What we can learn from Sheen’s antics

By Frazier Moore

AP Television Writer

NEW YORK

Maybe we can make Charlie Sheen’s latest scandal a teachable moment for the rest of us.

On his latest radio blab-off Thursday (phoning “The Alex Jones Show”), Sheen managed to sound bonkers or drug-addled, not to mention self-aggrandizing and hateful.

Throughout the run of CBS’ huge hit “Two and a Half Men,” Sheen has been a high-stakes handful for the network and the studio, Warner Bros. Television, and presumably for the crew and cast members.

Now, after weeks of a production break while Sheen, reportedly in rehab, was meant to be getting himself ready to return to the show next week, Thursday’s radio outbursts triggered a statement from CBS and the studio pulling the plug on the season’s scheduled four remaining episodes.

The future beyond that of the sitcom, for which Sheen is contracted to continue next season, is unclear — as is Sheen’s willingness to straighten out his life. But as we shake our heads at Sheen’s shenanigans, maybe we can glean some lessons to apply to our lives.

Good advice: Don’t insult the boss. And, as Sheen did, don’t insult your boss on radio, with the rest of the media world in wait to report whatever you say. And especially don’t do it if he’s a guy like Chuck Lorre, creator of “Two and a Half Men” (as well as other hit sitcoms, “The Big Bang Theory” and “Mike & Molly”).

Don’t continue to brag about your work ethic and your sterling on-time record for getting to the job — when you’re not in rehab, shutting down your show — no matter how hard you’ve partied the night before. Showing up for work is what the boss pays you for, and what the customers (in Sheen’s case, viewers) deserve. It’s the least you can do.

When the boss pays you a lot (Sheen gets a reported $1.8 million an episode, the richest payday of any TV star), maybe you should remember that, at some point, your public might start resenting you for being so rich while behaving so badly.

Don’t mistake your own personal machismo (as Sheen did on the radio) for a macho role you played in a war film, “Platoon,” a quarter-century ago. It makes you sound delusional. Besides, it’s best to not mouth off about being a tough guy when you’ve already been in hot water for domestic violence.

If you can’t kick the drugs and the prostitutes, do yourself a favor and at least get someone to keep you away from your phone and Internet connection.