The fate of one of the most popular sitcoms on television is hanging in the balance. I don’t need to tell you, my fair reader, about the shenanigans and antics that have led up to this uncertain fate for the famed show. If you haven’t heard about Charlie Sheen’s recent behavior yet, you must be living off the grid. But more interesting than questioning Sheen’s mental health, is considering the future of Two and a Half Men.
On Monday of this week, Warner Brothers released a simple, concise statement that effectively announced the termination of the volatile sitcom star. Certainly Sheen’s actions in recent weeks have proven him an extreme liability, if not entirely incapable of continuing production on a 10th season. But the show itself is a cash cow for the network, and while stopping production on season nine may save them money in the short term, ending the show permanently would mean a loss of millions.
In order to speculate about the future of the show, we should look to the history of television to provide clues. It isn’t uncommon for an actor to find his or herself written out of their own series. Personal or creative differences on set usually contribute but sometimes actors themselves look to leave once a contract expires. Take Steve Carrell, for example. This will be the final season that Michael Scott graces the Dunder Mifflin office as a regular, but NBC has made the bold decision to power through and continue without their leading man next fall.
We can hope that Carrell’s exit from The Office will be executed with grace and poise, but there are some terrific examples of what not to do from the TV vault that we can explore next:
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Will Smith’s Aunt Vivian was famously (and haphazardly) replaced at the end of season three. Janet Hubert-Witten was supposedly written out of the final episodes of the third season after gaining a good deal of weight post-pregnancy, cutting her 25-episode promise down to a paltry 13. Hubert-Witten sued NBC for breach of contract, and by season four there was a new Aunt Vivian on set played by Daphne Maxwell Reid. The replacement did not go unnoticed by fans, but regardless the series continued with moderate success.
Bewitched
Dick York played Samantha’s husband from 1964 until 1969, when an old back injury from a decade earlier prevented him from working further and put York in a hospital to recover. He resigned from the show with good reason, but the executives at ABC were not quite ready to let go of one of their biggest hits. Dick Sargent was called in for the final three seasons. The show never properly addressed the switch, and attempted to “distract” the audience with the addition of a new baby.
Valerie
The messiest of all cast replacements came when Valerie Harper, a famous sitcom veteran of the 70s and 80s, was written out of her own self-titled show, her character dying in a terrible car accident. Rumors and speculations say it was over a dispute with the producers about the future of the series. Harper eventually sued the producers and the production company, winning millions in compensation and profit shares.
These botched examples are just a few of the worst case scenarios when removing or replacing a character on a show, especially against the actor’s wishes. So now, assuming CBS will be looking to keep their golden show on the air, there is a question to address – will Sheen be replaced or simply removed?
The show could potentially survive without him, but in my opinion it would be best to address the character leaving rather than trying to brush it under the rug like the above examples. When John Ritter suddenly passed away, his character suffered a similar fate in the show 8 Simple Rules, and the writers gracefully paid their respects and were able to continue the series without seeming taboo or leaving glaring continuity errors in their wake.
Perhaps a cleverly written exit for Sheen’s character can mask his disappearance. Maybe a solid replacement will surface in the coming months. There’s no telling how the series will fare without it’s leading man, but I’m fairly certain that with or without the now infamously unstable Sheen, the show will go on.
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