Smallscreen News

Lorre likey: Ashton Kutcher slides into the Sheen vacuum on CBS, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre May 13, 2011, 14:35 GMT

Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore - - New York City, NY, USA © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

The hit series "Two and a Half Men" is not my kind of TV.

For me it's predictable, lame and I absolutely cannot stand any of the characters. But many millions of you love it out there, and all that tuning in has made showrunner Chuck Lorre and former star Charlie Sheen very rich men.

A show that lucrative must go on, as they say. The mantle of leading man has fallen upon Ashton Kutcher, the Punk'd impresario, to carry the torch of Lorre's laffs to the masses.

Ashton Kutcher has officially signed on to "Two and a Half Men" for about half of Charlie Sheen's salary.

CBS president Les Moonves has greenlit Season 9 according to the Hollywood Reporter.  The main cast, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, will be joined by Kutcher.

And even TMZ is neck deep in this smallscreen switch, as they report that Lorre liked Kutcher. It was the animosity that Charlie spewed publicly against Lorre that drove the stake into the heart of the two men's relationship, resulting in Sheen's firing.

Sheen's character will have to be dispatched somehow, as Kutcher is playing a wholly new character on the series.

Best talkback on how Lorre can "kill" Charlie off in the series wins an M&C mystery prize.