TVSquad

When the TV executives meet the media at the annual CBS upfront presentation in May, there will be certainty and uncertainty when it comes to the Monday night sitcom anchor 'Two and a Half Men.' The certainty is that it will be in the line up because it was renewed for three years in 2009. The uncertainty is if Charlie Sheen will be on 'Two and a Half Men' in the face of his felony charges in Colorado.

There are implications beyond the obvious question of Charlie being there to do 'Two and a Half Men.' He's one of the highest paid actors on television -- approximately $20 million a season -- which accounts for a big chunk of the operating budget. Whether he's on air or written out for a while, he has to be paid.

(S03E12) The TCA panel for CBS was on Saturday, and Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre brushed off talk of a Penny/Sheldon hookup by basically saying that Sheldon is asexual. He's chosen not to play the relationship game at all, and the writers aren't planning on changing that. This is quite evident in this week's episode, as Sheldon meets a lady who totally wants to do it to him, and he instead spends the night in Leonard's room accompanied by his Green Lantern lantern.

Despite the fact that Leonard and Wolowitz are double dating and Raj is trying very hard to find a girlfriend (who he will never be able to talk to? I'm still a little confused as to how that would work), Sheldon remains perfectly content to backup all of his data and reinstall his operating system. And since it's Sheldon and not Wolowitz we're talking about here, that's not even a euphemism for anything.

More news bits from the Langham Huntington in Pasadena. Chuck Lorre and his two show runners, Lee Aronsohn of Two and a Half Men and Bill Prady of The Big Bang Theory were on stage discussing their shows. Inevitably -- though not right off the bat -- a question about Charlie Sheen came up.

Lorre starts by asking, "What happened with Charlie...?" before saying that Sheen reported for work as usual last week, after being arrested in Las Vegas Colorado on domestic violence charges over the holidays, and that they had one of their best tapings ever.

"Charlie's a consummate pro," said Lorre. "He shows up and delivers."

During the post-panel reporter scrum, Lorre seemed non-plussed by the events reporters' curiosity over Sheen's return to the set, often shrugging his shoulders as if to say, "why are you guys asking me about this?" Sheen showed up, they had a good week, and it's business as usual. That's it. I guess any chatter that was on the set that week will be kept private.

On the seventh day of Festivus, TV gave to me... Seven shows a-thrivin'.

The 2009-2010 season is a great one to be on TV-- especially for returning dramas and new comedies. If we had 20 days of Christmas, I probably could have filled the list with shows that were either thriving right out of the gate or making a resurgence after being on the air for several years. As it is, we just have seven slots, so here are some noteworthy series that are thriving this year.

Dexter
I've always liked Dexter, but it's never been appointment TV for me. I've generally been content to wait until the season came out on DVD and knock all of the episodes out in a weekend. However, after a creative dip in season 3, I've found myself positively glued to my television every Sunday night that season 4 has aired. John Lithgow absolutely made the season as the creepy Arthur Mitchell. Plus the finale? I know some of you saw the big twist coming at the end, but I certainly did not. Who doesn't like to end a season with their jaw on the floor?

(S03E10) Do you think it's weird that Sheldon and Penny seem to be having more and more storylines together, but I can't actually remember the last episode in which she and Leonard shared a scene alone? When I did a poll a few episodes ago asking if you think Sheldon and Penny are going to get together, nearly half of you said "yes." I don't necessarily agree, but is it a problem when your character has more chemistry with her boyfriend's friend than her actual boyfriend?

Right now, it's still working for the show, but I'm not sure how much longer they can continue having Leonard and Penny involved in a "relationship" in which they barely speak. However, if they break up, then it would be more difficult for Sheldon and Penny to have so many scenes together, and a great deal of the comedy would be eliminated right there. It's an interesting place where the writers find themselves right now.

Welcome to our new feature, TV Squad readers. How well do you know what you think you know about television? Play our little trivia game, Fact or Fiction. We'll state the premise, then tell you the reality, i.e. the fact or the fiction. By the way, if you have ideas for Fact or Fiction, or questions you'd like us to figure out, share with us in the comments.

Fact or Fiction: When Chuck Lorre originally created The Big Bang Theory, the boys were dominated by a nasty neighbor named Katie.

Fact! Chuck Lorre told Watch magazine's Jim Colluci that a year before The Big Bang Theory was picked up by CBS, the first pilot had a female character named Katie. She manipulated the guys. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel. It didn't work," Johnny Galecki told Colluci. The problem was that Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard were and are essentially innocents and without maliciousness. The idea of a woman taking advantage of their innocence was not only mean, it wasn't funny. The writers went back to the drawing board -- so to speak -- and, thus, the character of sweet, gentle Penny was born.

How happy is Chuck Lorre this morning? I'd say on a scale of one-to-ten, he's an eleven. According to reports, CBS wants more of its Chuck Lorre sitcoms. In particular, they're talking three years more of Two and a Half Men and at least two for The Big Bang Theory.

While other shows sweat out the word of renewal or cancellation, Mr. Lorre seems to be CBS's prime time player they count on the most. Okay, second-most. Jerry Bruckheimer is numero uno with the CSI franchises, Without A Trace, Cold Case, Eleventh Hour and The Amazing Race.

First, take note that it's in television and not on, because this list from Entertainment Weekly has a lot of people behind the scenes along with people in front of the camera.

Who do you think is the smartest person in television? It's someone who created a show a lot of us watch every single Sunday night. I'll let you click on the link above to see who the smartest person is.

Okay, you know how on How I Met Your Mother there's a big, ongoing story about who is actually the mother? Well, I think CBS has spilled some of that storyline over to Two and a Half Men, the show that usually is paired with HIMYM on Monday nights. Why do I say this? Because they seemed to have cast a mother!

Actress Rena Sofer has been cast on Two and a Half Men as someone who played a significant role in Charlie's life and she comes back into it on September 22, the season opener. She brings along a child when she returns, a little boy -- her son -- who may have some connection to Charlie.

Now, the connection hasn't been spelled out, but if he has an affinity for booze, plays the piano, wears bowling shirts and chases little girls, you can bet he's Charlie's child. Of course, the writers will probably be more subtle, but this would be an interesting wrinkle in the show if that's the direction in which they're going.

When I was talking to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas at CBS' TCA party, they told me about how another reporter mentioned that Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, is also known for writing and performing the theme song for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. None of us could believe it, and we were intent on spreading this little rumor to whoever we could find. But, in my role as "tenacious entertainment reporter," I wanted to find out from the man himself. So when I spotted Lorre later on in the evening, I made a beeline for him and asked him. When he confirmed the rumor, I whipped out my voice recorder, dumbfounded at the news.

"I was a musician for 17 years before I got into television," said Lorre. "I was just a working musician, and I was trying to get a break as a songwriter. And back in the '80s I got a shot to write the music for this six episode trial run of this weird little animated thing, based on a garage comic. You know, a black-and-white little comic book. And we said 'Absolutely! We'd love to! We'll take any shot.' "

Day two at Comic-Con began with a panel featuring the stars of the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. A logical choice for a comic book and science fiction convention since the show focuses on a group of, um, nerds. Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course!

Actually, according to creator Chuck Lorre, he never intended to make a show about nerds and geeks. His main intention was to air a show about remarkable people. So he said during the very entertaining panel featuring Lorre, co-creator Bill Prady, and the entire cast of the show. A summary of what went down can be seen after the jump.

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.

In an age where Josh Schwartz, Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, and Judd Apatow are writing true-to-life examples of what being a nerd or a geek is like, you'd think that the whiny, sniveling, tape-on-the-glasses, Urkel version of geekdom would be out of favor in TV land.

Big Bang Theory, which premieres Monday at 8:30 PM ET on CBS, proves otherwise. And, while it's not a complete disaster, it's too weighed down by its geek stereotypes to work on a weekly basis.