Ashton Kutcher to replace Charlie Sheen in 'Two and a Half Men'

'That 70s Show' star Ashton Kutcher has reportedly signed up to replace Charlie Sheen as party animal Charlie Harper on the hit US sitcom, which will see a radical shake-up of the CBS show if it goes ahead.

According to reports today 'Two and a Half Men' bosses are prepared to take a big gamble by installing Kutcher as the new Charlie Harper, as soon as Wednesday, The Guardian reports. The Twitter king himself seemed to confirm the many reports on Friday when he tweeted "what's the square route of 6.25?" leading to his six million followers realising that the answer is 2.5. The Hollywood funny man, 33, could be unveiled on Wednesday at the glamorous programme schedule presentation by CBS in New York. TMZ reports he will be raking in more than $625,000 per episode. "Charlie's base pay on the show was $1.25 million," TMZ writes. Sheen's sudden departure from the popular prime-time comedy in March resulted in weeks of frenzied speculation over his replacement. Hugh Grant was reported to have pulled out of 11th-hour negotiations over 'creative differences'. As The Chicago Sun-Times reports, this would be Kutcher's first regular TV gig since 'That 70s Show' which ended in 2006. An inside source revealed that creator Chuck Lorre is "really happy" with the outcome, which would see them go for a more youthful target audience. With Kutcher having over six million Twitter followers, CBS would be able to capitalise on his online influence.

Zellaby

Charlie Sheen, star of "Two and a half Men"

image:84406:1::0

However, it remains to be seen whether Kutcher could maintain the sitcom's impressive ratings, just as his eccentric predecessor managed to do for eight years.