TVSquad

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).

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.

(S03E02) From the title, it was clear tonight's show was going to relate to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In fact, in true Shawn and Gus fashion, the entire John Hughes' oeuvre was mined for comic gold, as Gus was hosting the 13th high school reunion -- that's right. Not 10, but 13 years. Ironically, in 1995 there was no John Hughes movie. Never mind, the references were more '80s than '90s anyway, including Milo and Otis, Karla DeVito, and all those Hughes movies.

Overall, there was something lacking tonight. The setting came first, Gus and Shawn's class reunion, then the case. It was like Murder She Wrote, where Jessica Fletcher just happens to stumble onto a murder wherever she is.

It seemed an awkward arrangement. The show is better when Shawn and Gus horn in on a Santa Barbara PD case.

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."

Here come two more lists of the ten actors and actresses that are finalists for Emmy nominations in the supporting comedy categories. As with the other awards, there are some surprises on the list, and some notable omissions. For the ladies, the headline is that last year's winner, Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), didn't make the cut. Surprise finalists include Conchata Ferrell (Two And A Half Men) and Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live). I don't mind seeing Conchata on the list because she is consistently funny on the show, but I don't know that there is enough to her role for her to actually garner a nomination when you consider the competition.

On the other side of the coin, the defending champ, Jeremy Piven (Entourage), is back. None of the boys over at SNL managed to make the leap from Variety to Comedy that Poehler did.

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.

After 15 consecutive days of Mohammed (TV shows) coming to the mountain (the Beverly Hilton hotel), today the mountain (actually, the TCA membership) went to Mohammed. Two bus loads of TV critics boarded vehicles to hit five sound stages and the offices of TMZ.com.

First up was The Closer at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. Kyra Sedgwick and other cast members of the TNT drama mixed and mingled on the show's squad room set. Most reporters hovered around Sedgwick to inquire about her Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the show's new season and husband Kevin Bacon.

It may sound a little bit like a headline from The Onion, but it's actually in the works, according to CSI producer Carol Mendelsohn.

Speaking at a Banff event in Canada earlier this week, Mendelsohn said she got a call from Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who suggested the switch. I'm not sure if it would be permanent, but it's something they could do for an episode or two. CSI will also go on location to San Francisco this season, and next season might go to London.

Maybe the Two and a Half Men writers can have Grissom sleep with a different woman every night, and maybe even hire a wisecracking kid to help with a murder investigation. He can be a prodigy who doesn't do well in school but is a genius at forensics.

Amidst all the hoopla about The Office, My Name Is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, and other comedies, people tend to forget that the highest-rated sitcom on TV right now is Two and a Half Men. Yes, its ratings were helped a lot by its old lead-in, Everybody Loves Raymond. But it's truly a funny show, even if it's in the dreaded multicamera "traditional" format. Again, it's a case of good writing and good acting overcoming a tired premise.

CBS knows what it has on its hands; that's why it chipped in to make show star Charlie Sheen the highest paid sitcom actor currently on the air. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Sheen is ready to sign a contract that will pay him between $350,000 - $400,000 per episode, which is twice what he was making before. A network contribution, according to the article, has become common in such high-profile negotiations. No word, though, on if the other one and a half men on the show -- Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones -- got raises, too. I definitely think Jones should get a big raise; he may just be telling fart jokes, but he's doing it with conviction.

[via Pop Candy]

It's probably a forgone conclusion that the executives at CBS will renew Two and a Half Men. The comedy, which stars Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, is consistently in the Nielsen ratings' top 20 and is about to reach the magical syndication mark. In addition, it is one of the more popular comedies (How  I Met Your Mother being the other) on the drama-heavy network.

And yet, there may be some apprehension amongst the CBS suits about renewal because of the recent antics of star Sheen. First the actor divorced his on-again off-again wife Denise Richards, then Richards obtained a restraining order against Sheen due to, among other things, alleged verbal and physical abuse, excessive gambling, and his frequent visits to child porn sites (maybe he needs to be a guest-star on Law & Order: SVU). To top it all off, he was sued by a woman who claimed that the character he portrays on his sitcom was based on her.

 

Wow, this isn't a good week for Charlie Sheen.

First he's going through the divorce nastiness with wife Denise Richards, and now a woman is suing him, claiming that the character Sheen plays on Two and a Half Men is based on her.

Not really sure how you sue an actor for a character created by someone else, but whatever.

[via TV Tattle]

Everyone who watches American Dad knows that Stan Smith is a shallow guy. Heck, if it was your first time watching American Dad, you'd get that in about five minutes, because it's pounded over you head again and again and again and... You get the point, we ALL get the point. This is my biggest problem with the show, it's like a skipping record, we just keep seeing the same thing over and over. The occasions where the needle actually gets back on track are awesome, but the monotony is ridiculous. Speaking of monotony, on with the show!