For a show that likes to stir the pot with its raunchy, risqué content, “Two and a Half Men” — which concludes its 12-year run on CBS tonight — certainly had its fair share of off-screen antics. Here, we present a timeline of trouble that, despite drawing headlines, never knocked the ratings giant from the top.
Charlie Sheen Goes to Rehab (Feb. 2010)
In February 2010 the show’s playboy star checked into rehab after assaulting then-wife Brooke Mueller in December. (Sheen was charged with assault and felony menacing — later reduced to a misdemeanor — for the attack, which had no negative impact on the show’s ratings.) Sheen’s decision to seek therapy halted production of “Two and a Half Men,” but the actor returned to the show weeks later.
Charlie Sheen Goes Back to Rehab (Jan. 2011)
One day after being rushed to the hospital for abdominal pains — following a weekend-long party that allegedly included a “briefcase” of cocaine — Sheen checked back into rehab. Production on “Two and a Half” men was once again halted, leaving a third of season eight unshot.
#WINNING (2011)
Sheen never returned to filming; by March, CBS fired the actor from the show. In its letter to Sheen’s lawyer, CBS cited offensive public incidents like the Mueller assault and wild parties which embarrassed the show, as well as cocaine and alcohol abuse that rendered Sheen unable to do his job.
Foremost, though, was the series of rants Sheen embarked upon criticizing Chuck Lorre, the show’s creator. “I violently hate Chaim Levine (Chuck Lorre),” Sheen said at the time, calling the showrunner “a contaminated little maggot.”
But we will always remember those strange few weeks for porn star girlfriends, Tiger Blood and the introduction of “#WINNING” to the American lexicon.
Angus T. Jones Comes to Jesus (Nov. 2012)
The “half” man in the show’s title refers to Allan’s son Jake — or at least, it used to. Angus T. Jones happily played the dimwitted boy for the show’s first nine seasons, then in November 2012 video surfaced of him calling the show “filth” in an interview posted to YouTube.
“I’m on ‘Two and a Half Men,’ and I don’t want to be on it,” Jones said. “Please stop watching it and filling your head with filth.”
Jones had become a devout Seventh-Day Adventist and said acting in such a raunchy show made him a “paid hypocrite.” CBS reduced his Season 10 status from regular to recurring and Jones did not appear in the last two seasons at all.
Charlie’s Love-Hate Relationship (All 12 Seasons)
Charlie Sheen has had a tendency, throughout the majority of the show’s run, to vacillate wildly between spewing bitter vitriol and raining inexplicable fondness upon “Two and a Half Men.” As he was blasting the show’s creator and calling his show a “tin can,” Sheen seemed to be simultaneously begging to return to it. The actor expressed willingness to take a drug test to prove his sobriety and said he was ready to work, if only Warner Bros. would uphold its end of their contract.
Sheen repeatedly laid into his replacement, Ashton Kutcher, calling him “really lame” on Twitter and harassing the young actor fully three years after being fired from the show.
Most recently, Sheen teased the possibility of returning to “Two and a Half Men” for the big finale, even saying he actually wants to come back. “I said, ‘Let’s bury the hatchet, but let’s also put a bookend on this thing,’” Sheen said in a September interview with Ryan Seacrest. “I think I owe it to the fans. I owe it to myself. There’s an aspect of closure involved. I think it will be a nice sendoff.”
Lorre teased “a finale that you’re going to be very pleased with” at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour just a few weeks ago, but stopped short of confirming whether Sheen would be a part of it.
Sheen sent this tweet early Thursday, suggesting that he and the show team could not come to terms — even though teasers for the season finale suggest Sheen’s character, Charlie Harper (who was killed off when Sheen was fired), is still alive.
Attention World:
If you’re looking for my much anticipated cameo on
network TV,
you’ll have to check out“The Goldbergs”
Wed Feb. 25th on ABC!
I go where the love is.
c
#OfCourseI’mNot
Attention World:
If you're looking for my much anticipated cameo on
network TV,
you'll have to check out— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) February 19, 2015
Whatever happens on the “Two and a Half Men” finale, it won’t likely be the last we hear of all the drama surrounding this storied sitcom.