Work on 'Two and a Half Men' halted after Charlie Sheen radio rant

Charlie Sheen's latest radio rant apparently triggered a decision by producers to cancel production on his hit TV comedy "Two and a Half Men."
CBS placed the sitcom on "production hiatus" after the actor began rehab treatments in the wake of an emergency hospital visit in late January. The show was scheduled to resume taping on four more episodes next week.
"Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of 'Two and a Half Men' for the remainder of the season," the network and studio said in a joint statement Thursday.
Sheen appeared to challenge producers to take action earlier Thursday when he was a guest on "The Alex Jones Radio Show."
"I was told if I went on the attack, they would cancel the show and all that, so I'm just sort of seeing if they're telling the truth or not," Sheen told Jones.
Sheen said if the show was canceled, he would "go make movies with superstars instead of working with idiots."
The actor also had unkind words for show co-creator Chuck Lorre.
A short time after the cancellation was announced, Sheen sent a written statement to celebrity news website TMZ.
"I gracefully ignored this folly for 177 shows," Sheen wrote to TMZ. "I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth."
Sheen's battle with producers is a sharp contrast to the kind words he had for them early this month in a written statement thanking the network executives for their support.
"I have a lot of work to do to be able to return the support I have received from so many people," Sheen said then. "Like Errol Flynn, who had to put down his sword on occasion, I just want to say, 'thank you.' "
Another Sheen radio interview last week raised concern about the actor's stability.
Sheen, talking on "The Dan Patrick Show," advised people to stay away from crack cocaine "unless you can manage it socially."
He told Patrick then that he was ready to return to the show.
"I healed really quickly, but I also unravel really quickly, so get me right now guys," Sheen said. "Get me right now."
The triggers for his infamous partying "tends to do with boredom," he said.
"It's never been about 'Everybody else is drinking, I should too,' " he said. "It's about what that makes things better, whether that's real or imagined."
Sheen was "very, very intoxicated, also apparently in a lot of pain" on the morning of January 27, according to a 911 call from a doctor who had just talked to the actor.
Porn actress Kacey Jordan has told media outlets that a two-day party preceded Sheen's collapse.
Paramedics went to Sheen's Los Angeles home and then took him by ambulance to a hospital, where he spent several hours.
While his representative blamed a hernia for Sheen's pain, he later announced the actor was undergoing rehab at home.