Add one more to the list of shows ending in 2014 : CBS announced Wednesday that stalwart comedy Two and a Half Men will conclude its run after season 12 ends. Michael Schneider, L.A. bureau chief of TV Guide Magazine, confirmed the news via Twitter:
Confirmed: This will be TWO AND A HALF MEN’s final season. Chuck Lorre is creating a season-long finale event.
— Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) May 14, 2014
Next season will be the last for the long running comedy series, one of CBS’ biggest success stories. According to The Hollywood Reporter , CBS’ Nina Tassler, when announcing the news at this morning’s pre-upfront press breakfast in New York, alluded to the recently concluded How I Met Your Mother to indicate that Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre has a few surprises in store.
“Chuck Lorre is creating a season-long event. We did very well last year with announcing final season of How I Met You Mother here, too. Chuck is very psyched about this; he’s got some great ideas and very big surprises.”
-Nina Tassler, CBS
Hot on the heels of the announcement comes speculation that former lead actor Charlie Sheen may return to give fans a send off in the last season. The Wrap speculated on the possibility of Sheen, who currently stars in FX’s Anger Management , returning, quoting Nina Tassler, who stated that she “would like to see whatever Chuck would like to do,” when asked about Sheen’s possible return to Two and a Half Men . “He has assured us that he has a lot of surprises in store,” She said, adding noncommittally that “I don’t know if that’s one of them.”
Two and A Half Men , which first began airing in 2003, has seen its ratings slip in recent years. This past season saw the show bring in only around 8-9 million viewers a week. While that may be stellar by the standards of some shows, Two and a Half Men , in its prime, routinely attracted around 17 million viewers per week to CBS.
Original lead Charlie Sheen left the show in early 2011 amid a very public feud with Lorre, and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. The show, which also stars John Cryer, has seen a more recent share of controversy come from star Angus T. Jones, who announced in 2012 that he had joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Jones officially announced his departure from Two and a Half Men on March 18, 2014 .
[Image via The Hollywood Reporter ]