Following the shocking cancellation of ABC’sRoseanneover a controversially racist tweet from the show’s star Roseanne Barr, actor Charlie Sheen took to Twitter to pitch the revival ofTwo and a Half Men.
Charlie Sheen opened his Tweet with a joyous farewell toRoseanne, saying “good riddance” to the show, followed by “Hashtag NOT Winning.” Sheen then said thatRoseanne’s cancellation had cleared the runway for aTwo and a Half Menrevival. His tweet ended with the hashtag #CharlieHarperReturns. It was accompanied by a picture of the script for the episode “I Can’t Afford Hyenas” from his show’s first season.
In 2011, Charlie Sheen made headlines when he was sacked from the hit series following a number of drug problems and an even greater number of inappropriate public actions. The demise of his career is notably similar to Roseanne Barr, who also lost the hit series she starred in due toher inappropriate behavior on social media.
Two and a Half Menwent on without Charlie Sheen until 2015, with Ashton Kutcher stepping in to replace Sheen. While Kutcher did not play Sheen’s character Charlie Harper, he still filled every hole that Sheen’s departure had left. This managed to make Sheen’s end in the series feel less forced, with the network cleverly choosing to create a new character with new characteristics and opportunities rather than doing a simple recasting.
Two and a Half Menended on a good note. Unlike many TV series, the showrunners knew that the series would be coming to an end, and wrapped up everything nicely in a finale episode that most fans seemed to enjoy. While a revival would be nice to see, it would be unlikely as it might ruin the perfect ending that already occurred only 3 years back.
However, even ifTwo and a Half Mendid somehow get a revival, it would be difficult to bring back the character Charlie Harper, and not just because of how difficult Charlie Sheen was to work with during his later seasons. The finale episode ofTwo and a Half Menactually featured his character dying by being crushed by a piano. While this was clearly a joke moment, it would still be difficult for the writers to explain how Charlie could somehow come back to life in a later season.
Charlie’s tweet was met with a relatively positive response, with thousands of retweets. He was even retweeted by Roseanne Barr herself, who the tweet blatantly spoke against. If the tweet builds up enough steam, showing that people really do want to see Charlie Sheen return to TV, it’s possible that it could attract attention from a few major networks.
As great as it could be to seeCharlie Harpergo back to his old nonsensical ways in a revivedTwo and a Half MenasCharlie Sheenhas pitched, it isn’t very likely.Roseannewas certainly evidence of this, as the show’s ratings and views dropped severely only a few weeks into its revival. The downfall ofRoseannemay be enough to keep any major network from reviving a previously popular series with an unreliable star. Perhaps this situation is just a sign that new shows are the real future of television, and that revivals are not.
