FX
I’ve posted about both the C-word and the N-word today. What’s next, the F-word? So after FX picked up Anger Management for a staggering 90 episodes, the team behind the show shifted into high gear – to meet that demand, they’re filming a staggering 50 episodes a year, a production schedule that would tax even the most stable mind.
Charlie Sheen, of course, isn’t the most stable mind. Reports from the set have him showing up hours late to tapings every day, making the rest of the cast and crew wait for him. On a normal production schedule, this would be annoying enough, but when you’re literally racing against time to get all of your contractually-obligated episodes in the can before your star loses his mind again, it’s outright dangerous. Sheen’s costars sucked it up and dealt with it, since he’s also an executive producer on the show, but eventually it got to be too much for Selma Blair, the show’s female lead.
Deadline has the whole story, and it’s a doozy. Blair spoke up to the show’s producers after not being able to take the delays anymore, and in response Sheen sent her a text message where he called her a c-nt and fired her on the spot. Classy, dude. The show has already put out a casting notice for a new lead actress, although she won’t be taking on Blair’s therapist role.
The show isn’t really looking good moving forward for FX or Lionsgate – it debuted with 5.7 million viewers and has tanked to just a little over 10% of that number, 600,000 watchers as of the last episode. That’s a terrifying nosedive, and it should make people very scared of making deals like this in the future. But then, if you’re crazy enough to make any kind of deal with Charlie Sheen, you deserve all the suffering you get.