In this undated publicity image released by CBS, from left, Charlie Sheen, Angus T. Jones and Conchata Ferrell are shown during the taping of ''Two...
(AP Photo/CBS, Greg Gayne)
In this undated publicity image released by CBS, from left, Charlie Sheen, Angus T. Jones and Conchata Ferrell are shown during the taping of ''Two and a Half Men,'' in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES — "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen has skirted disaster as a wayward, middle-aged party boy who regularly tested the patience of the TV network and studio trying to protect their valuable sitcom property.
It was a violence-tinged and anti-Semitic radio rant that helped push him over the edge and, finally, forced CBS and Warner Bros. Television to take action.
In a one-sentence joint statement Thursday, the companies said they were ending production on television's No. 1 sitcom for the season, a decision based on the "totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition."
Whether he's gone far enough to sink the series and, possibly, his career as one of TV's highest-paid actors remained unclear. Sheen's rambling interview Thursday with host Alex Jones was reminiscent of Mel Gibson's tirade during a 2006 traffic stop _ but Sheen knew his remarks were public.
The production halt leaves CBS eight episodes shy of the 24 half-hours it had expected to air as the cornerstone of its Monday night comedy lineup. And it makes the network and Warner, which reaps hundreds of millions from the show in syndication, the potential go-betweens between Sheen and "Two and a Half Men" executive producer Chuck Lorre.
Lorre bore the brunt of Sheen's attacks during the radio interview and in a subsequent "open letter" sent to TMZ after the CBS-Warner decision and posted on the entertainment website.
In the letter, the actor called Lorre a "contaminated little maggot" and wished the producer "nothing but pain."
"Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words _ imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists," the 45-year-old Sheen wrote.
Improbably, he also called on his admirers to start a protest movement for him.
"I urge all my beautiful and loyal fans who embraced this show for almost a decade to walk with me side-by-side as we march up the steps of justice to right this unconscionable wrong," Sheen wrote.