Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorre reunite after ‘Two and a Half Men’ feud for ‘How to Be a Bookie’
One of the most infamous feuds in television history appears to be over. According to Deadline, Charlie Sheen and “Two and a Half Men” co-creator Chuck Lorre will reunite for the upcoming Max show “How to Be a Bookie.” The comedy puts Sheen and Lorre back together for the first time since Sheen was fired from the blockbuster CBS comedy in 2011 for “dangerously self-destructive conduct” and inflammatory comments about Lorre, among other reasons.
Co-written by Lorre and Nick Bakay, “How to Be a Bookie” stars Sebastian Maniscalco as a “veteran bookie who struggles to survive the impending legalization of sports gambling, increasingly unstable clients, family, co-workers, and a lifestyle that bounces him around every corner of Los Angeles, high and low,” Variety reported. Sheen would have a recurring role in the series.
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Sheen helped “Two and a Half Men” become one of the most successful comedies ever and was a four-time Emmy Award nominee for his effort. But the good times ended abruptly in 2011 amid Sheen’s health struggles and substance abuse issues. Initially, CBS shut down production on “Two and a Half Men” for the season, citing Sheen as the reason. “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,” the network said in February 2011. But after Sheen gave numerous erratic interviews where he blasted Lorre and expressed little remorse, he was eventually fired altogether in March 2011. The show continued with Ashton Kutcher taking Sheen’s role and concluded in 2015. In the final episode, Lorre directly addressed Sheen’s absence via one of his patented vanity cards at the conclusion of the show.
“I know a lot of you might be disappointed that you didn’t get to see Charlie Sheen in tonight’s finale. For the record, he was offered a role. Our idea was to have him walk up to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse. He would then explain that these dangers only apply to average people. That he was far from average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible. And then we would drop a piano on him,” Lorre wrote. “We thought it was funny. He didn’t. Instead, he wanted us to write a heart-warming scene that would set up his return to primetime TV in a new sitcom called The Harpers starring him and Jon Cryer. We thought that was funny too.”
As recently as 2017, two years after the finale, Sheen was still attacking Lorre in the media. But he has softened his stance since then. “There was 55 different ways for me to handle that situation, and I chose number 56,” Sheen told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2021. “And so, you know, I think the growth for me post-meltdown or melt forward or melt somewhere — however you want to label it — it has to start with absolute ownership of my role in all of it. And it was desperately juvenile.”
He added at the time, “I think it was drugs or the residual effects of drugs … and it was also an ocean of stress and a volcano of disdain. It was all self-generated, you know. All I had to do was take a step back and say, ‘OK, let’s make a list. Let’s list, like, everything that’s cool in my life that’s going on right now. Let’s make a list of what’s not cool.’ You know what I’m saying? And the cool list was really full. The not cool list was, like, two things that could’ve been easily dismissed.”
According to Deadline, “Sheen had taken responsibility for his actions and had expressed regret over his ‘Two and a Half Men’ exit and an intent to make amends with the top comedy showrunner. That has now happened, resulting in the duo’s collaboration on ‘How To Be a Bookie.’”
“Two and a Half Men” was nominated for 47 Emmy Awards during its run, winning seven.
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