The CBS hit comedy, Two and a Half Men, which has been on hiatus due to Charlie Sheen’s latest stint in rehab, officially shut down production today for the rest of the season after the gossip web site, TMZ, reported that Sheen went on ”The Alex Jones Show” today and bad mouthed Two and a Half Men creator, Chuck Lorre. CBS and Warner Bros. released the following statement: “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.”TMZ was one of the first to break the story that Sheen went on the radio show ranting about everything from being 100% clean, to calling Chuck Lorre “a turd.” TMZ then spoke to Sheen, who stated that he wanted to fight Lorre in an octagon ring and said that, “If he wins, then he can leave MY show!” Sheen went on to say, “I violently hate Chaim Levine (Chuck Lorre). He’s a stupid, stupid little man and a p**sy punk that I’d never want to be like.” Charlie then added, “That’s me being polite.” Sheen also said that he is ready to go back to work, and that “All these guys told me to ‘clean it up.’ Well this is me cleaning it the f**k up.”
For the past month, while Sheen was allegedly in rehab for his drug and alcohol addiction, production of the hit show was temporarily shut down, causing financial hardship for all those behind the scenes. Two and a Half Men is one of CBS’s highest rated shows, bringing in over $150 million a year for the network. While on a forced hiatus, the production crew was not being paid. Sheen reportedly offered to pay part of the crew’s salary, but neither the network, nor Warner Bros. television (who owns the show) would comment on the production crews’ salary. Sheen, who currently makes nearly $2 million dollars per episode, had some choice words for Lorre, stating, “that piece of s**t [Lorre] took money out of my pocket, my family’s pocket, and, most importantly, my second family — my crew’s pocket.”
As if Sheen’s earlier tirade weren’t bad enough, this evening, TMZ released an open letter written and sent to TMZ by Charlie Sheen, addressing the production shut down of Two and a Half Men. In his letter, Sheen says, “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.” Sheen then goes on to rally his fans, “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.” The entire letter is posted on TMZ, and truly is astonishing, to say the least! Check it out! We are still in shock.
Sheen is by no means the first problematic, difficult star that Lorre has worked with in his career; e.g. Roseanne (on the classic comedy, Roseanne) and Cybil Shepard (on her CBS show, Cybil). But surely, the issues Lorre faced with other actors do not even compare to the seemingly never ending drama currently surrounding Sheen’s personal life and the fate of Two and a Half Men. How Lorre, CBS and Warner Bros. will deal with this latest round in Charlie’s one-sided boxing match is anyone’s guess.
We at Fox All Access are huge fans of the show. It’s sad to think that one of the best comedies on television might be over for good. But in our opinion, it’s looking like that show has seen its last season. We sincerely hope that Charlie Sheen gets his act together, and that once he does, he remembers those that lost their jobs on the show because of his actions.
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