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By Dominique Franklin / Staff Writer
(Comedy Central)
By Dominique Franklin / Staff Writer
Charlie Sheen’s winning return to the spotlight was delivered by his own roast hosted on Comedy Central on Sept. 19. The show brought in jokes, laughs, and a record breaking 6.4 million viewers. The telecast was the second most watched in the network’s history.
Talk about returning with a bang.
The former star of “Two and a Half Men” fell out of grace when he was fired from the show in March. Warner Bros. has since detailed many reasons as to why Sheen was dismissed from the show.
Among the list was his excessive drug use and negative responses toward rehabilitating himself. CBS and Warner Bros. then decided to suspend the production of the show months before Sheen’s dismissal in order for him to attend rehab.
Unfortunately, instead of doing so, Sheen decided to stay in his home and speak outlandishly about the show and his bosses, including the show’s creator/executive producer, Chuck Lorre.
Fast forward to the present where viewers begin to witness the return of the former star. Though it was not the most elegant of ways, Sheen still found his way back to the screen.
After negotiating for months, Comedy Central hosted a full episode featuring comedians such as Seth MacFarlane and other notable stars like William Shatner and Jon Lovitz, all of whom roasted Sheen for the behavior he displayed earlier this year.
Many fans wondered how Sheen could sit there and listen to comedians joke about his life. Some of the jokes dealt with his drug use, while others took shots at his family life.
At times, the jokes were gruesome enough to offend the audience, such as remarks made about Sheen’s future death. Yet Sheen himself remained cool and collected. He even found humor in some of the jokes and laughed along as well.
However, the roast of Charlie Sheen did not happen without a bit of controversy.
This episode coincidentally ran along the same time as the season premiere of Sheen’s former job, “Two and a Half Men,” starring Ashton Kutcher as his replacement.
The roast couldn’t compete in the amount of viewers “Two and a Half Men” had generated: a staggering 28.7 million. Yet, the roast still benefited from running simultaneously with CBS’s comedy sitcom.
Of course, there were fans out there that felt bad for Sheen, but it’s important to keep in mind that he literally signed up for his spot on Comedy Central.
Though he expressed humility by allowing his name to be tarnished, he benefited greatly from doing so.
Not only did he get paid to be a part of this special, he received a huge amount of exposure as a result.
After the two shows aired, the ongoing dispute between Sheen and his former bosses began to come to a close as each party went into discussions for a settlement. This could have very well been due to the fact that both parties had relatively successful nights and neither needed a court case to continue attracting media coverage.
The disgraced actor was smart for allowing the roast to happen. With media attention drifting away and interest being lost in the court cases, it was only a matter of time before the name Charlie Sheen disappeared from the average Hollywood audience and media altogether.
By allowing himself to be made fun of and laughed at, he has made it back in the lime light. With renewed media interest and the possibility of attracting viewer attention, it’s likely that Sheen may even return to a new sitcom.
While 6.4 million people sat and laughed at their television screens and jokes poured from comedians of different eras on the stage, Sheen sat back and laughed.
Although he was laughing at some of the jokes being made, it’s also possible that he just couldn’t contain his own joy of having played the system, and making much more from it than any others did by being roasted.
