sheen show cancelled

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Charlie Sheen is out, but money keeps pouring in

Charlie Sheen's producers finally got tired of his scandalous behavior. This mugshot was taken in Aspen, Colo. on Dec. 25, 2009, when he was arrested for assaulting his former wife.

By Aaron Smith, staff writerFebruary 25, 2011: 4:06 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The good news for the producers "Two and a Half Men" is that Charlie Sheen's meltdown happened during the show's eighth season, and not the first.

With 177 episodes in the can, the hit show can live on for years in reruns, throwing off cash in syndication revenue for production company Warner Brothers -- and plenty of spending money for the troubled actor.

0Email Print "'Two and a Half Men' will bring in more than $600 million in syndication for Warner Brothers Television" in the years to come, said Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media.

Industry insiders estimate that the show has already grossed $400 million in reruns, putting total syndication fees at a cool $1 billion.

"They have so many seasons of those episodes; it's one of the most successful shows in syndication," said David Joyce, media analyst for Miller Tabak. He estimates that the show will bring in $250 million annually in upcoming syndication revenue. "They'll be generating plenty of cash flow in years to come."

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The future of "Two of a Half Men," the most popular and highly-rated comedy on television, is uncertain. Sheen's recent radio rant targeted the show's creator and bordered on anti-Semitism, prompting the network CBS (CBS, Fortune 500) and Warner Brothers to cancel production of the current season's four remaining episodes.

"Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Brother Television have decided to discontinue production of 'Two and Half Men' for the remainder of the season," the network and the studio said in a joint statement.

This is after Warner Brothers -- a unit of Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), which is also the parent of CNNMoney -- went on a production hiatus in January while Sheen was in drug rehab following an emergency room visit.

"Two and a Half Men" will be a money making property for years to come, but plenty of people are getting hurt by its cancellation.

Sheen, whose representatives did not return a call for comment, will have to kiss his fat $1.2 million per episode paycheck goodbye.

And Warner Brothers spokesman said that at least 250 members of the cast and crew will be out of work since the season's last four episodes were cancelled. It has yet to be decided whether there will be a ninth season, according to Time Warner.

0:00 /01:23Keep an eye on CBS

The blow is also painful for CBS, which pulled in about $160 million in annual advertising revenue from the show, according to Adgate. He said the average price for a 30-second ad was $200,000.

But CBS will still continue to generate ad revenues through reruns. And analysts insist that the show, like other long-running successful comedies, still has legs.

"Comedy repeats well," said Adgate. "People are still watching 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends.'"

CNN reporters Alan Duke and Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.

[DELdaBull]

Sheen killed the golden goose.

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abc,nbc or fox will pick u show

[smazza]

he has stones

Sheen demands 50 percent raise for ‘Two and a Half Men’

Star says he should get $3M per episode: ‘Look what they put me through’

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Closed captioning of: Sheen: ‘Tired of pretending I’m not special’Advertise | AdChoices>> charlie sheen , the star of "two and a half men" who sat down with jeff rossen to talk about his life and the cancellation of his sit-com for the season. jeff, good morning.

>> reporter: hi. good morning. i spoke with charlie sheen inside his beverly hills home yesterday. i met his twin boys and his new girlfriends -- two women he calls the godesses. they live with him by the way. we talked about his drug abuse , a raise. never showed up drunk or high?

>> never once.

>> maybe having not slept but never loaded, drunk, nothing on set. no. when i step between the lines it's on and i show others how it's done. it's really not rocket science .

>> reporter: you're angry.

>> i'm not angry. i'm passionate. everyone thinks i should be begging for my job back. i'm going to forewarn them that it's everybody else that will be begging me for their job back. i'm a man of my word. i will finish the show and even do season 10 . at this point because of emotional distress it's $3 million an episode, take it or leave it.

>> you want a raise?

>> well, yeah. look what they put me through.

>> you make $2 million an episode now.

>> roughly.

>> you want $3 million?

>> i'm underpaid now.

>> you're underpaid?

>> look at the money they're making. i'm tired of pretending i'm not special, a rock star from mars. people can't figure me out, process me. i don't expect them to. you can't process me with a normal brain.

>> reporter: charlie said his celebrity friends are offering support, even stopping by the house. friends like colin farrell and sean penn . that, meredith, is the tip of the iceberg . charlie and i talked for a while. there is much more coming up.

>> all right, jeff. thank you very much. we'll be talking to charlie about what he says to people who fear he could o.d. and is he setting a good example for his kids. surprising answers to those questions and more.

Show transcript

By Seamus McGraw

TODAYshow.com contributor TODAYshow.com contributor

updated 2/28/2011 10:20:06 AM ET 2011-02-28T15:20:06

Share Print Font: +-In an interview with NBC’s Jeff Rossen that aired on TODAY Monday morning, Charlie Sheen, the combative star of long-running hit “Two and a Half Men,†demanded a raise from approximately $2 million to $3 million per episode to come back to the set of the show. CBS and Warner Bros. Television have currently halted production for the show’s ninth season in the wake of Sheen’s very public rants against “Men†creator Chuck Lorre and Alcoholics Anonymous.

“I’m not angry, I’m passionate,†Sheen told Rossen. “It’s everybody thinks I should be begging for my job back, and I’m just going to forewarn them that it’s everybody else that’s going to be begging me for their job back.â€

Though he claimed he has been swamped with offers for movies, Sheen said: “I am a man of my word, so I will finish the TV show. I’ll even do season 10, but at this point, [because of] psychological distress, oh, my God, it’s 3 mil an episode.â€

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..Reportedly the highest-paid actor on television, Sheen has been hospitalized three times in three months. Production of “Two and a Half Men†was put on hold last month after Sheen’s most recent hospital stay. Taping was to resume Tuesday, but that plan was put on hold last Thursday after Sheen inveighed against Lorre, CBS and A.A. on a call-in radio program.

Video: Sheen: ‘Tired of pretending I’m not special’ (on this page)

In the interview with Rossen, which was taped Sunday in Sheen’s Beverly Hills home, the actor accused Lorre of “trying to destroy my family.†He also again took aim at Alcoholics Anonymous, calling it a failed system developed by a “broken-down fool that was a plagiarist.†He claimed he has conquered his own drug and alcohol problems by the sheer force of his will: “I closed my eyes and made it so.â€

After checking himself out of rehab, Sheen set up his own home rehab facility called “Sober Valley Lodge,†from which the principles of A.A. had been banned. “I will not believe that if I do something then I have to follow a certain path, because it was written nice,†he said. “It was written for normal people, people that aren’t special. People that don’t have tiger blood, you know, Adonis DNA.â€

Related in The Clicker: Sheen talking tour continues live from TMZ

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.He dismissed the idea that he has anything in common with addicts and alcoholics, who he says lack his strength of character, describing them as “fools, trolls. Weak. Defeated. They allowed defeat to be an option. I will not.

More from TODAYshow.com  Sheen demands 50 percent raise for ‘Two and a Half Men’

In an interview airing Monday on TODAY, the actor demanded $3 million per episode instead of his current $2 million, saying he was “underpaid†and claiming “psychological distress.†He also said he was “tired of pretending I’m not special.â€

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..“I’m tired of pretending like I’m not special,†Sheen continued. “I’m tired of pretending like I’m not ********, a total fricking rock star from Mars, and people can’t figure me out; they can’t process me. I don’t expect them to. You can’t process me with a normal brain.â€

Sheen insisted that the drug- and alcohol-fueled behavior he described as “epic†never interfered with his work on “Men,†and that despite all the headlines, all his bosses saw when he showed up on the set was “a guy hitting every mark, nailing every line, every joke, with a full house screaming.†He claimed he never missed a day’s shooting: “Not a day that cost anybody any money,†he said. “I missed practice. We’re talking about practice ... practice is for amateurs, you know?â€

The actor also insisted that he has no fears about his children someday reading the lurid headlines about him. “Talk about an education,†Sheen said. “That’s the guy, and he’s our dad, and we can get all the answers and the truth? Wow, winning. That’s how you perceive it.â€

Video: Sheen to CBS: Apologize while ‘licking my feet’ (on this page)

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..War with a warlock

Regarding his demand for a 50 percent pay hike, Sheen declared, “Take or leave it.†He added caustically: “Look what they put me through ... I’m underpaid right now, sure ... When you look at the money they’re making, it’s ridiculous.â€

Sheen accused his producers, Lorre in particular, of trying to destroy him and his family by “trying to take all my money, and leave me with no means to support my family. It’s not rocket science, you know?â€

Related: Sheen claims network bigwigs tried to destroy his family

He was now “at war†he said. “They picked a fight with a warlock,†he said — a war he plans to win “with zeal and focus, violent hatred ... You either love or you hate. You live in the middle, you get nothing.â€

According to the New York Post Monday, that war may also include a $320 million lawsuit that Sheen plans to file against CBS, Warner Bros. and Lorre for “mental anguish.†It has also included several calls to radio programs to vent, one of which included remarks about Lorre that have been described as anti-Semitic, a charge Sheen adamantly denied.

The actor defended his sometimes bellicose verbal attacks. “I think my passion is misinterpreted as anger sometimes. And I don’t think people are ready for the message that I’m delivering, and delivering with a sense of violent love,†Sheen said.

Rather than apologizing, Sheen said it was he who was owed an apology, by CBS: “A big one. While licking my feet.â€