To tout his most recent show, the NBC sitcom Extended Family, Cryer, who costarred with Charlie Sheen on the infamously problematic but enormously successful CBS 2003-2015 sitcom, stopped by The View today. When the inescapable inquiry arose regarding the potential for an encore series of Two and a Half Men, Cryer was rather unenthusiastic.
Alyssa Farah Gryphon, co-host of View, wondered whether Cryer would be amenable to a Men remake after pointing out that Sheen had lately renewed his bond with Men producer Chuck Lorre. However, Cryer implied that Sheen ruined the first season of the project and that the Pretty in Pink star is not very interested in collaborating with anyone else “for any length of time.”
Regarding the potential for a remake, Cryer remarked, “Oh gosh, oh gosh I don’t know how that happens. Thing is, Charlie is doing a lot better now which is wonderful. He and I have not spoken in a few years but he’s doing a lot better, which obviously I am happy about. And obviously, Chuck Lorre, who produced Two and a Half Men… one of the hardest things for him when Two and a Half Men fell apart the way it did was he really thought he was friends with Charlie. And that he lost that was really hard for him. So that they have reconciled is really lovely.”
Sheen and Lorre had an argument after the leading man was let off from Two and a Half Men for making derogatory remarks about Lorre in public. But as they worked on Max’s Bookie together, they were able to revive their bond. Regarding Cryer, he has personal motivations for declining to play Alan Harper again in a prospective revival.
“The thing for me is, when Two and a Half Men was happening, Charlie was like the highest paid actor in television – probably ever. And there has been nobody that has surpassed the enormous amount of money he was making. And yet he blew it up,” the actor said. “So you kinda have to think, I love him, I wish him the best and that he should live in good health the rest of his life, but I don’t know if I want to get in business with him for any length of time. If it was a one-off or…”