Chuck Lorre Honors Charlie Sheen at TCA 2015, Says Finale will Honor "Both Versions"

[JamesG]

There aren't many details about Chuck Lorre's plans for the comedy's swan song except that he has promised "a mystery sandwich."

No word on whether that includes a return appearance by Charlie Sheen, whose character was killed off-screen when the actor left the show.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/CBS-Colb...s-1092013.aspx

[JamesG]

Chuck Lorre Honors Charlie Sheen, Says "Men" Finale Will Pay Tribute to Both Eras of the Show
by James Hibberd
Jan 15, 2015


Charlie Sheen returning for the "Two and a Half Men" series finale sounded more likely during a press conference with critics at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour Thursday.

Warner Bros. assembled an extraordinary panel that included the casts and producers of "Two and a Half Men", "The Big Bang Theory", "Mike & Molly" and "Mom" — along with their prolific mastermind co-creator, Chuck Lorre.





One burning question in the room was whether Lorre would have the former "Men" star back for the one-hour finale after their public falling out and Sheen’s firing from the show four years ago.

At first, Lorre simply answered the Sheen question by saying, “I think we’re going to have a finale you’re going to be very pleased with and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”





But later, Lorre reconsidered and interrupted his own answer to another question to circle back and add a bit more:

“It would be inappropriate to not acknowledge the extraordinary success we had with Charlie and how grateful I am, we all are, to his contributions. And there’s nothing but great feelings for the eight-and-a-half years we worked together.

But how to wrap the show up? It’s tricky. It’s a sticky wicket. Because in a way, the show morphed into something else entirely for the last four years—and it’s something we love—and we want to honor both. How to honor both is the challenge of this finale. And the other challenge is how to get people to watch it without telling them what it is.”





Lorre was asked if time has healed some of the “wounds” from Charlie Sheen's past antics since being fired from the show.

“There’s no wounds. What happened happened. And I’m grateful for the time we enjoyed working together and I’m very grateful Ashton came along and kept the lights on. What do I got to complain about? I’m so blessed.”





CBS has said the Feb. 19 finale will be a “mystery sandwich” and to expect plenty of guest stars. After the panel, Lorre revealed the show’s final scene will be shot on a closed set with no studio audience and a small crew.

“I’m very proud of what we did here with Charlie, I’m very proud of those shows,” Lorre says. “I watch some of those shows and I’m so proud — because you forget, it was a long time ago … and to end the show appropriately you literally have to end two incarnations of Two and a Half Men and bring together a lot of threads. I didn’t want to end it without acknowledging the past. I think we did that in a way that will be funny. It always goes back to that — that people will laugh and go, ‘****, did they really do that?'”

http://insidetv.ew.com/2015/01/15/ch...en-men-finale/

[comedyfreak]

I'll be tuning into the finale.