Thursday, March 10th 2011, 9:45 AM
Rob Lowe will not be replacing Charlie Sheen on "Two and a Half Men" because he is all tied up with "Parks and Recreation," the show's executive producer has revealed.
At the "Parks" panel at the PaleyFest Wednesday night, Michael Schur said it would be "hard" for Lowe to leave the NBC comedy because he has signed a "multiyear contract" to stay with it.
"There's no truth [to the rumors]," he said at the TV festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "The Internet lit a match and set itself on fire."
The 46-year-old actor, who joined "Parks" cast as a series regular last summer, was not present at the New York event because he was looking at colleges with his kids, according to Schur.
Sheen endorsed Lowe in a radio interview with KEARTH 101 on Wednesday after having shot down Stamos as his successor.
"He's a buddy of mine, he's a beautiful man, a brilliant actor, and I hope he does it and kicks its ass because I still get [paid]," Sheen said.
Last month Stamos shot down rumors that he would be joining the show on his Twitter account.
"contrary to the rumors, i am not replacing charlie sheen on two and half men," he tweeted on Feb. 25. "however, martin sheen has asked me to be his son."
Warner Bros. Television claims Sheen nullified his $2-million-per-episode "Men" contract by violating his morals clause with admitted drug use.
"No decision has been made about the future of the show," a Warner spokesman told the Daily News.
Whether or not the CBS show returns with a new star, Sheen has a so-called "Michael J. Fox" clause in his original "Men" deal that states he keeps being paid if the series continues.
The clause is named for the actor who kept earning his salary when Sheen replaced him-- following Fox's Parkinson's diagnosis -- on the sitcom "Spin City" in 2001.
Don't write off Two and a Half Men just yet.
For what was left unsaid in the studio's announcement that Charlie Sheen has been fired from his starring role in the top-rated sitcom could be as telling as what was said.
Warner Bros.'s official statement released Monday was terse; 20 words, tops.
"After careful consideration," the statement read, "Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on Two and a Half Men effective immediately."
No room for negotiation there.
Note, however, that there's no mention of Two and a Half Men itself being cancelled.
Here are the facts: Two and a Half Men has just wrapped the second season of a threeyear pickup deal with its parent network in the U.S. It has been on the air for eight seasons, and was -until The Big Bang Theory came along, from the same producer, ironically enough -television's top-rated, most-watched sitcom. It's the anchor of CBS's top-rated Monday-night lineup and needs to survive just one more year to meet that three-year contractual agreement.
Whether it returns as One and a Half Men, or Two Men if you prefer -the "fat kid," as some online bloggers are uncharitably calling Angus T. Jones (who plays Charlie's nephew Jake) saying the character can no longer really be called a "half man" -TV's most-watched sitcom may have life left in it yet, if only for one season.
There is precedent. The family sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter lasted one more season following the untimely death of series star John Ritter. Sheen himself, ironically enough, subbed for an ailing Michael J. Fox for the final two seasons of Spin City, in 1999.
The other oft-cited scenario -replacing Sheen with another actor in the same role, just as Bewitched replaced five-year veteran Dick York with Dick Sargent for three seasons in 1969 -is a longer shot. Television has changed, and audiences are more sophisticated. Sheen, for better or worse, was the face of Two and a Half Men as sitcom character Charlie Harper; no one will accept another actor in the exact same role.
Don't scoff at a "Charliefree" Two and a Half Men, though. As much as Two and a Half Men was about Charlie Harper, like all long-running sitcoms, it surrounded him with other stock sitcom characters who, over the years, grew in fondness. Jon Cryer, as straight-man Alan Harper, has been a frequent Emmy contender; his goofy charm and off-screen antics -subbing as Ellen's piano player on The Ellen DeGeneres Show during the recent chaos -rub fans the right way.
Like many sitcoms, Two and a Half Men has also developed a supporting cast of colourful sidekicks and hangers-on, from Conchata Ferrell's acidtongued housekeeper Berta to Holland Taylor as Charlie and Alan's dragon-lady mother, Marin Hinkle as Judith Melnick, Alan's coldly self-absorbed ex-wife and Seattleborn, Richmond, B.C.-raised Ryan Stiles as Judith's wacky
second husband, pediatrician and train enthusiast Dr. Herbert "Herb" Melnick.
The studio, Warner Bros., and the network, CBS, have real financial incentive to keep Two and a Half Men going -even as One and a Half Men -until May of next year, in part because the unfilmed episodes have already been sold into syndication.
As implausible as some of them sound, several names are already being bandied about as potential players of new characters, including: Rob Lowe. He has personal baggage of his own -Two and a Half Men producercreator Chuck Lorre, famous for his out-there, often outre show-ending "vanity cards," is not above a wry nod-anda-wink to his audience -but Lowe has also shown a gift for comedy, as he's proving in Parks and Recreation. Then again, Parks and Recreation is one of TV's hippest, hottest cult comedies of the moment; he would be unlikely to want to cross over.
John Stamos. The star of Broadway and film cut his comedy teeth, as it were, on the sitcom Full House (1987 -1995). He's a familiar TV face, and not just because of his recurring role in Glee as music fan Dr. Carl Howell: He also did a stretch on ER as playboy surgeon Dr. Paul Gates for three seasons. Stamos is considered the front-runner, if there is to be another, final season of Two and a Half Men, in part because Stamos and CBS Inc. chair and CEO Les Moonves were spotted chatting -informally, insiders say -at a post-Oscar party in February.
Then there are the more colourful, albeit unlikely candidates:
Dave Chappelle. Not much has been seen of Chappelle since he walked away from Chappelle's Show in 2004. His wild-man act and splitsecond talent for comic timing would keep Two and a Half Men's other players on their toes. Chappelle can go mainstream: People forget that he did a stretch as Jay Leno's Tonight Show sidekick at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Then again, Chappelle practically wrote the book on being unpredictable.
Ted McGinley. The former Jefferson D'Arcy on Married. with Children and a former regular on Happy Days and The Love Boat has been dubbed "the patron saint of shark-jumping" by Jump-TheShark.com founder Jon Hein. If Two and a Half Men has truly jumped the shark, signing McGinley would be the ultimate nod-and-wink to a jaded TV audience.
Henry Winkler. Bring- ing back the Fonz -and the spiritual father of the whole "jump the shark" movement -isn't as nutty a move as it sounds. Winkler has proven comedy chops, and he knows the potential water cooler value of jumping onto TV's most-watched sitcom. The commitment -one season -isn't that onerous, either. Then again, Winkler has an active directing-producing career on the go. He may not want to commit to acting in a sitcom again, even if it's just for one season.
Gary Busey. Donald Trump took a flyer on him in The Celebrity Apprentice. A Busey-Sheen weird-off on Two and a Half Men would at least be in keeping with the sitcom's overall tone.
Winning in the kitchen: Charlie Sheen cooks up another media storm as he launches his own cookery show
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:44 PM on 10th March 2011
He's currently unemployed after being fired from Two And A Half Men on Monday, but it looks like Charlie Sheen may have found a new vocation.
Taking his media blitz one step further, the father-of-five has hosted a spoof cookery show for the FunnyOrDie.com website.
Playing up to his new 'winning' catchphrase, the troubled actor wears a tiger-patterned chef's hat as he presents 'Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes'.
New vocation: Charlie Sheen enjoys a cigarette break as he films a cookery spoof show at his Beverly Hills home yesterday
Despite his erratic behaviour in recent weeks, the 45-year-old was praised for being 'very professional' during the filming at his Beverly Hills home.
Mike Farah, President of Production for FunnyOrDie.com, said the company had approached the actor on Sunday with ideas for a collaboration and he had been very forthcoming.
Farah told TMZ.com that Sheen was full of ideas and even suggested the tiger-patterned hat - playing up to his recent claim to drinking 'tiger blood'.
As Sheen was filming at home, a porn star was outside with a 'special delivery' from adult entertainment company Brazzers.
Actress Britney Amber turned up with a large box addressed to Sheen while wearing a T-shirt reading 'Charlie's Goddess'.
Looking good: Sheen shows off his 'winning recipes' apron and tiger-patterned chef's hat
She was declined entry to the property, but she did manage to successfully deliver whatever was in the box.
After Sheen claimed he had tiger blood running through his veins, he's also been spotted drinking a bottle of red liquid with the words 'tiger blood' written across it.
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