Fall TV season: Charlie Sheen and Katie Couric: Not yet gone but already forgotten at CBS

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Charlie Sheen and Katie Couric can still be seen on CBS, but network executives are already hard at work trying to scrub away all traces of their estranged stars.

At Wednesday’s fall schedule presentation in New York, CBS ran several promo reels that carefully excised Sheen from ‘Two and a Half Men.’ That’s no small feat, given that he has been the show’s star since it premiered in 2003. The trailers instead focused pointedly on costars Jon Cryer and Angus Jones.

Speaking to advertisers, entertainment president Nina Tassler did not mention Sheen by name but said the network had been through a ‘learning experience’ the last few months. Sheen was fired from the show earlier this year after publicly criticizing his bosses; last week, he was replaced by Ashton Kutcher.

Couric, anchor of ‘CBS Evening News,’ likewise got the bum’s rush — and unlike Sheen she kept reporting for work. The network introduced Scott Pelley as the new anchor but had not a word of thanks for Couric, who is expected to sign a deal for a new talk show with ABC.

RELATED:

CBS brings back ‘Two and a Half Men,’ adds a few surprises

So how did things go wrong for Katie Couric at ‘CBS Evening News’?

CBS releases its 2011-2012 prime-time schedule featuring five new shows

-- Scott Collins (twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT)