So . . . the Sheen circus continues, and will continue until we all stop paying attention or he dies. That's pretty much it. I never thought I would write two posts within a week about Sheen, but that just shows how unpredictable life can be. I have a few unconnected thoughts that I would like to share, and then I'll probably shut up about Charlie and his troubles, a stance that will be clearer when you get to the end of the post.
1. Charlie Sheen is in a much, much weaker bargaining position than most people think. Yes, Two and a Half Men is a ratings juggernaut and a moneymaker for CBS. But the main source of income for TV studios is syndication, not broadcasting, and so when the syndication money dries up, the desire to produce a show dwindles. This situation is described in Bill Carter's book Desperate Networks (out of print but available in many libraries, and worth a read) as Friends approached its 9th and 10th seasons. Basically, once a show like Friends or Men hits about 200 episodes, there is little marginal syndication income to be made, because the stations buying the syndicated episodes don't need more than about 200 episodes. Once they have that many, they can re-run it year-round without worrying that the episodes are getting stale. Right now Two and a Half Men has about 170 episodes in the can, so they don't really need another season to make about as much money as they ever will. Of course, if the contractual obligations for next year are costly, they may want to limp through it so that they don't lose money.
2. Charlie Sheen did not get the cast and crew paid for half of the remaining episodes. Necessarily. He argued for the them to get paid, and they got paid, but saying he's responsible is like me yelling at my TV for a basketball player to shoot and then claiming responsibility when he does. CBS would likely have paid the cast and crew something whether Sheen asked for it or not.
3. Charlie Sheen will not reap rewards from his crazy behaviour. If Two and a Half Men does return, it might get a brief ratings boost until people remember what a crap show it is and stop watching. The sideshow freak doesn't fare well as a main attraction - just ask Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson, both of whom have seen declines in their box-office numbers since their public shaming. Will Sheen get work? Probably, but based on history it's unlikely he'll be a star of a hit show or movie ever again.
4. Charlie Sheen is starting to make me sad. I feel kind of like we're a bunch of kids laughing at a mentally retarded schoolmate. There's something clearly wrong with the guy (he's either crazy or throwing himself into acting crazy, which is more or less the same thing), and while he's entertaining, we wouldn't be so rapt and amused if he weren't a celebrity. Yes, I'm enjoying the quizzes, soundboards, quote generators and cartoons, but I'm starting to think that the fun is going to abruptly stop when he does something harmful to himself or others. I'm not trying to be a party pooper. I just think the whole thing is moving from good tragicomic schadenfreude to just tragic. And then nobody's winning.
Sorry to end on a down note, but if you want a lift you can follow one of the links in the previous paragraph and forget all about what I just wrote. Tiger blood! I'm an F-18, bro!
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