Sheen (TV) rehab
TV’s self-proclaimed “Vatican assassin” hopes to be back soon on the small screen.
Charlie Sheen, whose boozy, drug-fueled tirades got him fired from “Two and a Half Men,” will return to TV as the star of a new sitcom, “Anger Management,” based on the 2003 movie starring Adam Sandler as a nebbishy businessman and Jack Nicholson as his psychotic therapist.
The new series from Lionsgate Television — which also produces “Mad Men” — doesn’t yet have a network home, or even a cast, but could premiere as early as next March, sources say.
Sheen, who forfeited nearly $30 million in salary when he was canned from his hit CBS sitcom last March, will own a chunk of his new show.
That could net him megabucks if it’s successful.
“I chose ‘Anger Management’ because, while it might be a big stretch for me to play a guy with serious anger-management issues, I think it’s a great concept,” Sheen said in a tongue-in-cheek statement.
The new series, to be shot in Los Angeles, will be produced by Joe Roth, who has produced five of Sheen’s big-screen flicks, including “Major League,” “Young Guns” and “Three Musketeers.”
Distributor Debmar-Mercury is keeping its options open regarding how it will sell Sheen’s new show — meaning it could end up on a major network, on cable or as a syndicated series, insiders say.
“With Charlie Sheen in a show called ‘Anger Management,’ they won’t have to do anything — people will tune in,” says a network source. “In terms of self-promotability, nothing is in this league.”
