. is "in absolute breach" by suspending production while he is willing to show up, so he is entitled to his pay, and "it's about to get gnarly."
Warner Bros. declined comment on Sheen's allegations about breach of contract and being owed money.
With Sheen not backing down from heated comments, the lucrative comedy's future could be in jeopardy: "I was told if I went on the attack, they would cancel the show," Sheen said Thursday, seemingly taunting the studio to do just that. "I'll make movies with superstars." (Sheen, whose best-known film roles were in Wall Street and Platoon in the 1980s, had his last credited role as the voice of Dex Dogtective in 2009's animated Foodfight!, co-starring Hilary Duff.)
In a text message to ABC's Good Morning AmericaFriday, Sheen vowed to show up to the set anyway next week, and he told Radar Online that he was in "serious negotiations" for his own talk show on HBO, which that channel quickly denied.
A Warner Bros. executive says the decision on the show's future may rest with Lorre, who also produces CBS' new Mike & Molly and hit The Big Bang Theory for Warner Bros. Men and Bang will eventually net $2 billion or more to the studio in syndication fees.
Lorre is accustomed to dealing with difficult stars in former gigs producing ABC's Roseanne and Grace Under Fire and CBS' Cybill.Grace star Brett Butler was fired in 1998, and the series was canceled after erratic behavior on the set due to alcohol abuse and an addiction to prescription painkillers. And Lorre also battled with stars Cybill Shepherd and Roseanne Barr.
Lorre has been one of TV's most successful show runners, though he might have provoked Sheen's ire with a so-called "vanity card," which flashes during the end credits of his shows, after the last original episode of Men on Feb. 14. Noting his healthy habits, he concluded, "If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed." Sheen later told a radio interviewer that he "didn't care" about the comment but said it was one of the "few compliments" Lorre had ever paid him.
But following Thursday's Big Bang episode, Lorre took a different tack: "It was more fun writing these things when I was fairly certain no one was reading them. That is no longer the case ... which is why I've decided to take a break for a few weeks. Let things cool off a little. Instead of writing short essays that upset people, I've decided to use my one second of network TV to do something simple and hassle-free." A photo of his knuckle followed the text.
CBS pays Warner Bros. $4 million an episode for Men, covering all of the show's production costs as well as Sheen's $1.2 million-per-episode salary, so the shortened season of 16 episodes, down from 24 originally planned, will save the network $32 million. The show averages 14.6 million viewers, and even repeat ratings are strong: Monday's episode averaged more than 11 million and was the most-watched show that night against all-original competition.
Warner Bros. does not pay crewmembers for episodes it doesn't make, but covers some of the actors' salaries. And having fewer episodes will hurt those syndication revenues down the line.
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