EPISODE V

Over the last few weeks Charlie Sheen has become a more popular topic than Kim Kardashian’s rear end. This upsets Kim. The talk started when Charlie started talking trash about the producers of his hit show, Two and a Half Men. Fast Forward to a week later and Warner Bros. fired him from the show. Charlie has now turned around and sued Warner Bros. and producer Chuck Lorre for $100 million. That’s a lot of money, even if you are “banging seven gram rocks.”

Why fire Charlie now? Clearly he was doing the work required while still on drugs and it’s not like he flipped the “crazy switch” on overnight. The producers knew of his history before they hired him. Now that he claims he’s cleaned himself up they decided to end his employment. But what was Warner Bros. thinking back in December 2009 when Charlie supposedly held a knife to his wife’s throat on Christmas Day? Did Warner Bros. think that behavior was ok and Charlie should return to work? What about in October 2010? Charlie allegedly tore up his suite at the Plaza Hotel while doing drugs and locking a porn star in a closet. Where was Warner Bros. after that behavior? They welcomed him back to work. But if he starts mouthing off on the creator of the show they fire him?

Something doesn’t make sense here. Haven’t we seen crazy actor behavior before? Isn’t it almost rewarded to be “out there” in Hollywood? Didn’t we forgive Russell Crowe for throwing a phone at a hotel employee in June 2005? Russell is such a gifted actor and a unique talent that we can’t understand what he’s going through so let him misbehave and reward him by letting him star in another blockbuster movie.

This is where the major difference between Crowe and Sheen comes into play. Crowe is a major talent. Forget labeling him a movie star, Crowe is a gifted actor who constantly turns in great performances. Sheen was a sitcom actor, although a decent one and a high paid one he was essentially doing what many other people could also do. The proof of this was when the media started throwing around replacement names for Charlie. We heard of John Stamos and Rob Lowe stepping into Charlie’s ugly shirts next season, although neither has confirmed they were approached about the job. I could see Stamos on Two and a Half Men, but I couldn’t see anybody else playing Maximus in Gladiator.

There have been other cases of extreme behavior and whether or not they warrant a second chance. Robert Downey Jr. had a pretty bad drug habit and at one point passed out in a neighbor’s bed while under the influence. But Hollywood recognized the immense talent and waited patiently for Downey to clean up his act. He started getting supporting roles in Gothika and Zodiac before headlining Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. And now it seems it’s safe to say Downey is back and the second chance has paid off.

Fatty Arbuckle was a huge silent actor and in 1918 signed a contract to make $1 million a year. In 1921 Arbuckle was accused of raping and accidentally killing Virginia Rappe at one of his parties. After three trials he was acquitted but the damage to his career had been done and he died in 1933 at age 46. No second chance for supposed rapists and murderers even if you are acquitted of the crimes.

Then of course there’s Mel Gibson. After anti-Semitic remarks and allegedly beating his girlfriend, Mel continues to work (he recently wrapped The Beaver directed his pal Jodie Foster) even after we’ve all heard the messages he left for Oksana Grigorieva on her answering machine. At this point Mel seems to be on his third chance and counting.

Charlie hasn’t allegedly killed anyone, he hasn’t left violent threatening messages for his girlfriend and he hasn’t fallen asleep in a neighbor’s bed. It seems he’s done something even worse, he’s pissed off his boss. Will he get a chance at another chapter? I thought Two and a Half Men was his second chance after making so many bad films (see Navy Seals and The Chase). Give it time and we’ll see Sheen bounce back from this. Like Jodie was there for her friend Mel, Sheen has some friends in Hollywood who will help him out. When you have friends like Sean Penn it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll work in movies again.

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