Chuck Lorre says Charlie Sheen was clearly in trouble while filming his final Two and a Half Men scene. The claim comes from the creator’s upcoming memoir, which reaches shelves on October 13 and paints a picture far darker than the laugh track ever suggested. Sheen played Charlie Harper for eight seasons, which makes the ending harder to picture. A later reunion between the two men also adds a surprising twist.

While Sheen spent eight seasons making audiences laugh, his final scene left a co-star frightened and a creator with no choice but to pull the plug.

Charlie Sheen was in trouble during the last scene he filmed for Two and a Half Men, and his co-star Melanie Lynskey was terrified, according to Chuck Lorre. The scene paired Sheen with Lynskey, who played his neighbor Rose. Lorre said it left him no choice but to shut down production afterward. He described the moment in an excerpt from his memoir, Sitcom, published by Vanity Fair.

“He couldn’t remember any of his lines and had to use the furniture to keep himself upright,” Lorre wrote.

He added, “It was clear to everyone that this man, whom we’d all grown to love, was in trouble.”  

The Vanity Fair excerpt also reveals that the first seven years were a blast until Sheen kept calling in sick, blaming bad clams, dental emergencies, and an exploding BIC lighter that burned off his eyelashes. After the October 2010 hotel incident in New York, the cast and crew worked in constant anxiety. After that final scene forced a shutdown, Lorre planned two more episodes before a break, but Sheen demanded four.

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While Sitcom paints a tense ending, years of public bitterness eventually gave way to a surprisingly friendly phone call.

On Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Chuck Lorre said healing arrived on its own. He woke up one day and found the rage and hurt gone. Lorre then called his project partner Nick Bakay with a casting idea: Charlie Sheen as the celebrity in Bookie, a role built for him. Bakay asked whether Lorre could handle working with Sheen again, and the answer was yes, if Sheen was sober.

Lorre reached Sheen through an agent, and he happily accepted with conditions, such as keeping substance a**** out of the story. Sheen played an exaggerated version of himself on Bookie, while Lorre directed the episode. It was their first collaboration after the public rift. Sheen had attempted to reconcile earlier, asking on X in 2013 to end their feud. Years after their relationship hit rock bottom on Two and a Half Men, the former collaborators finally found their way back to working together.

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What are your thoughts on Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen reuniting? Let us know in the comments.