Kutcher starts on ‘Two and a Half Men’

The actor replaces Charlie Sheen in the US sitcom.

LOS ANGELES:

As production for the upcoming season of the hit US television series “Two and a Half Men” began, the cast and crew of the sitcom welcomed Ashton Kutcher – who replaced Charlie Sheen – with open arms. “Two and a Half Men” has been a hit since it was launched in 2003 and has been nominated for numerous awards, including nods for Sheen at the Emmys and Golden Globes.

The first taping with Kutcher in the lead role has been completed and an on-set source told People magazine that it went really well. “Although, it was a little bit rocky during rehearsal, to film without Charlie, they welcomed Ashton,” said the source.

Kutcher, the No Strings Attached star, joined the cast after Sheen, who earned $2 million per episode for his role as the erratic, hedonistic bachelor, was fired from the show in March for slamming producers in outbursts that Warner Brothers described as part of his “self-inflicted disintegration”. After being fired, Sheen went on tour with a live comedy show, entitled the “My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option” in which he talked about being let go from the show. He is suing Warner Brothers studios for $100 million for alleged breach of contract after the show was cancelled.

Meanwhile, the US celebrity media also revealed how Sheen’s character dies in the show. Sheen’s character, jingle writer Charlie Harper, “slips” in the Paris subway, is hit by a train and dies in a “meat explosion”, according to entertainment website TMZ.com.

Kutcher, 33, agreed to join the cast in May and enters the show ensemble as a broken-hearted billionaire. “I was a little nervous when preparing to tape the first episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’,” he announced on his Twitter account just before filming for the new season began.

Kutcher rose to fame as the handsome, dim-witted Michael Kelso in the TV comedy “That 70s Show”. He also produced the practical joke show “Punk’d” and has starred in a handful of hit films. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2011.