‘Two and a Half Men’ series finale: Check Lorre elaborates on Charlie Sheen, Angus T. Jones

You saw the vanity card at the end of the “Two and a Half Men” series finale, but how much truth was there to what was said there? Apparently, quite a bit, though we cannot really comment on some of the particulars. Executive producer Chuck Lorre spoke to Variety following the airing of the episode on the East Coast, and through that, we at least learned a variety of details about what the last episode for the show could have been, and his experiences working with some of the surprise guest stars.

First and foremost, Lorre commented that he has not actually spoken with Charlie Sheen since the two ignited an epic feud that led to his dismissal from the show. Any communication about Sheen’s role in the finale was done through intermediaries. Meanwhile, he also elaborated specifically on why he wanted at first to try and get Charlie on the show:

“I made a decision a month or so ago that there was so much demand, so much excitement about seeing Charlie come back for the finale that it was the right thing to do to try to come up with something we could have fun with, to poke fun at all the craziness. It was presented to him. He didn’t like it. And we weren’t excited about what he wanted to do. So it didn’t go forward.”

While we’re still not happy that Lorre made the finale more about the show and the outside world than any of the characters and their reality, we won’t blame him as much for Charlie not showing up as we originally did. He cannot be held hostage by whatever a specific actor’s demands are to appear. Then again, you could argue that maybe the idea was presented to him with the thought that he wouldn’t want to do it.

As for getting Angus T. Jones to return, Lorre was far more complimentary, which is interesting give the former child star’s once-nasty comments about the show being “filth” that he was ashamed of doing:

“If we had actually aired the audience response to when Angus stepped on the stage — it was so loud and exuberant. We had to tone it down for the broadcast. They were so excited to see him — it went on and on. …That’s all water under the bridge. He apologized shortly after [his comments]. We’re on good terms. We reached out to him he was eager and excited to do it. It was like old times — except that he’s not eight years old any more. But we had so much fun with him all week.”

For more on the finale, head over here to read our full review. Also, be sure to sign up right now to get some other TV updates on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)