HALF A DEAL FOR KUTCHER’S TWO AND A HALF MEN?

Ashton Kutcher’s deal to replace Charlie Sheen on CBS’s Two and a Half Men is limited to just one year, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday), citing people familiar with the situation. It was not clear whether it was Kutcher or executives of CBS and Warner Bros. TV who wanted the contract limited to such a brief period. The Journal noted that CBS has licensed the show for only an additional year, but it also observed that if CBS wants to renew it at the end of the year, it could renegotiate Kutcher’s deal — or Kutcher could decide to bow out. The newspaper also indicated that, contrary to reports that he will be paid $1 million an episode, Kutcher will receive about $750,000 — about $1 million per episode less than what Sheen reportedly received. However, the Journal‘s sources indicated that CBS and Warner Bros. hope to get at least two or three more years out of their top-rated sitcom, meaning, the newspaper observed, “that big negotiations still lie ahead.”