Michael Yarish/Warner Bros.(NEW YORK) — After 12 seasons, the CBS comedy Two and a Half Men will come to an end Thursday night.
A lot has happened to Two and a Half Men — the highest-rated sitcom on television for several years — since it premiered in 2003. Most notably, original cast member Charlie Sheen was fired in 2011 after a series of heated rants against series creator Chuck Lorre and various executives, and was later replaced by Ashton Kutcher.
The official synopsis for the one-hour series finale hints at an appearance by Sheen in his old role of Charlie Harper. It states, “Charlie Harper is alive. Or is he?”
ABC News Radio asked Lorre whether viewers should look for Sheen in the finale. His answer: “I’m very well aware of the meta-nature of this show, the scandal surrounding it. The tabloid element surrounding it has touched on the show itself, and we tried to encompass all of that around making this finale.”
CBS is only promising that “surprise guest stars” will join Kutcher and Jon Cryer in the episode. Aside from Sheen, it remains to be seen whether original cast member Angus T. Jones will return.
Lorre says it was a “difficult” experience for the cast and crew to work on the show in its final weeks. He shares, “It was a remarkably intense family experience…over 12 years. Babies are born, people got married, people got divorced, people passed away.”
The Two and a Half Men finale will air at 9 p.m. Eastern time, after the premiere of CBS’ Odd Couple remake, starring Matthew Perry as the slob Oscar Madison and Thomas Lennon as Oscar’s tidy roommate, Felix Unger.
Perry says he can identify with his character, though some fans of his hit sitcom Friends thought he was a good fit for the Felix role. He recently told reporters, “When we started the project a lot of people thought I would be a better Felix, I think because Chandler was a little bit more like Felix, but in real life I’m much more of an Oscar.”
The basic premise of The Odd Couple has been repeated before, executive producer Bob Daily noted, but he believes the time is right for a new generation to be exposed to it.
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