CBS : Life After Charlie "OMG"

By Stephen Battaglio:

For CBS , Two and a Half Men without Charlie sheen is better than no Men at all.

That's  why the network  is strongly leaning toward continuin g the show next season without  its troubled , and now terminated star . As viewers have so many choices today, big broad hit shows like Men are hard to come by -- and tough to walk away from .

No one expects rating to be as high without Sheen. But if the show can deliver near 80 percent of this season's rating  (it has averaged 14.6 million viewers), it would still be one of TV's most watched comedies . Plus, whoever replaces Sheen is not likely to take in near the $1.2 million he received per episode .That means CBS is likely to pay a lower license fee to the show's studio , Warner Bros. , which will be happy to have another season of episodes for the syndication market (TV outlets that have bought Men reruns are obligated to take a nineth season , if there is one). The decision on how to proceed will ultimately be up to Men creator and producer Chuck Lorre , network sources say.

Of course, the network and the studio are entering uncharted territory . Other sitcoms have done well after a departure of a major star , but there is no comparison to the kind of scorched-earth exit made by Sheen . 'Cheers' thrived after Shelley Long departed in 1987 , but as one network veteran pits it , "by its fifth season , it was an ensemble with only one irreplaceable star , Ted Danson . The show was about the bar , not Diane ." When Valerie Harper was dismissed from Valerie in 1987 , leading NBC to ren ame the show 'The Hogan Family,' it had an emerging young star in Jason Bateman. Charlie Sheen replaced Michael J. Fox on ABC's 'Spin City' after Parkinson's disease forced Fox to quit in 2000 . "Fox had endorsed people to keep watching ," the network vet notes . "Fox didn't go on a rant about the producer being a moron."

If Two and a Half Men returns , it will stay in it's time slot , Mondays at 9pm . But should the powers that be decide to end the show  , the network would likely slide Lorre's freshman sitcom 'Mike & Molly;' which has been nurtured this season by a healthy Men lead-in, into the slot . CBS won't want to disrupt its schedule anymore than it has to , so don't expect  'The Big Bang' to return to Monday's , especially since its strong appeal to younger viewers is more valuable on Thursday night, when movie studios pay top dollar for ads.

Speculation on who could join the Men cast (so rampant that Sheen himself has opined on the rumored names that include John Stamos  and old pal Rob Lowe - who is not a contender  as he's contractually committed to NBC's Parks and Recreation) indicates that a revamped show will generate a huge amount of curiosity . Sampling will be high , and the thinking at CBS is that viewers who tune in to see the change-over  are laughing during the first episode , there's a good chance they'll be back for more . Says one insider , "If the show brings the funny , then we will be fine." 

Thanks Stephen...let me hear from you soon...JC

In the running ..who would you vote for ?

John Stamos....45 % .........Matt Dillon....25 %

Christian Slayer....22 %....Jason Alexander....8 %