Despite the Good Morning America and Today clips I caught, and radio plays of recent quotes, I tried to keep an open mind going into last night's 20/20 special interview with Charlie Sheen. Oh, who am I kidding? Like most viewers, I tuned in to watch a bright star's career crashing down in flames, and I am not disappointed.
Andrea Canning is tough, but fair. She pushes him when he avoids answering her questions, or gives her pat responses that reveal nothing. She keeps a straight face, and stays cool, never offending him. She asks the questions that the public want to know, but in a very news-y way, professional and straightforward. Clearly a good journalist, despite the job being more TV junk than actual news stories. Kudos to her work.
Sheen may not be on drugs, as he keeps flashing around that negative drug test, but I don't believe the effects of illegal substances are done with him. On the contrary, he is talking like a crazy person. He doesn't look healthy, and he is chain smoking in sections. Among the things he says that don't make sense: When asked about rumors that he is bi-polar, he replies that he is 'bi-winning'. Because he is winning on all fronts. He is just one big ball of winner.
Modesty is not in evidence at all. Sheen claims to be tired of pretending he isn't special. He keeps calling himself awesome. He takes credit for all the success of his hit series, Two and a Half Men, seemingly thinking that no one else is responsible for any of the money it has made. He is even suing CBS because they 'hurt him'. I'd like to know how they hurt him. If it wasn't for Sheen's antics, they would have made eight more episodes of the show this year, which would have brought the studio lots of money.
Sheen also worries about supporting his family. Apparently, he hasn't been saving the nearly $2 million he makes for every episode of Men. He says he pays out over $100K of child support a month, which given his earnings, doesn't seem excessive. Even if taxes are 35-50%, as I don't know his personal situation, he still gets to keep the vast majority of his income. But illegal substances to tend to cost a pretty penny. As do supporting two live-in girlfriends.
Why do his 'goddesses' stand by him? I don't dispute that he cares for them, in some way. He even raises the subject to Andrea of marriage with them, before admitting with a chuckle that it would be polygamy. But he has a history of abuse. And while he claims he has an open ear, and they can say whatever they want, he also states that his elder age means that he is wiser than them. Funny, he doesn't apply the same principal to his father, who is reaching out to help him. Charlie wants no part of that.
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Article comments
1 - Kit O'Toole
You make a good point about the Schadenfreude factor. I think many people enjoy watching what they consider to be pampered, overpaid celebrities taken down several pegs. The sad thing is that there are children involved, and considering Sheen's rapid downward spiral, they may soon no longer have a father.
2 - Jerome Wetzel
Very true, Kit. They are the real victims in all of this. I honestly didn't even stop to think of them.
3 - Jerome Wetzel
I cover everything TV. Charlie Sheen was a double act because he is a popular TV star and there was a TV special about him. You may have your own opinions, of course, but I was covering the area of entertainment - television - that I always cover, and have been writing about for awhile.