Charlie Sheen’s legal problems may bring early end to ‘Two and a Half Men’ season

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Charlie Sheen’s legal and personal problems may end up shortening the season for ‘Two and a Half Men.’

Sheen, who pleaded not guilty in a Colorado court Monday on charges connected to a domestic violence incident involving his wife, is due back at work tomorrow on the set of the No. 1-ranked sitcom. But he’ll be able to complete only four more episodes this season, which will leave the show two episodes short of the 24 that CBS ordered, according to a source familiar with the situation.

For the two missing weeks, CBS will likely replace ‘Men’ with ‘Big Bang Theory,’ another sitcom produced by Chuck Lorre. (At 9:30 p.m. Mondays, the usual slot for ‘Theory,’ the network might slot reruns of either show.) The move suggests that ‘Theory,’ which has been gaining in the ratings, may serve as the network’s new 9 p.m. anchor comedy if -- as now seems likely -- ‘Men’ continues to be hampered by production delays and work stoppages. Production was recently halted on the show when Sheen suddenly entered rehab, what his publicist described as a ‘preventative measure.’

Sheen’s trial, which is due to start July 21, is likely to cause further disruptions for the production schedule of ‘Men.’

-- Scott Collins (follow me on Twitter @scottcollinsLAT).

Photo: Warner Bros. Television