From biblical symbolism to public meltdowns to misleading negotiations,
a lot has gone into the history of Two and a Half Men.
And you'll never believe one risqué favor Jon Cryer actually asked of his costar.
It isn't unusual for pilots to feature
different actors from the final cast announced for a series. Quite often, these standalone
episodes act as a proof of concept, and no one can predict if a network will pick the series up.
In fact, many pilots go completely unaired. In the case of Two and a Half
Men, the original pilot. "Most Chicks Won't Eat Veal," featured
Blythe Danner in the role of Evelyn Harper — the matriarch of the family.
Despite the pilot's success, the Emmy Award-winning actress didn't
stick around when the sitcom was picked up by CBS. According to showrunner Chuck Lorre,
the role just wasn't perfect for the actress, so she was replaced by Holland Taylor.
"You stay out of this. I'm here to help your brother through a very difficult time.
How could you do this to me?"
However, some rumors suggest that Danner was actually dismissed after she insisted
on making changes to some scenes that didn't sit well with the producers of the show.
Replacing a star like Charlie
Sheen isn't easy. Yet, the show was determined to soldier on without him and sign up another actor
to star alongside John Cryer in Two and a Half Men. Before Ashton Kutcher hopped on board, there
were several other actors being considered for the sitcom. One of the biggest names mentioned was
Hugh Grant, who was reportedly offered a sizable paycheck for the role, according to Deadline.
In an interview with Howard Stern, Grant revealed that he was contacted about a part
on the show but turned it down. He explained that, at the time he was offered the part,
the showrunners had not written a script with the new character and
asked Grant to take a leap of faith to accommodate their production schedule.
Despite being a fan of the show, Grant's caution prevailed and he declined the part.
"They make brilliant TV shows, really, but I said 'I'm, I'm too scared to sign up without a script."
He joked to Stern that he does regret not getting
the paycheck when he realized how much TV stars earned in the U.S.
Charlie Sheen's departure from
Two and a Half Men was quite the event, making headlines around the world and
inspiring a generation of quality memes and hashtags. In the years afterward,
though, many fans held onto a glimmer of hope that he'd patch up his differences
with Chuck Lorre and have one last rodeo on the show. As it turns out, he nearly did.
For the series finale, the producers reached out to him about a potential appearance.
The plan was always to drop a piano on Charlie Harper's head. However,
Sheen wasn't interested in this particular ending, pitching his own suggestion:
A scene that sets up a spinoff sitcom called The Harpers, which would've starred him and Jon Cryer.
After the debacle that happened between Sheen and everyone else involved on Two
and a Half Men, let's just say that no one jumped at his idea.
So the episode went ahead with Lorre's original ending and without a cameo from Sheen.
While Two and a Half Men focused
on the shenanigans caused by Charlie and Alan Harper, the heart of the show was Jake, who was
played by Angus T. Jones. From his pitch-perfect comedic timing to his undisputed chemistry with
his illustrious co-stars, the 9-year-old Jones took all the acclamation right from the get-go.
"You get no allowance. That's your punishment for gambling."
"Told you he'd do that."
"Yeah you did."
Fans might expect that the casting for the part of Jake was a long,
arduous process, but it wasn't. In fact, Chuck Lorre told FoundationINTERVIEWS that
Jones was the first and only child actor to audition for the role.
The showrunner added that he had seen Jones' performance as Hunter Morris
in 2002's The Rookie and invited him to read for the role of Jake.
After seeing how much fun Jones was having in the audition process and how
nonchalant he was about the whole thing, the decision to cast him was an easy one.
It's no secret that the line where Charlie
Sheen ended and Charlie Harper began was a blurred one. At times, many fans didn't know if Sheen was
simply playing a character or himself. However, there was a particular moment off screen when
the actor acted exactly like his TV personality by lending a hand to John Cryer in his time of need…
In his autobiography So That Happened, Cryer admitted that he was in a difficult
place after his divorce. He decided to hire a sex worker, and Sheen provided
his costar with expert advice on the industry. Cryer went on to explain,
"Charlie suggested a few online purveyors he occasionally used,
as this was when prostitution was gaining a foothold on the Internet.
He and I had different tastes, so I didn't go with his exact recommendations."
In another case of life imitating art, Cryer revealed that he once brought a girlfriend
to the set, only to be told by Sheen that he'd dated her in the past, and that they'd
broken up because she wouldn't allow him to bring another partner into the relationship.
When Ashton Kutcher joined Two and
a Half Men, it surprised many people, including the actor himself. Kutcher was a big movie star
who was proving himself a bankable name in the industry, so returning to the sitcom world where
he got his start seemed like a backward move. In an interview with Howard Stern,
Kutcher disclosed exactly what swayed his decision to take the role of Walden Schmidt.
His previous agent worked for William Morris Endeavour,
a company that was heavily involved with Two and a Half Men.
At the time Kutcher was considering signing on, the show was on track for syndication.
If it was renewed for two more seasons, everyone involved could expect a very nice payday.
Kutcher revealed that, when he found out Charlie Sheen was making $1.8 million
an episode, he told his agent he'd take the job if he could get a similar deal.
Reportedly, Kutcher didn't get the same offer as Sheen, but the rate he was offered was
clearly lucrative enough to attach him to the sitcom for a full four seasons.
"I made a billion dollars doing this."
Billionaire entrepreneur Walden Schmidt made his debut in Season 9 of Two and a Half Men,
where he buys Charlie Harper's beach house and becomes Alan's new best friend and eventual
husband. According to Ashton Kutcher, though, the character of Walden evolved quite a bit.
In an interview on WTF with Marc Maron, Kutcher explained that when he met with Chuck Lorre to
discuss the part of Walden, Lorre pitched a character very different from the Walden that
wound up making it on screen. The actor never revealed the changes made to the character
between the pitch and the first script, but he did bring up this observation to Lorre.
The showrunner told him Walden's character arc was going to take some time to unfold,
so Kutcher put faith in Lorre's vision and went along for the ride.
Seeing how hit sitcoms such
as Will & Grace and Mad About You have received revivals in recent years, many fans are wondering
if there's a chance that Two and a Half Men could get the same treatment — especially with
the original trio reprising their iconic roles. While Charlie Sheen has pushed for it with The
Harpers concept, Jon Cryer isn't exactly rushing back to the Malibu beach house any time soon.
When asked about his current relationship with Sheen on Access, Cryer stated,
"It's kind of a roller coaster when you have Charlie in your life,
and I just haven't decided to get back on that roller coaster."
Maybe he needs a few extra zeros on a new contract to help twist his arm.
There were several supporting characters
on Two and a Half Men, but none of them had the charisma or hilarity of Berta the housekeeper.
Whether she was pointing out the obvious or sticking around to laugh at the Harper fallouts,
the outspoken Berta never missed a beat. However, the character could've been very
different if it wasn't for the late Conchata Ferrell's desire to do things her own way.
In an interview with The A.V. Club, Ferrell explained that the showrunners had asked her
to adopt an Eastern European accent when playing the character. When she went in for the audition,
she told the room that, despite the fact that she can do a pretty solid Russian accent,
she thought that adopting a, quote, "Trailer Park" dialect was a better fit for the character.
"Next thing I know, I'm belly up on the floor hackin out a
lung while the cops are dragging out Bonny and Clyde in handcuffs."
Ferrell's performance impressed Chuck Lorre and everyone else,
who decided to go along with her suggestion. In fact, they loved it so much that they extended
her presence on the show far beyond the initially planned two-episode arc.
While the spotlight was
firmly on Charlie Sheen during his ongoing feud with Chuck Lorre, hardly anyone ever considered
what the showrunner went through as their conflict unfolded. Entertainment Weekly reports that Lorre
was deeply hurt by the ordeal — so much so that he contemplated leaving Two and a Half Men in 2011.
Lorre recounted a conversation he had with other showrunners to TV Guide,
"I offered to quit the show last winter. I said,
'Listen, if for some reason I'm now the Antichrist, I'm happy to leave.
It's not in my interest to stop the show, and I certainly don't want to
put all these people out of work. Keep going. Get another guy. Don't stop on my account.'"
However, CBS had Lorre's back, and he described the network's
decision to fire Sheen as a choice based on ethics rather than money.
Personal and professional disagreements are common
in any industry, including television. Sometimes, one party just might not be feeling a script or
the direction in which the series is going. They can even part ways because of creative differences
but still remain friends. Unfortunately, Charlie Sheen didn't get that memo. Not only did he burn
his bridges with Chuck Lorre, but he also painted the town red with metaphorical tiger blood.
While it appeared that Sheen would never squash his feud with Lorre,
time does heal all wounds. In an interview with The Guardian, Sheen was asked about his regrets.
The first thing he said was that he should have handled leaving Two and a Half Men
more thoughtfully. He also admitted to People that there were numerous approaches he could
have taken to handle the conflict, and that he's unhappy with the one he chose.
Is it possible that by Sheen admitting his wrong,
he and Lorre could work together again in the future? Anything is possible in Hollywood!
Charlie Sheen's departure from Two and a
Half Men could have played out like a scene from the show. Bad vibes and verbal jabs were thrown
around in the press like a game of hot potato. One of the people who caught some collateral damage
in the process was Ashton Kutcher. For all intents and purposes, he'd done nothing wrong by accepting
the role of Walden Schmidt in the sitcom. However, that didn't stop Sheen from taking to Twitter and
insulting Kutcher on several occasions. Kutcher didn't take the attacks lying down, though,
and fired back when required. After a while, Sheen's comments stopped bothering him completely.
"Charlie Sheen has become, like, a parent on
Charlie Brown to me. It's more like 'Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah.'"
Years later, Sheen apologized and admitted that he shouldn't have behaved the way he
did towards Kutcher. Sheen told the Kyle & Jackie O radio show,
"I was stupidly mean to him because I overlooked the reality and difficulty of taking over a show."
He also expressed empathy for Kutcher, explaining that he had done the same thing by taking over for
Michael J. Fox on Spin City. Luckily, Sheen and Kutcher appear to have put their beef behind them.
When Kutcher ran into Sheen at a baseball game, the pair even shook hands.
Out of all the characters in Two and a Half Men, the most memeable was Alan Harper. From
him constantly "forgetting" his wallet to refusing to move out of his brother's Malibu beach house,
Alan was the ultimate sponge. However, Chuck Lorre's initial vision for the
character of Alan was very different from the one that appeared on screen. In fact,
he and the show's co-creator Lee Aronsohn planned something of biblical proportions.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Lorre said,
"Alan was always designed, from the get-go to be kind of the biblical
Job. The good man who is trying his best and can't catch a break.
And the character has morphed over the years and become much broader."
The showrunner admitted that while that was the plan, the character deviated from it as
the series found its feet. Charlie, on the other hand, was supposed to be symbolic of Dionysus,
the god of wine and fertility. That one seems to have stuck throughout.
Charlie Harper had many lovers on Two
and a Half Men, but there were a select few who almost tamed the wild man. One of these
individuals was Jennifer Taylor's character, Chelsea. The actress had appeared on the show
in smaller parts before being cast as Chelsea in Season 6. What many fans don't realize is how
the sitcom gave Taylor the exact professional and financial boost she needed at the time.
While chatting with entertainment journalist Jeremy Roberts, Taylor opened up about how she had
just given birth to her daughter and was preparing to sell her house to make ends meet when she got
the part. She considered the timing a good omen and began filming for the recurring role in 2008.