By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – 27 mins ago
NEW YORK – As Charlie Sheen continued to rant on, his bosses at "Two and a Half Men" seemed prepared Friday to move on.
The network's decision to stop production of television's most popular sitcom this season — and maybe for good — has multimillion-dollar implications for CBS and producer Warner Bros. Television, but it's hardly fatal.
The remaining four episodes were scrapped Thursday after Sheen called the show's executive producer Chuck Lorre a "contaminated little maggot." Sheen's remarks were made on a radio program and in a letter posted on the TMZ website. He kept it up Friday, calling Lorre a clown and loser in text messages to ABC's "Good Morning America" and vowing to show up for work next week.
However, there won't be any work for him to do, as Sheen's erratic personal life may finally have killed a job that reportedly pays him $1.8 million an episode. He's been hospitalized three times in three months, with the production put on hold in January after his most recent hospital stay following a night of frenzied partying. Taping was to resume next week, a plan that blew up Thursday.
"There comes a time when you say, `Enough,'" Jeffrey Stepakoff, a veteran television writer and author of "Billion Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That Saved Dawson's Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing," said Friday.
The last original episode of "Two and a Half Men" aired Feb. 14.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110225/ap_ ... Z2aWV3ZXI-
Charlie Sheen Rants Against Alcoholics Anonymous "Cult"By Victoria K. Walden, Yahoo! Contributor Network - February 25, 2011 7:47 PM PST
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Charlie Sheen lets loose in radio rant. Wikimedia CommonsYahoo! Contributor Network Charlie Sheen is no stranger to the headlines, but this time, the reasons for it may be more bizarre than ever. The troubled actor called in to right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones's radio show on Feb. 24, launching into a disturbing rant that ranged from topics as disparate as alcoholism, "loving with violence," and the Pope.
Throughout the conversation, Sheen appears agitated, paranoid, and disordered. Although Charlie Sheen has a number of targets for his anger, he reserves the lion's share of his vitriol for the controversial group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), referring to it as a "cult." Could Sheen's involvement with AA have hastened his apparent mental decline?
Charlie Sheen Attacks Alcoholic Anonymous in Radio Rant
In his radio rant, Sheen says that he "was shackled and oppressed by the cult of AA for 22 years." He rejects the AA recovery model, claiming, "I cured myself... It's the work of sissies. The only thing I'm addicted to is winning. This bootleg cult, arrogantly referred to as Alcoholics Anonymous, reports a 5 percent success rate."
Sheen continues, "Another one of their mottoes is 'Don't be special, be one of us.' Newsflash: I am special, and I will never be one of you! I have a disease? Bulls**t!*"
This is by no means the first time that AA, which describes itself as "the Fellowship," has been the target of criticism. In fact a 1998 book "Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure?" addresses precisely this topic. AA's alleged focus on total submission and on isolation from non-AA members, as well as its insistence that it is the only way to effectively treat alcoholism, is part of the basis for many of the charges.
Charlie Sheen Seems to Display Disturbed Thought Patterns
During the rant, Sheen claims not to be under the influence of any intoxicants. If that is true, then it is all the more alarming that he seems to display extremely disturbed thought patterns. He appears to exhibit delusions of grandeur. At one point in the radio interview, Charlie complains about having to try to fit in with the mere mortals around him: "I'm so tired of pretending like [...] I'm not just perfect and bi**hing and just delivering the goods at every frickin' turn."
Sheen also makes the strange claim that he "and all the other gnarly gnarlingtons in my life, we are high priests, Vatican assassin warlocks."
During a section of the rant in which Sheen describes his decision to "love with violence" and to "hate with violence," he recites a mantra that sounds as though it could have been lifted directly from a cult playbook: "The reason you must hate violently, you have to hate everybody who's not in your family, because they're there to destroy your family, and they will come at you in all forms and shapes."
One other disturbing aspect of the rant is Sheen's tendency to spit out the word, "Winning!" at random, inappropriate intervals throughout the conversation.
The Real Causes of Charlie Sheen's Meltdown
Of course, these behaviors and thought patterns could have nothing to do with outside influence and everything to do with his own demons. What is clear is that the decline of his psychological wellbeing seems to have accelerated in recent months.
While Charlie Sheen has taken part in plenty of self-destructive behavior in his personal life, he has managed to continue his current employment on the show "Two and a Half Men" for almost ten years, and only now with this current meltdown is that in jeopardy.
The real sources of Sheen's meltdown are still a mystery. For now, perhaps the best we can do is to echo Twitter user TuttleDesign's sentiment: "Will Charlie Sheen's family, friends and fans step up and save his life? Before the comedic sitcom becomes a tragic documentary."
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/charlie-sheen ... cult/57248
this is so sad wastin his talents... like tat
