Introduction
Rick Giase/European Pressphoto Agency Charlie Sheen leaving the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen, Colo., on Aug. 2, 2010. CBS and Warner Brothers announced this week that they were canceling production for the remainder of the season of the hit comedy “Two and a Half Men.” The decision came after the star of the show, Charlie Sheen, publicly attacked the show's creator, Chuck Lorre, in two interviews.
Of course, the interviews are just the latest in Mr. Sheen's long history of egregious behavior, involving drugs, alcohol and prostitutes -- not to mention pleading guilty to assaulting his wife.
What is the tipping point for networks in tolerating bad public behavior from their big stars? In the case of Charlie Sheen, why did it take insulting his boss for executives to say "enough"? Has television programming itself -- particularly reality TV, which seems to condone shameless behavior -- influenced how the industry handles actors?
Read the Discussion »Debaters
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What if the Price Is Right?
Christopher Rosen, Movieline
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Worried About a Public Backlash
Elayne Rapping, professor ernerita, SUNY Buffalo
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It's Our Own Fault
Damon Lindelof, TV executive producer
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When Life Imitates Art
Leo Braudy, professor, University of Southern California
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Giving a Pass to Talent
Robert Thompson, professor, Syracuse University
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A New Twist on 'Mad as Hell'
Yoni Brenner, screenwriter
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