Charlie Sheen axed from Two and a Half Men. The show may go on though. Again, there are some very practical reasons why CBS and Warner Bros. should take their billion dollars and call it a wrap. Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Sheen is in talks with media mogul Mark Cuban about developing shows for little-seen HDNet, television home of previous CBS castoff Dan Rather. More importantly though, Charlie does seem to be a troubled man who, as his father says, could use our prayers.  

IFC Midnight acquires The Catechism Cataclysm. Now, if they’re execs would only acquire some taste. To be fair, I haven’t actually seen the alleged comedy about a chubby young priest who’s forced to take a sabbatical for telling inappropriate parables to his parishioners. But any idea that the movie might not be as bad as it sounds would seem to be dispelled by this written statement attributed to its director:“We’re thrilled that IFC Midnight is embracing our mix of Christian
values and Satanic ritualism and unleashing it into this troubled world.
It’s going to be a fun ride.”
And, then, there’s critic Rob Nelson’s scathing review for Variety in which he says “In the curious
absence of religious satire, toilet humor isn’t enough to constitute
comedy, while the leads’ grating perfs make 81 minutes feel eternal.“
In short, Cataclysm looks to be an all-around creative disaster that’s unlikely to make much of a ripple in the box office pond.

On a positive note… 

Kindness scores big ratings for ABC. The debut of The Secret Millionaire, a reality show in which wealthy people traveling incognito reward real-life heroes who are selflessly performing acts of kindness in their communities, scored huge ratings. The show was watched by an estimated 12.6 million viewers, making it television’s highest rated show on a very competitive Sunday night. Now, hopefully, the Disney-owned network will realize that audiences respond to positive programming and that they don’t need crassly-titled shows to succeed.