Report: Chuck Lorre hatches Charlie Sheen-free ‘Two and a Half Men’ reboot

One of the biggest questions of May’s upfronts season is how CBS plans on approaching the volatile future of “Two and a Half Men.” It appears that Chuck Lorre may have an answer.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “Two and a Half Men” creator has developed an idea for a rebooted version of the series that excludes original star Charlie Sheen, who was fired — you may have heard something about it — back in March.
The trade says that Jon Cryer will have a key role in the reboot and that a  new character would be introduced. Although the THR story doesn’t even mention Angus T. Jones, he’d presumably have a role in the reboot as well.
Charlie Sheen is currently in the process of suing Lorre and Warner Brothers TV for $100 million and has planted multiple stories in the media that he’s being wooed back to the series, stories that the studio and network have loudly debunked. 
Reportedly, CBS and Warner Brothers have already begun a very quiet search for an actor to fill the Sheen void, with expectations being that the show would want an A-list name, but wouldn’t plan on paying that start anywhere in the neighborhood of Sheen’s whopping $1.2 million per episode.
While it stands to reason that CBS would want to be able to announce something about the reboot in time for the network’s May 18 upfront presentation to advertisers, the trade story says that “Two and a Half Men” may not be ready to return until midseason, which doesn’t necessarily make a huge amount of logical sense, but who knows?
Really, the Hollywood Reporter story has no tangible information at all, other than the reassuring notion that Lorre has cracked the problem, even if we aren’t special enough to know what the solution is.
Stay tuned for more details… We particularly look forward to hearing how Sheen will respond on the next leg of his “Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option” pseudo-comedy tour.
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