What Changed for Charlie Sheen in Season Eight of Two and a Half Men?

Joe Rogan said he had not known that Charlie Sheen was supposedly sober for most of the early run. Chuck Lorre said that as far as he knew, Charlie was. Joe Rogan said the two are friends now. Chuck Lorre said Charlie Sheen wrote a blurb on the back of his book. In that account, the beginning was sober, and then it went off the rails.

Chuck Lorre said the trouble was clear in the eighth season of Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen's manager called and said Charlie was not coming to the run-through, because a Bic lighter blew up and he had no eyebrows. Chuck Lorre said he is somewhat naive about that world, and he knows Bic lighters do not blow up. He said maybe the lighter story came from cooking cocaine. The behavior got more erratic, and a lot was missed. He said the sad part on his side was a determination to stay in denial. He did not want to know. He wanted to believe it was all okay, because the show was doing so well and the work was fun.

Chuck Lorre and his partner Lee Aronsohn were ruthless about the standard. Every second had to kick ass. They were determined to make the best possible show, and to have no bad shows.