14 DAY TRIAL // The season premiere of “Two and a Half Men” opened to very good ratings but, as far as some fans were concerned, there is no replacing Charlie Sheen no matter how much Ashton Kutcher struts on set in the buff. At least the younger actor is not crazy, show insiders says.
After the much anticipated opening episode aired, E! Online spoke to a few sources from the set of the show, people who, because they’re still working on it, can’t go on the record with their name.
They confirm that Ashton is a wonderful young man and a very dedicated professional – but he’s not even half as funny as Charlie.
Then again, he’s not crazy either, they add as an afterthought, so that makes him the preferred choice in terms of a co-worker.
“[Ashton] is really a nice guy. Just a nice guy. And he’s OK on set. He gets the job done – that’s what we all want,” one source says for the aforementioned e-zine.
“He’s just not as funny as Charlie,” another insider chimes in. “Not that we’d want Charlie back if you doubled our salaries,” he adds.
Both sources are adamant they would never want to work with Sheen again because of the many interruptions he caused production before he was let out of his contract earlier this year, but that’s not to say they can’t recognize his comedic genius.
“They also freely volunteer that the show, in their veteran opinions, ‘just isn’t the same anymore,’ and that they find Sheen’s substitute to be more of a ‘safe replacement’,” E! writes.
Many fans felt the same after the big season premiere.
As we also informed you the other day, critics were of the same opinion, saying producers showed lack of originality in not pushing Kutcher’s character away from the path set by Sheen during the previous 8 seasons.