If you’re a showrunner it seems there’s always something. Either it’s meddling executives, or a rough cut that still needs work, or an actor arrested for assaulting his wife, or the most common nuisance – a actor thinking there’s a hit man out there to kill him.Welcome to the happy set of TWO AND A HALF MEN. Charlie Sheen might have to m
iss a rehearsal or two for his domestic violence trial. It’s hard to set a production schedule when you don’t know how long your star will be cross examined. And a showrunner’s typical complaint – right in the middle of a runthrough the jury returns and his lead has to scamper back to the courthouse. They can’t return the damn verdict until after the restaurant scene??And there are always the million little distractions. Do you have to record station promos this week? The studio still hasn’t secured music clearance for that song you want to use. Can Charlie’s restraining order be temporarily lifted so he can see his wife in the hospital?
Now Jon Cryer, he’s not exactly low maintenance either. He’s currently embroiled in an ugly divorce and custody battle that has apparently escalated to where Jon seriously believes his ex-wife had put a hit out on him (and I’m guessing wants him to pay for the hit man). This threat appeared real enough that last week they filmed the show on an empty stage sans the studio audience. Actors feed off the energy of live audiences and showrunners really hate it when assassins spoil that. Fortunately, Cryer now feels the threat has been abated so it’s safe once again to attend a filming of TWO AND A HALF MEN without worrying you’ll be whacked by a stray bullet.
Beyond that, it’s just dealing with all the tabloids, conferring with the FBI, and keeping an eye on the torrential rains that threaten everybody’s homes.
On the other hand...
because TWO AND A HALF MEN is such a hit they get very few network notes. So in the end, I’d still rather be the showrunner for that show than most of the others.
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