Charlie Sheen to Rehab.. (2 1/2 Men) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

Can they spin it off as "1 and 1/2 Men" next season?

Does anyone really give a crap about Jon Cryer? People watch the show for Sheen.


Sheen is very valuable to CBS, but after Sheen ripped Chuck Lorre apart in public, CBS just made the calculation that Lorre is more valuable to them. Sheen gives them one hit that's past its prime. Lorre cranks out a new hit for CBS seemingly every season.


Also, Sheen just committed the worst sin you can commit in Hollywood, antisemitism. A career can recover from just about anything else, but no studio wants to hire an anti-Semite and none of the creatives on either side of the camera want to work with anti-Semite. And unlike Mel Gibson, he doesn't have the luxury of having his own behind-the-camera talent nor his own production shingle.

 

[mattCR]

The nail in the coffin is that apparently Sheen sent this letter and sent it to several to get it published, and called for Chuck Lorre to be removed from the set and that he would not work with him.


Here you go...

The letter reads:

What does this say about Haim Levine [Chuck Lorre] after he tried to use his words to judge and attempt to degrade me. I gracefully ignored this folly for 177 shows ... I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth. I wish him nothing but pain in his silly travels especially if they wind up in my octagon. Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words -- imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists. I urge all my beautiful and loyal fans who embraced this show for almost a decade to walk with me side-by-side as we march up the steps of justice to right this unconscionable wrong.
Remember these are my people ... not yours...we will continue on together...
Charlie Sheen

http://www.tmz.com/2011/02/24/charlie-sheen-open-letter-two-and-a-half-men-chuck-lorre-tirade-turd-production-season-shut-down-crew-cbs-warner-bros/


And CBS decided in a contest between Lorre and Sheen, it's an open and shut case.

 

[TravisR]

I'm sure if Charlie Sheen says he's sorry, goes to rehab (it doesn't have to work) and shuts up, CBS and the majority of the viewing public will forgive him. The only thing people like more than seeing a celebrity destroy themselves is seeing that celebrity make a comeback after they've been humiliated in public.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

They'll find him dead in a hotel room one of these days. No one will be surprised.


He's clearly an asshole and doesn't want the help he so desperately needs so good riddance to him. I'm sure the hookers will miss him when he's gone.


Its a shame. He was great in Platoon. Its too bad he pissed all of that talent away.

 

[Brent M]

Originally Posted by ChadMcCallum



Its a shame. He was great in Platoon. Its too bad he pissed all of that talent away.

Yup. Platoon, Wall Street, Major League, etc. I really liked him early on in his career, but now he's a punchline plain and simple.

 

[Will_B]

How long after he stops taking drugs will it be before he stops blathering?


He was great in The Chase, and that one about the garbage men. But those were a long time ago.

 

[DaveF]

I can take it off the TiVo now. This has killed my waning interest in the show.  Lorre can focus his creative energies on Big Bang Theory!

 

[Hanson]

Not saying Charlie Sheen is an angel, but it seems Chuck Lorre has a habit of clashing with diva stars. This EW interview from 2007 is interesting in light of the Men blow up:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1567715,00.html

 

[DaveF]

Yes, but one is a publicly known, drug-addled, whore-monger who allegedly wants to hire prostitutes as baby-sitters.


The other consistently puts out the funniest shows on TV.


It doesn't matter who's really nastier inside the studio, Charlie Sheen lost the publicity wars.

 

[Walter C]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo

Funny that Grace Under Fire got mentioned in that article, because I was just thinking of that show after hearing the news with 2 1/2 Men, and how the latter show may be heading down the similar path.

 

[mattCR]

Grace Under Fire is a good example; Brett Butler has openly talked since the EW article about her problems with drugs, addiction to painkillers, and apologized to all involved. What pushed her over the edge was the same thing: she started randomly showing up; showing up a few times where she was unable to perform, and then went on an antisemitic rant against the Disney corporation.


Chuck Lorre is well known to be a curmudgen and kind of a jerk, he's a perfectionist who doesn't like people. That having been said, he was brought in to Roseanne to try and "Fix" a troubled show, and his successes there led to him picking up "Grace Under Fire" which did well until he split after a season and a half to run "Cybil" which wasn't his pitch, it was one he was brought into. Cybil was already cast, it wasn't his idea for her in a sitcom, and he ran with the paycheck.. and turned in some decent seasons. She opposed his hire from the get go, and he didn't care for her that much. Still, they were both professionals, showed up, worked, and made money. "Dharma and Greg" which was his baby didn't have a lot of on set craziness and everyone by all accounts got along. And for the first five years of "2 1/2 Men" there weren't big issues either. There are none at "BBT" or "Mike and Molly" and Lorre has 2 other shows in the pilot phase.


For all I know, Lorre could be a gigantic asshole. But studios will generally put up with giant assholes who (1) make money (2) show up to work everyday (3) don't cause them bad PR. Lorre has almost never publically taken on a star, he's never campaigned for press for himself, and he hasn't ridden shows into the ground. His trackrecord is pretty impressive (Cybil, Dharma & Greg, 2 1/2, BBT, Mike & Molly will be retained) and he's likely to get at least one to a pickup to add another next year. If you're an asshole but productive, you generally aren't at any risk of losing your job.

Sheen's problem is like Brett Butler, he started randomly showing up on set, stopped showing up, then taking public swipes at his cast mates and staff. He's the highest paid actor in a sitcom by a large margin (he makes double per episode what anyone on Big Bang Theory makes) and so you hit a point where the network has to look at this and say: uh, we have to get out of this.


I think if Sheen just went on a drunk binge and whatever, he could redeem it. But between the spousal abuse, attacks on the network, and attacks on a showrunner CBS wants to keep locked down, this may be it for 2 1/2 men.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Not my idea, but it'd be hilariously ironic if they brought in Michael J. Fox to replace Sheen (provided that MJF could actually handle a full-time shooting schedule given his Parkinson's condition).

 

[DaveF]

Even without Sheen's problems, 2.5 Men had lost its creativity. The jokes were becoming increasingly vulgar echoes of its original humor. It lost the great spark of its best female characters (Candy & Rose, particularly). Alan's now a horndog parody of everything he notionally hated in Charlie, and Jake is simply in that teenage realm that no one likes.


Maybe its ratings were solid, but 2.5 Men was in need of major rework or a satisfying series finale.


Maybe freed up from 2.5 Men, Lorre have some spare time to improve Mike and Molly. It's not getting any better, and looks to be heading towards "Yes, Dear" sitcom-quality cruise control.

 

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun /forum/thread/308375/charlie-sheen-to-rehab-2-1-2-men/30#post_3784946

 

[mattCR]

Just do a single episode as a series finale with Michael J Fox filling in. That's all we need. Would be the greatest gag finish to a series since Newhart.

 

[Brent M]

Originally Posted by DaveF


The other consistently puts out the funniest shows on TV.

I've made my dislike for Sheen quite clear in this thread, but unless Lorre has been involved in Parks and Recreation, Community or Modern Family recently I'd definitely take issue with that statement. In fact, when I look at the list of shows that guy has either created or worked on I realize he's never done a thing I would watch. He seems like the Brett Ratner of television to me.

 

[KevinGress]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

Also, Sheen just committed the worst sin you can commit in Hollywood, antisemitism. A career can recover from just about anything else, but no studio wants to hire an anti-Semite and none of the creatives on either side of the camera want to work with anti-Semite. And unlike Mel Gibson, he doesn't have the luxury of having his own behind-the-camera talent nor his own production shingle.

I'm serious when I ask - what did he say that was antisemitic? 'Chaim'? I listened to the interview up to the point where they brought in 'Nails', but not closely, so I was wondering if I missed something.

It sounded like a locker room or basement type of conversation where you've got two guys who think basically the same way and they start talking 'big' and it feeds on itself. Its inside banter ('Vatican assassin warlock') is cartoonish; I keep trying to remember where I've heard similar type of language and all I can come up with right now is the Jungle/Jim Rome.


All this is is a bit of gasoline on the fire. I can see where this could spin further out of control, but could just as easily be put out with a quick meeting with CBS saying it was all just locker room talk, didn't mean anything, won't happen again, let's make money, blah blah, etc.....

 

[Patrick Sun]

If they wanted to continue on with the show:


Not only recast the role of Charlie, but also get rid of Angus Jones and cast a younger kid as new Jake, and have Alan wake up from a dream, and address new Charlie as being his real brother all along, and then have Alan explain how he had this weird dream where not only did young Jake grow up to be a high school teenager, but that Charlie was played by that womanizing, boozing, coke-addicted, Hanes underwear-pushing actor, Charlie Sheen, what a hoot that dream was, and have Alan and new Charlie laugh about the absurdity of it all.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Brent M


I've made my dislike for Sheen quite clear in this thread, but unless Lorre has been involved in Parks and Recreation, Community or Modern Family recently I'd definitely take issue with that statement. In fact, when I look at the list of shows that guy has either created or worked on I realize he's never done a thing I would watch. He seems like the Brett Ratner of television to me.

To each their own.


If it makes you feel better, I can rephrase it as


One guy's been a publicly and privately offensive and seems bent on destroying his show.

The other guy is quietly making two of the most popular comedy shows.

Sheen has lost the image war.

 

[KevinGress]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

If they wanted to continue on with the show:


Not only recast the role of Charlie, but also get rid of Angus Jones and cast a younger kid as new Jake, and have Alan wake up from a dream, and address new Charlie as being his real brother all along, and then have Alan explain how he had this weird dream where not only did young Jake grow up to be a high school teenager, but that Charlie was played by that womanizing, boozing, coke-addicted, Hanes underwear-pushing actor, Charlie Sheen, what a hoot that dream was, and have Alan and new Charlie laugh about the absurdity of it all.

That or now that Angus is essentially grown up, have Charlie die, leave the house to Jake and have a new kid come in - either a love child of Charlie's or Alan's. Wouldn't necessarily have the same dynamic, but could show Jake's exploits with women, Alan's continuing efforts to score, etc.