Throughout his recent rants about CBS, Warner Brothers and his own drug use, Charlie Sheen insisted that he was ready to return to work on the hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”

On Monday, Warner Brothers disagreed, firing Mr. Sheen from the show, claiming the actor’s “statements, conduct and condition prevented him from performing his essential duties.”

The company’s terse official statement read, “After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on ‘Two and a Half Men’ effective immediately.”

With that, the studio took the unprecedented step of firing an actor from one of the highest-rated programs on television. Warner Brothers, which owns and produces the series, will decide about the future of the program at a later date, a spokesman said.

Neither Warner Brothers nor CBS would comment further on whether an attempt would be made to continue the show without Mr. Sheen. But one senior executive informed of the decision to fire Mr. Sheen said that the fact that the series was not canceled Monday was an indication that an effort was under way to produce another season.

Warner Brothers laid out its rationale for firing Mr. Sheen in a letter to his lawyer Martin D. Singer, which included an extensive recounting of what it called “dangerously self-destructive conduct” over the last several years on the show.

The letter, which was obtained by TMZ.com, said Warner, CBS, and the show’s executive producer, Chuck Lorre, had made “accommodations for the off-camera (yet very public) aspects of Mr. Sheen’s life.”

It cited the publicity surrounding his divorce and custody battle with the actress Denise Richards in 2007, and his arrest and subsequent guilty plea to a charge of assaulting his then-wife Brooke Mueller in 2009.

It also mentioned an episode in October 2010 at the Plaza Hotel in New York when he was accused of trashing a room and threatening a paid escort, and parties in Las Vegas and his home this year at which he was said to have consumed large amounts of cocaine and alcohol.

The Warner Brothers lawyer, John W. Spiegel, also cited the events of January and February, saying that Mr. Sheen’s public behavior, including his verbal attacks on Mr. Lorre, the show’s creator, and condition “so undermined the ability of Warner Bros. and Mr. Lorre to produce the show that suspension and termination were required.”

Specifically, the letter cited his “physical appearance, inability to deliver lines, inability to collaborate creatively with staff and crew, inability to work with the executive producers, inflammatory comments poisoning key working relationships, and frustration of the show’s creative environment by the public spectacle of his self-inflicted disintegration.”

Mr. Sheen released his own statement to TMZ.com saying, in part: “This is very good news. They continue to be in breach, like so many whales.” He added, “And I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension.”

“Two and a Half Men” is among the most lucrative series on television, at least with Mr. Sheen on board. Replacing stars on television series has a long history, including examples like “Bewitched” and “Cheers,” as notable successes. Mr. Sheen himself once replaced Michael J. Fox in the comedy “Spin City.”

But continuing a program after a star has been fired is a rare event. It happened on at least one earlier occasion when the show “Valerie” was turned into “The Hogan Family” after the star Valerie Harper was fired after a salary dispute with producers. Even in that instance the series managed to survive for three more seasons. (Ms. Harper sued and won $1.4 million in damages.)

As for Mr. Sheen, he could certainly expect to field offers, although it might be hard to match his estimated take of $2 million an episode for “Two and a Half Men.”

His bizarre virtual publicity tour — which has taken him to a half-dozen talk shows and even his own live stream online — has operated as a kind of audition. Almost every program featuring him in the last week has enjoyed sharply increased ratings and turned some of Mr. Sheen’s colorful turns of phrase like “tiger blood” into catchphrases.

In many of those interviews, Mr. Sheen protested the original decision by Warner Brothers and CBS to cease production for the remainder of this season. At the time, neither Warner Brothers nor CBS would comment on what the decision meant for Mr. Sheen’s future status. He was under contract to finish eight more episodes this season and 24 more next season.

Mr. Singer sent a letter to CBS and Warner Brothers asserting that they were obligated to pay him under the terms of the contract and noted that Mr. Sheen’s contract contained no morals clause that would allow the studio to fire him on the basis of behavior alone.

In addition to its long descriptions of Mr. Sheen’s behavior, Monday’s letter from Warner Brothers cited a clause that would allow the studio to break the contract’s terms if a performer had committed an act “which constitutes a felony offense involving moral turpitude under federal, state, or local laws, or in indicted or convicted of any such offense.”

None of the recent instances that have pushed Mr. Sheen into the news has resulted in a felony conviction, though the charge of assault on Ms. Mueller was a felony offense which Mr. Sheen was able to reduce in a plea bargain. However, Warner Brothers cited its belief that Mr. Sheen had committed felony offenses, including “furnishing cocaine to others.”

If the promised lawsuit ever goes to trial, Mr. Sheen’s side may be expected to point out that only the court system can charge him with a felony.

Mr. Lorre has said before when the show ran into production issues because of Mr. Sheen’s behavior that he would not restructure the program if Mr. Sheen became unavailable. He said he had no desire to write a show called “One and a Half Men.”

But Mr. Lorre said that well before Mr. Sheen’s comments in recent weeks, in which he denigrated Mr. Lorre, indicating that only because of his star quality did the show become a hit. Mr. Sheen said he had turned Mr. Lorre’s “tin can of a show” into gold.

From : mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com