The last episode of "Two and a Half Men" that Charlie Sheen filmed before being bounced from the show may have inadvertently provided a way to write out his character.

What turned out to be the last episode of Season 8 -- and Sheen's last episode period -- had his character, Charlie Harper, and Rose (Melanie Lynskey) packing for a trip to Paris. According to TMZ, we may learn in Season 9 that Charlie has taking a liking to France. Had the season continued, the trip would have been just another story point, but now it could be the way to explain Sheen's departure.

What probably won't happen, however, is Charlie and Rose dying in a plane crash: TMZ notes that "Men" creator Chuck Lorre doesn't want to kill a couple hundred other fake people just so Charlie is out of the show for good. Lorre is said to be leaning toward a scenario where Charlie just decides to stay overseas -- which could even make sense for the character, since his caddish ways wouldn't ruffle feathers across the pond the way they do here.

There's still no word on how Ashton Kutcher will be introduced to the series, or what his character's relationship to Alan (Jon Cryer) and Jake (Angus T. Jones) will be.

And in case anyone still wonders if Sheen is truly gone, TMZ also reports that Warner Bros. has taken down a huge "Two and a Half Men" poster featuring Sheen's image from the wall of one of its stages. It's been replaced by one that just bears the show's title, with a new cast photo presumably taking its place later this summer.

What do you think of the idea of Charlie Harper disappearing overseas?

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/06/two-and-a-half-men-au-revoir-charlie-harper.html

...he's not going to "kill off" Charlie Harper because there's always the possibility that, at the very end of the series, in the last episode (or so)....Charlie just might turn up again. This is something that Charlie Sheen and Lorre will have to work out, should that happens.

In contrast, when William Frawley's health began to falter in the middle of the fifth season of "MY THREE SONS" in early 1965, producer Don Fedderson decided to 'write' "Bub O'Casey" out of the show by having him take a trip to Ireland, with the assurance that Frawley would eventually return after he fully recovered. He didn't- and William Demarest remained as "Bub's" brother, "Uncle Charley", for the rest of the series. Bill Frawley never returned {and was privately bitter about Demarest replacing him}, his health deteriorating to the point that he finally died in March 1966.
But at least, crochety as he was, Frawley never went out on tour, or publicly derided his producer for replacing him.


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