‘Two And A Half Men’ Boss Chuck Lorre On Charlie Sheen: ‘We Were Concerned Our Friend Was Gonna Die’

As “Two and a Half Men” prepares to return to primetime after a headline-raising few months surrounding the firing of series star Charlie Sheen earlier this year, creator Chuck Lorre told Access Hollywood that the well documented, behind-the-scenes moves were always aimed at helping the actor.

“We were concerned with our friend’s well-being. That was the whole thing,” Chuck told Access Hollywood as he celebrated Jon Cryer’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. “We were concerned our friend was gonna die, and everything we did was hopefully to keep that from happening.”

Cryer too paid a heartfelt tribute to Chuck and “Two and a Half Men” co-creator Lee Aronsohn in his Walk of Fame star speech, for helping Charlie out.

“I feel the need to thank Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, who, when they saw somebody who clearly was in distress, took every possible means to try and help their friend and who when it came time to make the ultimate decision, which is some place that nobody wanted to go, did something that…in my belief, saved my friend Charlie Sheen’s life,” Jon said on stage in Hollywood on Monday afternoon. “And I am grateful to them it is an honor that I will never take for granted that I work in this industry.”

During the heated conflict between Sheen and Lorre earlier this year, Lorre often turned to expressing his emotions on his famous vanity cards, which come up at the end of every “Two and a Half Men” episode. But, when the show returns tonight at 9/8 C on CBS, Lorre told Access it won’t be a freeze-it-and-read-it moment.

“I don’t think it’ll be necessary,” he said of hitting pause on the television. “It’s pretty simple.”

Lorre said he’s also eager for fans to see the retooled show with Ashton Kutcher.

“I am beyond excited that it’s gonna air tonight. Please let it air already,” he told Access. “It’s been a long time in gestation. We’ve been working on it for months.”