Warner Bros. sues CBS

Warner Bros, the producer & distributor of Two and a Half Men, is suing Men's network CBS for $49 million over fees Warner claims it is due for the fourth season of the hit show.

Warner claims that the agreement called for CBS to pay a portion of the studio's deficits if the show was picked-up for a fifth and sixth season. Warner lost $61 million in the production of the first four seasons of Men, which were subject to a lower license fee thought to be around $750,000 per episode.

Merry Christmas!

The Two and a Half Men Site would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a great New Year!

We'll be back, providing all the latest Two and a Half Men News, in the New Year.

New Design

We're currently working on a new version of this site, with a new design and some new features. We plan on launching it early in the New Year. We have a preview for you:

Until then, we'd like to wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & have a great New Year!

The smartest man in television?

Could Chuck Lorre be the smartest man in television? That is the question New York Magazine asks in a feature on Mr. Lorre, the co-creator of Two and a Half Men and the new hit The Big Bang Theory. The article's main subject is the TV Week feature that listed the 25 smartest people on television, in which Mr. Lorre finished 20th. That intellectual league table became the subject of the vanity card on this week's Big Bang. In the end, the feature doesn't quite declare him the intellectual supremo of the television pack, they do say they'll be paying more attention to CBS Mondays.

Since The Big Bang Theory broke 10 million viewers, the press coverage of the show has markedly increased. In the last couple of weeks, we've seen features in USAToday, TV Guide, the prestigious Wall Street Journal and now New York Magazine. As more and more viewers are beginning to take notice of the show, so too are the journalists.

Episode 6.13 Announced

CBS has announced Episode 6.13 "I Think You Offended Don", the second episode of the New Year. It will air January 19th.

"I Think You Offended Don" - Judith is pregnant with a baby girl and Alan is convinced that he is the father. Meanwhile, Jake is in a contentious mood and Charlie thinks he knows why, on Two and a Half Men, Monday, Jan. 19 (9:00-9:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

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Episode	I Think You Offended Don

Episode 6.12 Announced

CBS has announced the details of Episode 6.12 "Thank God for Scoliosis", the first episode of the New Year! It will air January 12th.

"Thank God for Scoliosis" - Charlie and Jake fight for the affections of a waitress, while Alan fights sexual tension with his receptionist, on Two and a Half Men, Monday, Jan. 12 (9:00-9:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Multiple Emmy Award Winner Carol Kane ("Taxi") guest stars as Alan's Receptionist's Mother.

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Episode	Thank God for Scoliosis

Episode 6.11 Final Ratings

The final ratings for last night's episode are out:

Two and a Half Men was first in households (10.6/16), viewers (17.92m), adults 25-54 (7.2/16) and adults 18-49 (5.6/13). This is Two and a Half Men's best delivery in households and adults 18-49 since Feb. 5, 2007 (the night after the Super Bowl), adults 25-54 since Feb. 27, 2006 and viewers since May 16, 2005 (the night of the Everybody Loves Raymond series finale). This is the largest audience for Two and a Half Menin the 9:00 PM time slot.

Don't forget, you can view the vanity card from last night's episode at ChuckLorre.com.

Men Delivers Its Largest Audience

When you're the most popular sitcom on TV, it's hard to see how you can improve on that, but Two and a Half Men has.

Last night's show posted the highest viewer figures the show has ever achieved in the 9PM slot. It gave Men its largest audience since the night of the Everybody Loves Raymond finale over 3 years ago. Men saw its best demographic performances since February 5th 2007, the night after the Super Bowl. All that on a night with no Super Bowl & no grand finale.

CBS enjoys best Monday for 20 months

CBS enjoyed their best Monday night performance for over 20 months, posting their highest audience figures since February 2007.

All four Monday night comedies delivered series or season highs last night, against softer competition from a Dancing-less ABC.

The Big Bang Theory posted highs in all metrics, beating its record in households, viewers, the 18-34 demo, the 18-49 demo, and the 25-54 demographic.

How I Met Your Mother achieved series highs in both adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 and posted its best households performance for over 2 years. It also achieved its best viewers delivery for nearly 3 years and enjoyed its best 25-54 demographic performance since March 24, 2008.

Two and a Half Men delivered its best ratings in households, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 performance since February 5th 2007 (the night after the Super Bowl). It had its highest viewing numbers since May 16th 2005 (the night of the Everybody Loves Raymond finale). Men achieved its highest ratings ever in the 9PM slot.

Worst Week delivered its best households and viewers deliveries to date and its best adults 25-54 and 18-49 demo performances since its September 22nd premiere.

The four comedies, and CSI: Miami, propelled CBS to first place for the night with an average of 13.65m viewers - its highest Monday showing since February 2007 (excl. sports).

Episode 6.11 Ratings

Two and a Half Men posted its best ratings for 3 and a half years. Men pulled 17.9 million viewers and posted a 5.6/13 rating.

The Big Bang Theory, the hit new show from Men co-creator Chuck Lorre, placed first in its slot and pulled 11.4 million viewers. The show posted a 4.2/11 rating in the important 18-49 demographic. How I Met Your Mother, which follows Bang, held steady with 11.4 million viewers and a gain in the 18-49 demographic. Worst Week, which follows Men, held just 12.1 million viewers giving it a 3.6/9 rating in the 18-49 demo.

Holiday Reruns

Tonight the final new episode of this year will air, we will then be treated to 3 reruns before new episodes return January 12th. Here are the details of the holiday reruns:

December 22nd - Episode 5.13 "The Soil is Moist".
December 29th - Episode 5.14 "Winky-Dink Time".
January 5th - Episode 6.01 "Taterhead Is Our Love Child.

SAG rift might avert strike

The Screen Actors Guild is suffering an internal rift that might avert a costly actors' strike. The union's New York board publicly came out against striking, causing the union to call an emergency national meeting. The union will vote on whether to strike over demands for greater profits for actors from new media distribution of their work.

The prospect of a strike has highlighted differences within the SAG union and the entertainment industry as a whole. Many actors think that during a recession is not the right time to stage a strike that would halt the production of movies and many TV shows.

Many actors have spoken out against a strike include Danny DeVito (Taxi), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), and former SAG president Richard Masur.

The alternative actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has already accepted a new contract for its members. The producers' union, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, is understandably against the strike and is appealing to actors to vote against the strike.

With so much public opposition to a strike, along with many who oppose it privately, it could be that the SAG would lose the vote on the strike, but it is cautioned that the SAG would not be pushing for a vote if it did not believe it would win it.

The strike would deal a swift blow to the entertainment industry that suffered a lengthy and costly strike last year, the estimated cost of the 3 month strike is put as high as $2.5 billion. The Writers' Strike damaged many TV shows by pulling them off air for months, the Strike was blamed for the death of many shows such as Bionic Woman or Pushing Daisies.

Any strike would be devastating for the economy of California, already suffering because of the general economic climate.

The SAG will send out ballots on January 2nd, votes will be counted by January 23rd.

Actors to strike?

Hollywood is on the brink of another costly strike as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is to send out strike ballot papers to members next month. A strike could come as early as January, halting TV & Movie production and signing the death certificate of some TV shows.

Lengthy talks to avert a strike ended with nothing earlier this week, despite the fact that federal negotiators were trying to broker the deal to prevent an economically disastrous strike.

DVD residuals are once again at the centre of the battle, actors are calling for a greater income from sales of DVDs but production companies are unsurprisingly against this. Actors also want a greater share of "new media" profits, like when their work is played on sites like Hulu.com or bought from iTunes or Amazon Unbox.

The producers union, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, says the current economic situation, and the fact that the Internet is very much new & untested ground, means that they can't give a greater share of the earnings.

The actors' contract expired June 30th this year, and Hollywood has been living borrowed time since then as a second costly strike looked ever more likely.

The consequences of a strike would be huge. Production of TV shows & movies would grind to a halt, devastating the already fragile economy of California, and struggling shows could find themselves not returning from a strike. Last year's strike is regarded by many as the reason shows such as Bionic Woman were cancelled despite mild popularity. Two and a Half Men, as America's #1 comedy, would be safe but the strike could still dent viewing figures and would mean another season with a smaller number of episodes.

12 or 13 episodes of Two and a Half Men are thought to be in the can right now, with a couple of those set to air before Christmas. If production was halted in January, it would go off air quite quickly.

We'll be following the situation and keeping you informed.