'Men' season in limbo with Sheen in rehab
As Charlie Sheen enters rehab for a myriad problems, CBS has some major decisions to make about TV's most troubled, ridiculed and (not incidentally) viewed sitcom, "Two and a Half Men."
A repeat aired Monday night while an original episode airs next Monday, titled "Three Hookers and a Philly cheesesteak." (Seriously.) After that, CBS and producer Warner Bros. have just one more original in the can, and then nothing. Eight episodes remain to be produced to cover the balance of the season.
The network last week placed "Men" on "production hiatus," meaning that the show shuts down production entirely rather than pause, while its troubled lead cleans up his act. CBS did not place "Men" on "hiatus" in early 2010 when Sheen last crashed, but instead waited three weeks for his return.
Indeed, there were indications Monday Sheen and CBS had once again applied a Band-Aid: TMZ reported that he will undergo rehab at home.
"Men" could go back into production without Sheen. But that would be a very bad idea. "You don't want to write around him because he's such a big part of the show, and if I were them, I wouldn't want to signal that you were bringing somebody else in either," says Bob Gumer, until recently senior vice president with Hollywood talent agency APA. "He's so much a part of the humor - two guys going at it - that if you've got one and a half men, you're inviting too much ridicule. Then you've got an 'SNL' sketch."
CBS and Warner Bros. certainly could endure the loss of the show this season, although the pain would be acute. So here's a reasonable assumption: Sheen will be back in a few weeks, and the show will go on.
The long-term future, of course, is far less certain.
