14 DAY TRIAL // FX Network is taking a giant leap of faith with its newest star, Charlie Sheen, announcing a release date for his “Anger Management” series when shooting hasn't even started.
The new show, which will be a loose take on the Jack Nicholson-starring film of the same name, will premiere on the network on June 28, this year, E! Online confirms.
As it happens, the series hasn't even gone into production yet – and won't do so until March 22 –, which can only mean one thing: FX is positive that it's a winner and that Charlie has really worked through all the issues that got him fired from CBS' “Two and a Half Men.”
“The network will launch the series loosely based on the Jack Nicholson flick on Thursday, June 28 at 9 p.m., with two back-to-back episodes,” E! reports.
“Anger's filming doesn't even start until March 22, so it's a huge gamble for the network to set a premiere date – especially since Charlie Sheen isn't exactly known as being easy to work with,” the celebrity e-zine further notes.
That last observation comes from knowing the kind of media storm Charlie created when he was fired from “Two and a Half Men” after he was accused of not fulfilling his contractual obligations, by not showing up on time and delaying production at least on a couple of occasions.
Under these circumstances, it would make sense if FX waited until it had at least a few episodes shot until announcing a release date for the series.
However, Charlie has said that “the crazy is gone” and that all that was just an “episode,” so it could be that FX president John Landgraf believes him.
When the new deal was announced some time ago, Landgraf said he had faith that Sheen could turn his life around and shine as a comedian again.
“I walked into the pitch as skeptical as you might imagine I would be. It was just a really excellent pitch... I saw a really good pitch for a comedy series. I believe in redemption. I'm all for giving him the opportunity for turning things around,” he said at the time, as cited by the same media outlet.