Charlie Sheen’s sitcom return finally has a network home.
FX announced on Thursday (October 27) that it has acquired Sheen’s “Anger Management,” a comedy based on the 2003 Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson hit.
The cable network has formally ordered 10 episodes of “Anger Management,” which is set up through Lionsgate and Debmar-Mercury. The FX deal for “Anger Management” will be structured similarly to the Debmar-Mercury pacts for “Are We There Yet?” and a slew of Tyler Perry TV comedies in that success will trigger a pickup for 90 additional episodes.
FX, already home to Sheen’s “Two and a Half Men” repeats, will have exclusive air rights for “Anger Management” until the off-network episodes start airing in broadcast syndication in fall 2014.
“I have been fortunate to work with Charlie Sheen on six hit films,” states producer Joe Roth. “Now to have Charlie, the number one comedy star on TV, doing Anger Management, feels like a perfect fit. And I could not be happier than being back at Fox with John Landgraf and Chuck Saftler.”
Sheen will have what is described as “a significant ownership stake” in the series, which will feature Bruce Helford (“George Lopez”) as executive producer and showrunner.
“We think that Bruce Helford, Joe Roth and Charlie Sheen have come up with a wonderful, hilarious vehicle for Charlie’s acting talents-and a character we are very much looking forward to seeing him play,” blurbs John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks. “‘Two and a Half Men’ has been an outstanding component of FX’s schedule for the past 14 months, and we have every confidence that ‘Anger Management’ will soon be as well.”
FX plans to begin production on “Anger Management,” featuring Sheen as an anger management therapist who needs more help than his patients, in early 2012.
“The FX brand epitomizes creative excellence and risk-taking combined with entrepreneurial business acumen,” states Lionsgate Television Group President Kevin Beggs. “Partnering with them on ‘Anger Management’ is a no-brainer and we are thrilled to bring Charlie Sheen, Bruce Helford and this amazing creative team to the FX family of original series.”