CBS reportedly wants Sheen back
LOS ANGELES – Charlie Sheen may be out of a job, for now. But according to reports swirling Monday the actor may be back on television sooner rather than later.
NBC News quoted sources close to Sheen as saying that CBS had offered the actor back his job on the hit comedy “Two and A Half Men”, but no deal had been struck and discussions were ongoing.
Elsewhere, The Hollywood Reporter said Sheen met with senior executives at rival network Fox last week for talks. The actor sent a cryptic Tweet over the weekend reading “perhaps a new lair…? A Fox and a Warlock? epic” accompanied by a picture of a Fox television logo.
Sheen was fired from “Two and A Half Men,” the most-watched TV comedy in the United States, on March 7 after a stream of public insults towards its producer, Chuck Lorre.
Earlier, the actor had been the subject of numerous media reports about his wild partying, and he spent time in drug and alcohol rehab, leading Warner Bros. Television, which makes “Two and A Half Men,” to call Sheen’s conduct “dangerously self-destructive.”
Celebrity website Radaronline.com on Monday also reported unnamed sources as saying that CBS chief executive Les Moonves wanted to get Sheen and “Two and A Half Men” back on the air, and had spoken with the producer and co-creator Lorre — the target of much of Sheen’s ire.
Sheen’s spokesman said he had no comment on the various reports. CBS and Warner Bros. Television declined to comment.
It was unclear whether Sheen would want to go back to his role as a womanizing bachelor on “Two and A Half Men” despite filing a $100 million lawsuit claiming he was unfairly dismissed.
The show is a cash cow for CBS and Warner Bros. Last week, Forbes.com estimated that it made an estimated $2.89 million in advertising revenue per half-hour show.
Sheen’s public profile has soared since his March 7 firing. He has accumulated more than three million followers on Twitter, invented popular catch-phrases such as “winning” and “tiger blood”, and organized a series of one-man stage shows that swiftly sold out in several U.S. cities.
CBS and Warner Bros Television have about six weeks to decide whether to bring back “Two and A Half Men” for a ninth season, with or without Sheen.
The TV network presents its annual fall TV schedule to advertisers in New York on May 18 at the so-called “upfronts”, where broadcasters hope to sell the majority of the upcoming TV season’s commercial slots.
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