TVSquad

When William Petersen left CSI, he left a very, very cushy job. He was making a cool $600,000 per episode, more than Kiefer Sutherland was getting for 24, but not quite as much as Charlie Sheen was taking home for Two and a Half Men ($825,000 per show).

Well, CSI decided not to skimp when they cast Laurence Fishburne to assume the star spot on the crime drama. Fishburne is earning more than $14 million for this season of CSI. (So much for a recession!)

CBS has given renewals to both The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. Anybody tracking the ratings of either show shouldn't be surprised at this news. In fact, Two and a Half Men was picked up for three more years and The Big Bang Theory for two. I guess CBS' Monday nights are taken care of for the next couple of years.

While I haven't been following Two and a Half Men (I don't think I'm the target demographic), I do catch an episode of The Big Bang Theory time to time and get a good chuckle out of it. A recent favorite of the show involved the guest appearance of the delicious and shiny Summer Glau as herself (video follows after the jump).

If you're a regular -- or even an irregular -- Two and a Half Men watcher, you've probably noticed that Charlie Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, has a very distinctive look. You might call it immature, if you're nasty, or eclectic, if you're nice, but it is memorable. I've always thought the look was a reflection of the real Charlie Sheen, and now we're going to find out if I'm right.

Charlie Sheen has created the DaVinci Collection, a clothing line focusing on short-sleeved, button front shirts with a retro flair. The prices will be $59 to $79 each and the description strikes me as very much like Charlie Harper's wardrobe.

Jay Leno is officially America's BFF.

The late night (soon to be 10pm) talk show host has come in first place in the annual Harris Poll to determine who is America's favorite TV personality. Here is the rest of the top 10 to give you an idea of who he's up against:

2. Hugh Laurie
3. Ellen DeGeneres
4. Oprah Winfrey
5. David Letterman
6. Jon Stewart
7. Charlie Sheen
8. Steve Carell
9. Stephen Colbert
10. Mark Harmon

When family members appear on each other's TV shows -- if they're a show biz family, of course -- sometimes the results are great. And sometimes they're not. Jerry Van Dyke appeared twice on The Dick Van Dyke Show as Rob's brother Stacey, and he was terrific. (Much better than he was on My Mother The Car).

Tyne Daly popped up on Wings, playing scenes with her brother Tim, and again, it worked out great. On the other hand, when Martin Sheen guested on Two and a Half Men in 2005, it was a dud. I don't know, maybe comedy really isn't Martin Sheen's forte.

Fortunately, Charlie Sheen isn't above trying again. Charlie's brother Emilio Estevez is going to do a guest turn on Two and a Half Men in an upcoming episode. They won't be playing brothers, but Emilio will be one of Charlie's best buddies from times gone by.

Did you know that Paris Hilton is running for President? I know, I know, you haven't seen any commercials on TV and she hasn't participated in any of the debates and who knows if she even knows what the word incumbent means, but she wants to be the next leader of the free world. And she's asked the best fake President we've ever had for some advice.

That's right, Paris has asked Martin Sheen (aka Jed Bartlett) for advice on how to be a fake President if that day should come. At first Sheen seems rather confused at why he's talking to Hilton ("I don't usually come to this kind of party."), but he eventually gives her advice, including how to solve problems in the kitchen ("During my fake Presidency, the kitchen was always my favorite spot to solve the great fake issues of our time), and why it's harder to be a fake President today than it was when his first term started in the late 90s. Sheen is pretty funny: great delivery and he does it all with a mock seriousness. Also look for a cameo at the end by the highest-paid sitcom star on TV right now.

He hasn't won an Emmy (although that might change in a little over a week from now) and he's not going to win People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (although I think he very attractive), but at least Hugh Laurie, the star of Fox's House, is being rewarded in another way -- the wallet.

Laurie is getting a raise in salary to $400,000 an episode. That's not as much as 24's Kiefer Sutherland ($500,000) or CSI's William Petersen ($600,000) or Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen ($825,000), but it's pretty darn good.

Whether you think Charlie is worth that much money or Bill (who's actually only going to be in half the shows on CSI in 2008-2009) or Kiefer, for that matter, but Hugh Laurie has earned this raise. He's the center of House, the most important character, and there is no show without him.

In terms of compelling celebrity reality shows, Denise Richards thought she had a great story to tell. Her life seemed very complicated, what with her fights with ex-husband Charlie Sheen and their legal wrangling over their children, it seemed like a compelling product.

Umm...no, it wasn't.

Today, E! pulled the plug on Denise Richards It's Complicated, her attempt to keep up with the Kardashians and outdo the Hogans. The bottom line with Denise's show was that it really wasn't that complicated. It was dull.

Her family appeared as her supporting players, including her father who -- like his children -- is still mourning the loss of his wife, Denise's mom. Those moments in the show were sad, but a little went a long way.

Denise's getting in the middle of the employment issues with her assistants was hardly great TV, nor was watching Denise driving in Beverly Hills. And, yes, the ratings were declining week after week.

On Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen plays a vulgar playboy, a shallow guy who's more interested in booze, women and having a good time than being responsible and working hard. The role has earned him a couple of Emmy nominations and a lot of money. A lot of money. In fact, in a new poll from TV Guide, Charlie Sheen is the highest paid actor on TV, making $825,000 per episode; in a season of 23 shows, that comes out to nearly $20 million.

That's more than he could make in the movies, and unlike films, Charlie can keep on raking it in on Two and a Half Men for years. The show is a huge hit in syndication, so more episodes will simply mean more money down the road.

Right behind Charlie on the list is fellow CBS leading man, CSI's William Petersen. He's making $600,000 an episode. He's only doing ten episodes this season, but since he's also an executive producer on the series, he's probably making even more.

Don't get him wrong; Jon Cryer is thrilled to be nominated for an Emmy again. This is his third nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series as Alan Harper, the sad sack, divorced brother of Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. In 2006 and 2007, he lost to Jeremy Piven, Ari Gold on Entourage, and Jon Cryer is ticked off: "Laugh all you want, [he] is my nemesis. He's a force of nature."

If it's not Piven -- again! -- Jon has another nemesis lined up: "I think this time Neil Patrick Harris (Barney on How I Met Your Mother) will win."

Cryer is good natured about his chances and not seriously miffed. He's planning to bring his new wife, entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner. "When we heard the news, she was thrilled for a moment, then filled with dread as she started to worry about what she'll wear. But she'll be there with me -- or I'll be very lonely."

Charlie Sheen has married Wife #3. The 42 year old television star married real estate investor Brooke Mueller this past Friday night. The couple have been engaged since last summer.

Sheen has starred in several movies and is currently starring in the Nielsen top-10 rated show Two and a Half Men. "She's just easy, and loving, and smart, and if everybody was just as happy to see me when I walk through a door as her, my life would be perfect," he said soon after the couple got engaged.

He is currently involved in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife and soon-to-be-reality TV star of the E! show It's Complicated, Denise Richards. They got married in 2002 and divorced in 2006. Sheen was also briefly married to model Donna Peele in 1995.

All I can say is congratulations and best of luck to Sheen and Mueller. It's difficult to make marriages work, and even more difficult with Hollywood marriages.

The CSI/Two and a Half Men writers switch was a very clever promotion for CBS. Fortunately, the writers saw the opportunity to change places as more than just a publicity stunt. They really took the scripting seriously and came up with inventive episodes for each program. If this were a competition to see which team would deliver the better show, who would take on the task of writing winning TV in a genre not their own and succeed beyond expectations, the comedy scribes take the gold. Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn's CSI was pure genius, and if it were up to me, CSI should submit it for an Emmy.

But first there was Two and a Half Men. In an episode called "Fish in a Drawer" (and if somebody could explain what that title means, I'd be most appreciative), the story picked up after Evelyn married Teddy. In the teleplay by CSI regular writers Evan Dunsky and Sarah Goldfinger, Charlie and Courtney check out of the reception for a little romp in his room upstairs only to find Teddy's dead bod on the bed. Talk about spoiling the mood. Teddy wasn't only a corpse, he was a corpse with his pants pulled down around his ankles and lipstick stains on his hoo-ha. The cops were called in, a detective who was a dead ringer for Marg Helgenberger -- played by redhead Jamie Rose -- had the vaguely Bondian name of Jagov, Sloane Jagov. Naturally, Charlie had to make a move on her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her cleavage.

We told you recently about the writing teams of CSI and Two and Half Men switching places for one episode of each show. The first episode airs tonight at 9 on CBS.

The Two and a Half Men episode was written by the CSI staff and is titled "Fish in a Drawer," and I have no idea what that title means. Thursdays CSI episode was written by the Two and a Half Men staff and has a title that's a lot easier to understand: "Two and a Half Deaths." It's about the murder of a despised sitcom star (Chuck Lorre used to work for both Cybill Shepherd and Roseanne Barr - I'm just sayin').

We told you a long time ago about the writers of CSI switching places with the writers of Two and a Half Men for one episode, way back when people thought it was a joke and that it would never actually happen. Well, it's happening, and after the jump is the video to prove it.

The idea came from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who approached CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn about switching teams for one episode of each series. The plot involves the murder of a famous Hollywood comedienne/sitcom diva who is difficult on the set of her show, and Lorre is quick to point out that it's NOT based on Cybill Shepherd, who he worked with on her show (*cough cough wink wink*). The video shows the behind the scenes goings on as the shows meet in the writers room and plan her Las Vegas demise.

Just last night, a fan named Kevin sent me this query...

"What actor/actress has received the most money for a sitcom syndication deal?"

Well, the short answer is Jerry Seinfeld. The long answer has all the details.