Charlie Sheen: I Have 'Adonis DNA'

Will-he-or-won't-he drama results in huge salary

(NEWSER) - Two and a Half Men fans, you can stop holding your breath. Charlie Sheen will be back for at least two seasons, after finalizing a deal with CBS that makes him one of the highest-paid actors in TV history. Variety reports that his new salary is in the neighborhood of $1.8 million to $1.9 million per episode—but his reps insist his talk of leaving the show was genuine, and certainly not a ploy to score more money. More»

Critics not gushing, but they're mostly pleased with premiere

(NEWSER) - Charlie Sheen’s character “exploded like a balloon full of meat,” another character explained last night as Two and a Half Men premiered and finally killed him off. Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher also debuted as Walden Schmidt. What the critics are saying:

• Turns out Schmidt is “sweet, unsarcastic but—here we stay true to the show's gawping bawdiness—possessed of an astounding anatomical endowment that he soon puts to use,” writes Tom Gliatto in People . “The instant verdict: Kutcher was not at all bad. He was quite likable."
• “Fear not,” fans, declares Fox News . “Even without Charlie Sheen, your favorite show isn’t changing much." Like Sheen’s character, Schmidt is a womanizer—albeit an accidental one—and “the show’s producers barely changed gears. … With Kutcher loosely playing himself as a savant ladies’ man, it’s likely that Charlie Harper—or Sheen—won’t be missed."

His firing from Two and a Half Men costing producers a bundle

(NEWSER) - Who's crazy now? Charlie Sheen is hammering out a settlement with Warner Bros. for his firing from Two and a Half Men amounting to $25 million, TMZ and the Los Angeles Times are reporting. The whacked-out actor filed a $100 million lawsuit for wrongful termination against Warner Bros. when he was axed from the program after his public battles with substance abuse and tirades against the studio and the program's producer. More»

But he's still making $500K less than Sheen was

(NEWSER) - Despite the fact that none of Ashton Kutcher's Two and a Half Men episodes have actually aired yet, he's already the highest-paid sitcom actor on TV, earning a whopping $700,000 per episode. That's massive considering lead primetime performers typically earn $125,000 an episode, reports TV Guide , but it's still a far cry from predecessor Charlie Sheen's $1.2 million per episode. More»

And more things to expect from the two-part season premiere...

(NEWSER) - There were already rumors that Charlie Sheen's Two and a Half Men character would be killed off , and now Deadline confirms it. Production begins on the ninth season next week, and the website reports that the two-part season premiere will feature the funeral for Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, which will be attended by nearly all of Harper's ex-girlfriends. Harper's Malibu beach house, where the three main characters have lived, will be put up for sale—and that's where new star Ashton Kutcher comes in. More»