Charlie Sheen Anger Management: Why Ashton Kutcher is Not Winning

Culture

Charlie Sheen is back b*tches! And he’s letting the world know it from the get go in the first episode of his new FX sitcom Anger Management.

"You can't fire me, I quit. You can't replace me with some other guy; it won't be the same. You may think I'm losing but I'm not — anyway, you get the idea," are the first lines that Sheen delivers in the new sitcom. 

The lines, a jab to Sheen's infamous and epic meltdown which accelerated his exit from CBS's Two and a Half Men, encapsulate Anger Management's basic premise: a last laugh (and finger) from Sheen to those who thought the star of Wall Street and Platoon was done (tiger blood, anyone?) 

And Sheen's revenge gets sweeter, as the initial enthusiasm with which Ashton Kutcher – Sheen’s handsomer, younger and cheaper replacement – was received by Two and a Half Men fans and critics seemed to have subsided. Critics have soured over Kutcher's lackluster comedic skills (and recurrent product placements) and ratings have decreased, almost prompting nostalgia for Charlie "Harper" Sheen (the way one would miss a crazy but hilarious uncle).  

And, while a return to the CBS sitcom is unlikely, Anger Management may well be Sheen’s comeback card as it cleverly capitalizes on the actor's epic -- and social media savvy -- meltdown by packaging it into an old-fashioned style sitcom with reality television undertones. Who's winning now?