Two and a Half Men or just Two Million? 

Charlie Sheen is already the highest paid actor on prime time television to date with his CBS contract signing for Two and a Half Men back in 2006 with a remarkable take home of over $800,000 USD per episode. But now that his contract was up for renewal to continue with the show, he was reported as asking CBS Executives for $2 Million per episode to continue with the show. But is Charlie Sheen really worth the price tag he is seeking to continue the wildly popular Two and Half Men? This inflated proposal has put a little pressure on the television network and what better time to put on the squeeze than during May Sweeps?

For those of you not familiar with the importance of television sweeps, this is a study of data gathering routinely collected in February, May, July and November by Nielsen Media Research which determines an average of which channels and more specifically which shows the mass public are tuning into. This data then gets used by television networks and advertisers to focus their marketing more effectively – and in most cases, charge more for commercial time slots.

It was decided by CBS Executives that Sheen was too valuable a commodity to let loose for their network and for the success of their prime time sitcom that does so very well with syndication on other networks (who purchase the broadcast rights to include Two and a Half Men as part of their programming lineups). CBS has reportedly caved and agreed to a deal with Sheen to pay him just under $2 Million per episode for 2 years. That’s quite a lot of money for any television actor to be paid especially a sitcom actor. Does anyone remember the show Friends? Well that ensemble cast closed out the series making $1 Million per episode each in the last two seasons of the shows running. Would one be presumptuous to conclude that Two and a Half Men is more entertaining than “Friends”?

Tell me your thoughts. Is Charlie Sheen worth his per episode salary of just under $2 Million or is he just one denominator of “Two and a Half Men”?
So what do you think? [fb-share]