The fate of the CBS comedy “Two and a Half Men†may not ride on any future decisions by Angus T. Jones, the young co-star who this week appeared in a video where he denounced the show as filth and urged viewers not to watch it.
Unlike the crisis that was stirred two years ago when the show's original star, Charlie Sheen, was fired for persistent drug use and vituperative comments about the show's creator, Chuck Lorre, the incident with Mr. Jones is almost certain not to lead to the cancellation of episodes, or even to threaten a potential extension of the series.
In the video made for the Forerunner Chronicles, a production of a preacher from the Seventh Day Adventist Church named Christopher Hudson, Mr. Jones, who is now 19, said, “If you watch ‘Two and a Half Men,' please stop watching. I'm on ‘Two and a Half Men' and I don't want to be on it.†He said people who were making it were “filling your head with filth.â€
Though both entities behind the show - the studio, Warner Brothers, and the network, CBS - have steered clear of any comment, two executives tied to the production said on Tuesday that Mr. Jones was not slated to appear in either of the next two planned episodes.
Thus any decision he might make in the short term to leave would not have an immediate impact on the production. (Despite his criticisms, Mr. Jones did not say in the video that he would quit the show, which pays him $350,000 an episode.)
Mr. Jones's future participation in the series was a question even before this incident. This season, his character, Jake, had appeared only sporadically, having joined the Army at the end of l ast season.
He mainly has had limited scenes where he speaks by Skype to the other two characters, played by Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher. Mr. Jones signed a one-year contract for this season on the comedy.
Bill Carter writes about the television industry. Follow @wjcarter on Twitter.
