Sheen's "Character" Killed Twice...On Television

CLEVELAND - As great as it's been watching Charlie Sheen's film and television performances during the past 25 years, it was immeasurably more gratifying watching the man get verbally dismantled by a series of low budget comics, then return the favor in grand fashion during a heavily hyped roast on Comedy Central last night.

Utterly hilarious.

Sheen, 46 spent the weeks leading up to Spring this year as the mastermind of a very disturbing, yet insanely popular media meltdown that both resonated and resulted in his firing from the top rated comedy on television, "Two and a Half Men." And speaking of that show, which starred Sheen as the hedonistic and womanizing Charlie Harper for eight seasons, it premiered its even more heavily hyped ninth season last night an hour before the roast aired. With Sheen's character killed off camera to start the episode, it gave his replacement Ashton Kutcher an opening to implement himself into the cast as well-endowed billionaire Walden Schmidt.

The new dynamic worked brilliantly.

"Two and a Half Men" played well mostly because they didn't allow the tragedy of Charlie Harper's demise to drag the always silly show into seriousness. The actors played the scenes with very little genuine sadness which made it seem as though Sheen was still in the saddle. CBS has issued preliminary figures that suggest that nearly 28 million viewers tuned in last night, by far a record for the series.

During Sheen's roast, the man himself sat in the hot seat as minor celebrities such as Kate Walsh and Anthony Jezelnik and washed up icons such as William Shatner and Mike Tyson hurled brutally scathing remarks in his direction. They often hit far below the belt, riffing on such sensitive topics as Sheen's domestic abuse history, insatiable appetite for heavy narcotics as well as his child custody issues. They even threw wheelchair bound porn publisher Larry Flynt under the bus as well as the Parkinson's stricken Michael J. Fox, both as analogies to Sheen's less than stellar moments.

When Sheen took to the podium to issue his own witty and brutal rebuttal, his rejoinders were calm and smooth while also fierce and cocky. Much more laid back and humble these days, he still let it be known that even though he's made many bad choices, once again, he came out [of a trying situation] "unscathed." All in all, it was a great comedy night and a truly entertaining look at a very accountable star in the wake of his darkest hour.

Impressive.